The Navigator

It's been nearly six years since word first leaked out of Cupertino, California, about Project Titan, the now near-mythical Apple Car project. While that program has stalled, or changed direction, or may never enter production, it still could make a significant contribution to the auto industry. Because thanks to Apple, lidar sensor production volumes are likely to explode - and cost to plummet - in the next few years.

The only thing we know for certain about Project Titan is that it has a fleet of Lexus crossovers equipped with automated driving systems and it is testing them in California. Vehicles photographed on Bay Area roads have been festooned with a dozen or more Velodyne-made “puck” lidars, along with radar and cameras. However, given Apple's tendency for vertical integration, the expectation has been that it would follow in the path of Waymo and engineer its own sensors.