Apple self-driving test program grows to over 200 drivers

Data from the California DMV shows Apple has 67 vehicles and 201 drivers registered for testing autonomous driving features on public roads.

The California DMV requires companies that are testing autonomous driving features to register key details, like the number of drivers and vehicles in use. Apple's fleet hasn't changed much since 2021, but the number of drivers has slowly increased.

According to data obtained by macReports, Apple has increased its authorized drivers from 196 to 201 since January 2023. The number of vehicles remained steady at 67.

Other data included in the report comes from other manufacturers and their test bodies. There is also a list of driverless testers, which Apple is not a part of.

Apple registered one collision during the first quarter of 2023, but it was a minor one. The vehicle's tire and rim made contact with a curb, and authorities were not involved.

Apple has reported 16 total collisions in California since registering.

The data shows Apple's continued commitment to testing self-driving tools for cars. It is registered alongside other manufacturers like Mercedes, Waymo, Tesla, Nvidia, and Zoox.

Years of rumors, patents, and not-so-secret test facilities suggest an Apple Car could be on the way. However, recent rumors state that Apple has stopped prioritizing autonomous driving and will include a steering wheel.

Despite that, Apple will surely continue to test the technology until it becomes viable as a consumer product on the road. The Apple Car is currently expected sometime in 2026 or later.

9 Comments

h2p 335 comments · 15 Years

About 1 year ago

It is encouraging that Something is happening. It’s been 4 years since I saw an Apple Lexus on the roads of a northwestern Chicago suburb. I assumed it was just Apple Maps but it probably had autonomous driving equipment, why not.

The rumored steering wheel may simply be the law. Or the mindset of the horse and buggy folks, not ready to give up their old ways (like me).

tipoo 1121 comments · 14 Years

I'm still struggling to see how Apple racks up the data collection miles of Tesla without hundreds of thousands of vehicles on the road with the hardware in place and the software running in shadow mode. 200 vehicles is very small.

Edit: Actually even smaller, that's just drivers, 67 vehicles

badmonk 1332 comments · 11 Years

tipoo said:

I'm still struggling to see how Apple racks up the data collection miles of Tesla without hundreds of thousands of vehicles on the road with the hardware in place and the software running in shadow mode. 200 vehicles is very small.

Undoubtedly because Apple will be using LIDAR and not cameras for autonomous driving which is becoming a glaring flaw of Tesla’s autonomous driving program.

badmonk said:

tipoo said:

I'm still struggling to see how Apple racks up the data collection miles of Tesla without hundreds of thousands of vehicles on the road with the hardware in place and the software running in shadow mode. 200 vehicles is very small.

Undoubtedly because Apple will be using LIDAR and not cameras for autonomous driving which is becoming a glaring flaw of Tesla’s autonomous driving program.

Because those using lidar are magically ahead? You still have to train a massive neural network on massive amounts of data regardless of the approach, there's no sensor you can add that gets to autonomy without that step.

jfabula1 167 comments · 2 Years

badmonk said:

tipoo said:

I'm still struggling to see how Apple racks up the data collection miles of Tesla without hundreds of thousands of vehicles on the road with the hardware in place and the software running in shadow mode. 200 vehicles is very small.

Undoubtedly because Apple will be using LIDAR and not cameras for autonomous driving which is becoming a glaring flaw of Tesla’s autonomous driving program.

You must be a Tesla FSD beta driver to really experience how mind boggling it is to navigate in auto pilot. Except in severe weather conditions, it will
disable it for you, automatically….no Lidar? It just really works….whatever you read or watch in youtube is simply their opinion.