BY DAVID MURPHY...PC Magazine
The veteran Apple employee who has been running Apple's secret vehicle program for the past two years is leaving the company. According to sources speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Steve Zadesky is allegedly departing for personal reasons—the details of which are unknown at this time, as is the exact timeframe for Zadesky's departure.
Zadesky, who previously worked as an engineer at Ford Motor Company, joined Apple in 1999 to work on high-profile projects like Apple's first iPod and iPhone. He was tapped to work on Apple's "Titan" project, otherwise known as its rumored electric car, around 2014. The project allegedly got the green light last year, and has since been assigned a ship date of 2019. Zadesky was recently tasked with both tripling the size of Apple's car team (already around 600 employees or so) and coming up with an overall vision for what Apple's car would be.
(A "ship date" at Apple, we should clarify, doesn't mean the day that brand-new Apple Cars will start rolling off the lot and into the hands of eager customers. Rather, it's likely more an internal milestone—perhaps even the point at which engineers have signed off on all the car's primary features. After that, it could take even more time for Apple to actually construct, test, and ultimately ship a working electric vehicle.)
Unnamed sources have indicated to The Wall Street Journal that some of those involved with Apple's car project have expressed concerns about Apple's deadlines for the project—whether it's actually realistic to hit them, no doubt. Zadesky's departure likely doesn't help that any, but it's unclear just what, specifically, might happen to Apple's timelines with him leaving the picture. It also might not have any effect whatsoever.
"While the departure of Apple's head of automobile efforts may seem like a blow, the reality is Apple has enough money and potential to bring in almost anyone they desire. This shouldn't railroad Apple's efforts and the rumors that they are indeed focused on becoming a player in the automotive space," Akshay Anand, an analyst at Kelley Blue Book, told The Verge.
Apple, as always, has yet to actually confirm that it's working on a car.
The veteran Apple employee who has been running Apple's secret vehicle program for the past two years is leaving the company. According to sources speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Steve Zadesky is allegedly departing for personal reasons—the details of which are unknown at this time, as is the exact timeframe for Zadesky's departure.
Zadesky, who previously worked as an engineer at Ford Motor Company, joined Apple in 1999 to work on high-profile projects like Apple's first iPod and iPhone. He was tapped to work on Apple's "Titan" project, otherwise known as its rumored electric car, around 2014. The project allegedly got the green light last year, and has since been assigned a ship date of 2019. Zadesky was recently tasked with both tripling the size of Apple's car team (already around 600 employees or so) and coming up with an overall vision for what Apple's car would be.
(A "ship date" at Apple, we should clarify, doesn't mean the day that brand-new Apple Cars will start rolling off the lot and into the hands of eager customers. Rather, it's likely more an internal milestone—perhaps even the point at which engineers have signed off on all the car's primary features. After that, it could take even more time for Apple to actually construct, test, and ultimately ship a working electric vehicle.)
Unnamed sources have indicated to The Wall Street Journal that some of those involved with Apple's car project have expressed concerns about Apple's deadlines for the project—whether it's actually realistic to hit them, no doubt. Zadesky's departure likely doesn't help that any, but it's unclear just what, specifically, might happen to Apple's timelines with him leaving the picture. It also might not have any effect whatsoever.
"While the departure of Apple's head of automobile efforts may seem like a blow, the reality is Apple has enough money and potential to bring in almost anyone they desire. This shouldn't railroad Apple's efforts and the rumors that they are indeed focused on becoming a player in the automotive space," Akshay Anand, an analyst at Kelley Blue Book, told The Verge.
Apple, as always, has yet to actually confirm that it's working on a car.
