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Apple has scaled back on its plan to build a car, and is instead developing software for self driving cars, it has been claimed.
According to Bloomberg the iPhone maker has hired the former head of BlackBerry's automotive software division - and is 'now prioritizing the development of an autonomous driving system'.
However, the site claimed Apple has not entirely abandoning efforts to design its own vehicle, leaving the door open for a future partnership or takeover.
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According to Bloomberg the iPhone maker has hired the former head of BlackBerry's automotive software division - and is 'now prioritizing the development of an autonomous driving system'.
STEVE JOBS AND THE ICARClaims that Apple i s building a car may seem like a leap, but it isn't the first time such projects have been discussed by the Californian firm.
In an interview last year, Apple board member Mickey Drexler said that before his death in 2011 Steve Jobs had considered building a car.
He told Paul Goldberger: 'Steve Jobs was gonna design an iCar.
'I think cars have an extraordinary opportunity for cool design.'
Apple has recently been reorganising its car project, codenamed Titan, under Bob Mansfield, an Apple veteran bought of of semi-retirement to head up the team.
According to Bloomberg, he has now been joined by Dan Dodge, the founder and former chief executive officer of QNX, the operating system developer that BlackBerry acquired in 2010.
It built BlackBerry's latest pr oprietary mobile operating system, which it still uses in some of its smartphones, and makes the in-car entertainment and navigation software for Volkswagen, Daimler, Ford and others.
Apple has hundreds of engineers working on car design and has been targeting a release as soon as 2020.
That has been 'affected by multiple departures, technical delays and confusion regarding the direction of the project, according to people with knowledge of the efforts,' said Bloomberg.
Although Apple has never publicly acknowledged the project, in a conference call earlier this week Tim Cook hinted at it.
'The products that are in R&D, there is quite a bit of investment in there for products and services that are not currently shipping or derivations of what is currently shipping,' he told reporters.
'There's a lot of stuff that we're doing beyond the current products.'
The firm is believed to have several locations for its car team.
Local residents have complained of late night noise and being followed by security guards when walking their dogs near what is believed to be Apple's secret electric car lab in a nondescript garage in Sunnyvale, California, is where Apple is believed to be building its self driving 'Titan' cars.
Local residents say the building has late night deliveries, and loud noises 'almost every night'.
This office complex is believed to be home to Apple's secret car project. The building is advertised as home to a mysterious company named SixtyEight Research
'At three in the morning, they have deliveries,' Joann Porter told CBS.
'It's very dark, very secretive.
'We don't know what's going on, but almost every night there is noise that wakes the dogs up,'
Neighbours on Bartlett Avenue near the facility said security guards tail them when they walk their dogs.
One blog claims the address is the HQ for the project which could one day take on Tesla.
'Two people with knowledge of the project say Apple has been working on it and receiving shipments related to its development at a building just minutes from 1 Infinite Loop, in the town of Sunnyvale,' wrote AppleInsider.
'We can confirm that Apple does indeed have a large presence at the location, and that numerous automotive-related renovations, including an 'auto work area' and a 'repair garage,' have been constructed on the premises.'
The building is advertise d as home to a mysterious company named SixtyEight Research.
Aside from a sparse website registered through GoDaddy less than a year ago that reveals virtually no information about the company, SixtyEight has no discernible online presence.
'We are experts in market research; helping companies find the relevant market data and industry analysis required to make informed decisions,' its site says.
The building is apparently known as SG5 within Apple, and issues visitor passes identical to Apple's - minus the logo.
Apple could have an electric car ready to go on sale by 2020, putting it in direct competition with rivals Tesla Motors and General Motors, according to an industry expert.
Evidence is mounting that the tech giant is gearing up to revolutionise the automobile market, just as it did with smartphones and tab lets.
Images taken over the past few weeks have shown a prototype car that suggests Apple is testing the water - ahead of a release in as little as five years.
When AppleInsider visited SixtyEight's headquarters at building '175' earlier this week, its windows were a 'frosted' opaque, and security cameras were visible outside
Bloomberg has claimed that Apple could have a car ready by 2020, based on images of a test car. After the first mysterious camera-mounted car was spotted in California last week, further sightings of Apple's minivans have been posted online, with equipment on top (shown here)
According to Tim Higgins from Bloomberg, automakers 'typically spend five to seven years developing a car'.
And a 2020 timeframe would underscore Apple's 'aggressive goals and could set the stage for a battle for customer s with Tesla Motors Inc and General Motors Co.'
Both of those are planning to release a sub-£26,000 ($40,000) electric car in 2017 that can travel more than 200 miles (320km) on a single charge.
Steve LeVine, author of 'The Powerhouse,' a book about the automotive battery industry, said on Bloomberg TV Thursday: 'Was GM really going to be able to match Tesla? Apple can.'
This latest speculation follows sightings of mysterious camera-mounted cars registered to Apple in the US last week.
At least two videos - one recorded in California, another filmed in Florida - suggest the top-secret project is more widespread than first thought.
And rumours range from a Street View-style mapping service to an electric car that will rival Tesla or a self-driving van to rival Google.
The California n footage was sent to MacRumors and shows a silver people-carrier driving down a street in Palo Alto.
The Florida recording was filmed on a highway in Coral Springs and uploaded by Apple Insider.
This footage shows a white Dodge Caravan fitted with cameras on the roof. As the filmmaker pulls alongside the van, they wave at the two men inside.
The passenger is seen concealing an iPad from view, while the driver points to the camera and drives off.
The Florida recording (pictured) was filmed in Coral Springs. This footage shows a white Dodge Caravan fitted with cameras on the roof. As the filmmaker pulls alongside the van, they wave at the two men inside and the passenger is seen concealing an iPad from view
Other reports have spotted the vans in Hawaii and Wisconsin.
The latest vans haven't officially been confirmed as belonging to Apple, but the similarities with previous confirmed sightings suggests they are.
The far-reaching nature of the project lends more weight to the claims Apple is developing a mapping service.
With 12 cameras on top of the car, however, some have said that is too many for it to be a mapping car like Google's Street View.
Plus, reports recently claimed Apple has several hundred employees developing an electric car at a secret lab. This project has been dubbed 'Titan'.
This Apple research lab was reportedly set up late last year - meaning any car could still be years away - and is being overseen by Apple designer Sir Jonathan Ive.
Apple could, of course, be using the vans for both projects.
The Wall Street Journal added that hundreds of employees are working on the Titan project and boss Tim Cook approved the project close to a year ago.
The Californian footage (pictured) was sent to MacRumors and shows a silver people-carrier driving down a street in Palo Alto
These reports followed rumours that Apple was developing a vehicle as part of a project that 'will change the landscape and give Tesla a run for its money.'
The claims were made in an email from an unnamed Apple employee.
In an interview last year, Apple board member Mickey Drexler said that before his death in 2011, Steve Jobs had considered building a car.
An unnamed Apple employee recently hinted that the tech giant is developing a vehicle as part of a project that 'will change the landscape and give Tesla a run for its money.' It followed sightings of an Apple-owned car fitted with cameras (pictured) in California
In particular, Apple may be working on an electric car to rival Tesla's range (the Tesla P85D is pictured) or the email could be referring to an advanced iPhone in-car control system that would rival Tesla's software
PUBLIC COULD HAVE SELF-DRIVING CARS IN TWO YEARSThe head of self-driving cars for Google expects real people to be using them on public roads in two to five years.
Chris Urmson said the cars would still be test vehicles, and Google would collect data on how they interact with other vehicles and pedestrians.
But Mr Urmson wouldn't give a date for putting driverless cars on roads en masse, saying that the system has to be safe enough to work properly.
He told reporters last month at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit that he wants to reach the point where his test team no longer has to pilot the cars.
He told Paul Goldberger: 'Steve Jobs was gonna design an iCar. I think cars have an extraordinary opportunity for cool design.'
Alternatively, the Apple employee's email could be referring to an advanced iPhone in-car control system that would rival Tesla's software.
The original Dodge van with the equipment on the top was spotted by the blog Claycord in San Francisco.
The blog owners apparently asked the driver what he was doing, but he refused to give an answer.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) confirmed the vehicle was leased to Apple.
La st year, footage emerged of a self-driving Dodge Caravan that looked like the current Apple minivans.
When contacted by MailOnline, Apple declined to comment on the car in question or what its purpose was.
With 12 cameras on top of the mysterious Apple car, some have said that is too many for it to be a mapping car like Google's Street View (pictured left). Google launched its Street View technology in 2007, and has refined the technology ever since (Street View screenshot near Trafalgar Square in London pictured right)
Alternatively, the vehicles spotted in California and Florida could be self-driving cars. The cameras on the mysterious vans could be used to scan the road and help engineers develop autonomous software, for example. If Apple was developing such systems, they would would rival Google's self-driving cars (pictured)
Source: Apple puts the brakes on its car: Firm is instead focusing on developing self driving software to take on Telsa and Google
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