Three reasons why Apple's car will pose a threat for Tesla Motors

Apple has recently accelerated its efforts in building an electric car, which, according to what we know from Apple’s latest encounter with the California department of motor vehicles, could also include self-driving capabilities. In the months prior to that meeting, Apple has reportedly acquired several new hires in the field of automotive engineering, some of which were former Tesla Motors employees.

According to reports, made primarily of statistic and economic analysis, Apple could be looking at unveiling a vehicle as early as 2019. This could mean trouble, not only for manufacturers of electric cars, but also for those involved in the manufacture of self-driving vehicles, like Google, and possibly, Uber, for three primary reasons:

State-of-the-art

The term “state-of-the-art”, is largely used in marketing, to boost the properties of a product, by attribution of traits that it might or might not have. Having said that, the true definition of “state-of-the-art”, is: “...the most recent stage in the development of a product, incorporating the newest ideas and the most up-to-date features...”.

Much like the MacBook or the iPad, it’s a guarantee that electric and autonomous cars in 2019 will be nothing like the ones we have in 2015. The technology available a mere three years in the future will allow to integrate extremely unique features, especially considering that Apple has a penchant for proactively patenting inventions and concepts, often decades ahead of their time.

Siri will likely play a gigantic role into making sure that the Apple car is a success, as well as future iterations of CarPlay, and other connected technologies involved in providing anything from entertainment, navigation, troubleshooting, and remote administration features, like remote locking, and climate control, which is already available in a number of existing regular vehicles, built by major manufacturers, in the form of iPhone and Apple Watch apps.

Initial reception

Apple is a company that, decade after decade, has developed a refined understanding of the fact that first impressions are everything. This has lead Apple to ensure that every keynote, whether it is for a new MacBook, or the next iPhone, or iPad, delivers maximum impact, and an electrifying performance for the audience and consumers.

Apple’s ability to capture the audience attention will most definitely play in its favor, as well as the ability to introduce features, often too complex to explain, in terms that consumers understand, and easily digest.

An example is Force Touch, introduced in the 2015 MacBook Retina. There are only a handful of ways to explain a user the scope of Force Touch, as well as how to use it most effectively, and yet, sales of the new MacBook have shown consistent numbers, as well as great consumer reception.

The same has been done, most recently, at the unveiling of the iPad Pro, which introduced 3D Touch, the next step in the evolution of taptic-enabled Force Touch technology.

Brand consistency

It’s very likely that the Apple car will be, under every definition, an Apple product, designed to fit within the Apple ecosystem. The ability to fully integrate and deliver a consistent, familiar experience for drivers, especially those who are already accustomed to Apple products is important, especially as consumers get more accustomed to using voice commands while driving.

By delivering a consistent user experience through Siri and Car Play, drivers will be able to simply sit in their car, pair it with their iOS device, and issue the same commands they already are familiar with, on their iPhone and iPad devices.

This is a problem that most manufacturers of in-car entertainment systems, like Google, Microsoft, and Apple as well, face with car companies who are very adamant about using their own proprietary solution, often requiring heavy software modification.

By building its own car, Apple will effectively eliminate that problem, by manufacturing an automobile in the same exact way a MacBook is made. Design and user experience come first, with no compromises on hardware specs.