Tech news outlet Re/code is hosting The Code Conference this week, a gathering of important tech people talking about important tech things. GM CEO Mary Barra was there, touting Chevy’s biggest-in-the-industry-so-far commitment to both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Apple Senior VP Jeff Williams was there, too—and while he didn’t outright say that the tech giant is heading into the auto industry, he dropped about as big a hint as a high-level exec could ever utter in public.
Asked by an audience member, “are you guys going to do something with your $100 billion or are you just going to keep buying back shares,” Williams’s answer left plenty of room to read between the lines. “Well the car is the ultimate mobile device, isn’t it?”
That answer is, of course, immensely vague. Williams could be referring to CarPlay, Apple’s vision for the future of in-dash infotainment that puts a simplified, driver-optimized version of your iPhone’s screen on your car’s dashboard touchscreen. Much like Google’s competing Android Auto, CarPlay uses the iPhone’s familiar visuals, capable voice commands, and overall quick, responsive software to fix everything that’s slow, unintuitive, balky, and technologically outdated about current infotainment systems.
But Williams could also be hinting at the oft-reported, so-far-unconfirmed rumors that Apple wants to build a self-driving car of its own to compete with Google’s autonomous egg-mobile. The Cupertino tech company is always tight-lipped, virtually never commenting on rumors and speculation regarding upcoming products; Williams’s seeming hint at a future of Apple-branded vehicles is the most revealing thing we’ve heard from a company official regarding this possibility.
Of course, Apple has been seen hiring plenty of engineers and other experts with ties to the auto industry. Whether that means the company is working on a car, an in-car software, or something else entirely remains to be seen.
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