Apple’s driverless car plans have totally veered off course
Apple's not-so-secret plans to create a fleet of driverless iCars have apparently veered off course with the tech giant seriously dialling back on its plans for the technology.
Project Titan, as it's known internally, has been Apple's worst kept secret for the past year or so and has been credited for its rocketing spend on R&D.
Now, Apple has "drastically scaled back" on the project, according to Bloomberg, including making job cuts and ditching plans to build its own car.
Read more: Driverless cars have officially hit the UK's roads for the first time
Instead, the world's largest company will focus on driverless car software systems, which it can do in partnership with others, rather than making the more tricky hardware part – for now, at least.
Rivals working on driverless cars, including Google and Uber, have already got them on the roads. Google's cars have already racked up more than 300 years of driving experience while residents of Pittsburgh can hail a driverless taxi.
Read more: Google's driverless cars have now racked up 300 years of driving experience
While they are ramping up efforts, as are traditional car makers such as Ford, the much-hyped trend is careering towards the "trough of disillusionment" according to analysts at Gartner.
Earlier this year, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said Apple should "drop it and start over" if a car product isn't "insanely great, as Steve Jobs would say".