Super dad hand-crafts a working Apple Car concept out of wood for his son

The dream of the electric Apple Car has vanished after much speculation, and finally the painful official closing of the Project Titan by the Cupertino-giant after a decade of R&D. While millions were invested in the exciting project, Apple ditched the adventurous plan this year.

However, ND Woodworking Art, the YouTube DIY channel by Trương Văn Đạo, a Vietnamese craftsman has his version that suggests Apple should have gone ahead with the venture. The skilled dad has created some of the most amazing wooden cars for his kids, and this time around he has bowled me over with the Apple iCar. His son has to be one of the luckiest kids on the planet, and perhaps the only one to own a functional Apple Car. Even though it’s a custom DIY with no association with the consumer electronics giant, the final finishes of the electric car are stunning.

Design: ND Woodworking Art

The design of the aerodynamic-looking iCar starts with assembling the metal frame structure on which the specially cut wooden panels sit one plank at a time. The intricacy of the handmade design doesn’t end there as Trương fine-tunes the look beyond anyone’s imagination or crafting plans. The process involves a lot of detailing and intricate work. He first sands the wooden surface for the ideal finish that’s complementary to a supercar’s bodywork. Then comes a layer of coating for the glossy look.

For the steering wheel, seats and other consoles he uses a darker tone of wood to contrast the light finish on the outside.  To create a faux dashboard and infotainment system he puts a tinted fiberglass on Apple iOS-like interface. He doesn’t shy away from installing tinted fiberglass panels for the windshield and windows as well. Lastly, He meticulously crafts the Apple logos from dark wood, both for the front and back, and the wheel rims. For the headlights, taillights and ambient lighting on the windows, Trương uses LED lighting strips.

The final creation is simply breathtaking even though it is in an electric toy car powered by an electric motor on the rear. Seeing it drive on the local roads is more than just satisfying and dads should derive inspiration from this man for his effort and skill!

The post Super dad hand-crafts a working Apple Car concept out of wood for his son first appeared on Yanko Design.

Apple Car is dead but AI reimagines what the ambitious venture could have been

After dumping billions of dollars into the idea of an Apple Car, the Cupertino giant has officially scrapped the electric car project. So why are we ranting about it now? That’s because new details have surfaced about the inside stories of how the project was never the real deal from the beginning.

Some inside poking from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has unearthed interesting details about the highly anticipated four-wheeled car that could have been anything from a hatchback or sedan to an SUV or performance sports car. In the report by the trusted Apple tipster, there were some interesting revelations about the ambitious project that lingered on for a decade and finally laid to rest last week.

Designer: Karissa Bell (Engadget)

According to Gurman, the idea pool was divided majorly into two think tanks – ones who wanted less autonomy and others who vouched for a fully autonomous version without any human intervention.  The second option was chosen and that was the real problem on practical grounds. They were confident of breaking the code for a full self-driving vehicle and eventually, it turned out to be a challenge that was more difficult than anticipated. Some of these decisions were taken in the early phase of the 2014s when the reality was not clear and ambitions were high. Of course with Tesla also on the horizon of gaining traction, it was motivation for the Apple Car team to break the code.

Time trickled through and when the Cupertino giant realized the idea was not feasible, it was too late. That said, now the monkey is off the back, we can enjoy some of the details that lie deep in the trenches of the initial design files. Yes, these mock-ups were referred to by the core team but we’ll never get hands on those secret documents since Apple is ultra-proactive when it comes to security. The next best thing is to put in as many details as possible in an AI tool (Meta AI to be precise) and come up with these cute Apple Car designs that Engadget found enchanting.

The post Apple Car is dead but AI reimagines what the ambitious venture could have been first appeared on Yanko Design.