Apple’s car project has been four years away for nearly nine years

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was on a flight bound for San Francisco, preparing to attend a Sonos summit in San Jose, with bad plane wifi. The date was September 21, 2015. CNBC was on-air discussing an accelerated release date for the Apple Car: 2019.

Eight years later, well, Apple reportedly plans to release its car as soon as 2028. After crunching the numbers, Apple appears to be eyeing a launch in *checks notes* four years. Major Apple 5G modem vibes!

The story referenced in my photo from the flight? Pedal to the metal: Apple reportedly accelerates Project Titan timeline to 2019, triples development team size. I believe the first Apple Car stories broke eight months prior. There were two notable entries:

• Sketchy new rumor claims Apple is planning to ‘give Tesla a run for its money’ (February 9, 2015)
• WSJ: Tim Cook approved Apple electric car project a year ago, hundreds of employees working on it (February 13, 2015)

Sketchy but true. Also, big anniversary coming up next month! Sam Colt, formerly of Business Insider, was the original author of news for the Apple Car storyline. So much time has passed that Colt appears to have retired from reporting and turned to marketing instead. Meanwhile, the revolving door that is Project Titan has employed virtually everyone in the auto industry for at least a few years over the decade.

Still, the car is not a ridiculous idea if Apple can use it to squeeze even more subscription service revenue from iPhone customers. Who knows? Maybe the App Store business will radically change over the next four years and the Apple Car can give services revenue a lift.

Anyway, I already know what I’m pre-ordering to celebrate my midlife crisis in four years! Meanwhile, you can always read the latest on Apple Car/Project Titan here.