Mysterious Apple Car Spotted Roaming Bay Area Streets

There have been multiple sightings of a mysterious van with a strange apparatus on its roof in Concord, CA and, according to CBS affiliate KPIX 5, the car is leased to Apple. Bay Area blog Claycord posted photos of the Dodge Caravan earlier today.

applevan1

Photo via Claycord

One possible use for the car could be for a mapping project, as the cameras on top of the vehicle are similar to other mapping cars. The Cupertino company has been planning on significantly improving its Maps application though, with plans for transit directions, improved points-of-interest data, indoor mapping and more. It would be likely that Apple would be prepping a feature similar to Google Street View or Bing StreetSide.

Claycord, however, noted that the Apple car looked similar to a self-driving Dodge Caravan spotted in New York in September 2014. Technology analyst Rob Enderle, who spoke to KPIX, also agreed that it's a self-driving car rather than a mapping car.

“Too many cameras,” said Enderle. “It has cameras that are angled down at all four corners of the vehicle.”

As noted by AppleInsider, Google's Street View cars do use a total of 15 5-megapixel cameras to stitch together its images. Apple's leased minivan appears to have similar technology, with 12 cameras that could potentially be used to stitch together images for a Street View-like picture.

Apple is not one of the six companies who have a permit for testing driverless cars, but Enderle says it wouldn't matter, noting that Apple could have a partnership with a manufacturer that allows them to lease and test a driverless car without a partner.

An Apple spokesperson told KPIX that the company had no comment.

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
Apple Intelligence General Feature

Apple Intelligence Now Available in New iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia Developer Betas

Monday July 29, 2024 10:07 am PDT by
Apple is today providing developers with the first betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, with the new software introducing an early version of the Apple Intelligence features. These new betas will be in testing alongside the current iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia 15 betas. Developers can choose whether to opt into the new betas with Apple Intelligence, or stay on the ...
Apple Intelligence General Feature

Report: Apple Intelligence Delayed to iOS 18.1 in October

Sunday July 28, 2024 11:52 am PDT by
Apple Intelligence will miss its initial expected launch date to give Apple more time to fix bugs, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. According to individuals with knowledge about Apple's plans, the company now plans to start rolling out Apple Intelligence in software updates by October, arriving several weeks after the launch of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. This means that Apple...
T Mobile Generic Feature Pink 1

T-Mobile Sued for Breaking Lifetime Price Guarantees

Friday July 26, 2024 2:44 pm PDT by
T-Mobile customers have filed a lawsuit [PDF] against the carrier, alleging that it failed to honor a guarantee not to raise the prices of select cellular plans. The lawsuit, first spotted by Wired, claims that back in 2017, T-Mobile advertised several of its plans with a price lock, but then went on to increase prices starting in May 2024. "T-Mobile ONE customers keep their price until...

Top Rated Comments

Macboy Pro Avatar
124 months ago
Well if Apple is going to release a car, we know it will start off huge and get thinner and thinner each year as they take away its functionality.
Score: 66 Votes (Like | Disagree)
manhattanboy Avatar
124 months ago
Billions in cash and they choose a Dodge Caravan.
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FrankieTDouglas Avatar
124 months ago
A driverless car? Being used by Apple? Hopefully it's not using Apple Maps.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BeyondtheTech Avatar
124 months ago
I couldn't be the only person who got a Safari push notification from MacRumors and got stoked when they read "Mysterious Apple Car Spotted..." Apple's making a car?!
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dacreativeguy Avatar
124 months ago
It's the iPhone 7. Damn, the camera protrudes even further than the 6!
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SamGabbay Avatar
124 months ago
Next thing you know, we'll find out that it was stolen from a bar... parking lot.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)