Apple iCar in development

Apple has created a billion-dollar empire out of its easy-to-use iOS-based consumer electronics, such as the iPhone and iPad. More recently it has rapidly moved into the automotive arena with its CarPlay system already available on several cars in Australia, such as the Hyundai Tucson and Volkswagen Golf.

But now it seems Apple is readying the main event, the oft-talked-about-but-never-confirmed iCar.

Codenamed Project Titan, rumours of the Apple iCar gained momentum in 2015 after media outlets intercepted correspondence that Apple was searching for a secure vehicle testing facility in the USA, and now Apple has registered several automotive-related internet domain names, such as apple.car, apple.cars and apple.auto.

Lending weight to the growing list of evidence that Apple is developing a car that will most likely drive itself – at least to some extent – is a recent interview BBC News undertook with Telsa Motors CEO and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, whose company builds the Model S and upcoming Model X electric cars.

Musk told the BBC: "It's pretty hard to hide something if you hire over a thousand engineers to do it," citing Apple's insatiable appetite for automotive engineers from the likes of Ford and Mercedes-Benz.

But the Tesla CEO said he didn't feel threatened by the Apple iCar, a vehicle that will be fully electric like the products his company builds.

"It will expand the industry," he opined. "Tesla will still aspire to make the most compelling electric vehicles, and that would be our goal, while at the same time helping other companies to make electric cars as well."

It's unclear when Apple will release its vehicle for sale, but the year 2019 has been mentioned in the past.

What is clear is that when Faraday Future – backed by Chinese megabucks – also enters the electric car fray, Google signs a major deal with Ford, GM joins forces with car sharing tech company LYFT, and Uber goes from strength to strength, the automotive industry is about to undergo a paradigm shift as we approach the end of the decade.

Question for readers: would you buy an Apple iCar?