You may have noticed the buzz over the coming release of Apple's first pair of smart glasses.
你可能已经注意到了即将发布的苹果第一副智能眼镜引起的轰动。
But there's even more anticipation over this.
但除此之外对苹果还有更多的期待。
According to the Reuters news agency - Apple is now building an electric vehicle.
据路透社报道,苹果公司正在制造一款电动汽车。
It won't be a ride-hailing service like Google's Waymo, but a car for personal use.
它不会像谷歌的Waymo那样提供代驾服务,而是制造个人使用的汽车。
The company has a reputation for sleek and stylish designs that won't disappoint, and neither, likely, will the Apple car.
这家公司以设计优美时尚而著称,通常不会让人失望,那么苹果汽车也不太可能让人失望。
But we don't yet know what it'll look like.
但我们还不知道它会是什么样子。
Nor has the company even admitted it's working on a vehicle.
苹果公司甚至都没有承认自己正在研制一款汽车。
Apple is notoriously obsessed with secrecy when it comes to what it has on the drawing board.
众所周知,苹果公司对于筹划阶段的内容一向秉持保密。
But as Tesla's CEO Elon Musk once pointed out - it's pretty hard to hide something if you hire over a thousand engineers to do it.
不过,正如特斯拉首席执行官埃隆·马斯克曾经指出的那样,如果你雇了上千名工程师来做这件事,就很难隐藏什么了。
Not surprisingly, Apple's ambitious plans are meant to compete with Tesla.
毫不奇怪,苹果雄心勃勃的计划意在与特斯拉竞争。
When Tesla unveiled its first electric car in 2008, the Roadster, it apparently piqued the interest of the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
当特斯拉在2008年推出其首款电动汽车Roadster时,它显然激起了已故苹果公司首席执行官史蒂夫·乔布斯的兴趣。
Jobs is said to have been in awe of the brilliant engineering behind the Tesla and wanted to build a car as well.
据说乔布斯对特斯拉背后出色的设计制造感到敬畏,并且也想制造一辆汽车。
Tim Cook, who took over from Jobs, is believed to have approved the Apple project codenamed Titan.
接替乔布斯的蒂姆·库克被认为已经批准了代号为“泰坦”的苹果项目。
How important is it that Apple not miss out on cars?
苹果不错过汽车市场有多重要呢?
I think there is a major disruption looming there.
我认为汽车市场会出现一次大混乱。
Senior executives reportedly toured BMW's plant in Leipzig, Germany as early as 2014 to see how it builds its vehicles.
据报道,苹果高管早在2014年就参观了宝马在德国莱比锡的工厂,了解宝马如何生产汽车。
And also poached a lot of top talent from Tesla.
同时也从特斯拉挖走了很多顶尖人才。
Including Jamie Carlson - the engineer who led Tesla's autopilot team.
包括杰米·卡尔森——领导特斯拉自动驾驶仪团队的工程师。
Powertrain test engineer, John Ireland.
动力总成测试工程师,约翰爱尔兰。
And Tesla's vice-president of engineering Chris Porritt, who recently left Apple to join the Croatian car manufacturer Rimac.
特斯拉工程副总裁克里斯·波里特,最近离开了苹果,加盟了克罗地亚汽车制造商Rimac。
Over the years, it's believed as many as 5,000 people have been working on Apple's supposedly 'secret' project - a labor force similar in size to Hyundai's American workforce.
多年来,人们认为有多达5000人一直在从事苹果公司所谓的“秘密”项目,该项目的劳动力规模相当于现代汽车在美国的劳动力规模。
But it hasn't been an easy road for Apple.
但对于苹果来说,这条路并不容易。
It started out without a clear vision for the car whether it would be fully autonomous or semi-autonomous.
不管是全自动还是半自动,一开始对这款车没有一个清晰的愿景。
And then it apparently switched gears so to speak.
然后,可以说,它显然改变了方向。
Hardware expert Bob Mansfield came out of retirement and said to have shifted the company's focus to developing an autonomous driving system for a car that someone else would build.
硬件专家鲍勃·曼斯菲尔德退休后表示,已将公司的重点转移到为别人生产的汽车开发自动驾驶系统上了。
Then it appeared Apple reassessed its goals once again and decided to build a car after all.
随后,苹果再次重新评估了自己的目标,并最终决定制造一辆汽车。
In 2018, Apple hired Tesla engineer Doug Field to lead the project alongside Mansfield.
2018年,苹果聘请特斯拉工程师道格·菲尔德与曼斯菲尔德共同领导该项目。
The company then laid off about 200 people as part of restructuring and appeared to refocus its efforts on building an entire vehicle with all the addons you might expect from a world leader in tech.
然后,苹果公司解雇了约200名员工,这是重组的一部分,并且似乎将工作重心集中在制造整车上,其中包含了你可能期望来自世界领先技术的所有附加组件。
For example, it has even applied for a patented technology that can alter the tint of car windows so that passengers can control how much those from the outside can see when they look in.
例如,它甚至申请了一项专利技术,该技术可以改变车窗的色调,这样乘客就可以控制从车外往车里看的人能看到多少东西。
A key part of Apple's strategy is to make longer-lasting and cheaper batteries - the most expensive single component in an electric car.
苹果公司战略的一个关键部分是制造更耐用、更便宜的电池,这是电动车中最昂贵的单一组件。
Today, a battery pack can cost more than $10,000.
如今,一个电池组件的价格可能超过1万美元。
Apple is reportedly looking into a battery design that sounds similar to Tesla's new battery with enlarged cells to pack more active material inside to increase driving range, while also reducing some of the redundant structures within the package itself to bring down the weight, size, and cost.
据报道,苹果正在研究一种电池设计,听起来与特斯拉的新电池类似,将电池体积增大,可以在电池内部装入更多的活性物质,以增加续航里程,同时还可以减少电池内部的一些冗余结构,从而降低重量、尺寸和成本。
Tesla hopes the advancements in battery technology mean it could bring the price of an electric vehicel down to $25,000 in a few years.
特斯拉希望电池技术的进步意味着它可以在几年内将电动车的价格降到25000美元。
This has been our dream since the beginning of the company.
自公司成立以来,这就是我们的梦想。
Making it more in line with gasoline and diesel-fueled vehicles.
使它更接近汽油车和柴油车的价格。
If Apple uses similar technology, it would be able to make an affordable car for the masses as well.
如果苹果使用类似的技术,它也能为大众制造出一款价格实惠的汽车。
Ironically, Apple once had the chance to buy Tesla.
讽刺的是,苹果曾经有机会收购特斯拉。
Tesla nearly went bankrupt during the darkest days of production for the Model 3, when there were delays in automating its battery factory in Nevada.
特斯拉在Model 3生产最黑暗的日子里差点破产,当时它在内华达州的电池工厂的自动化出现了延误。
Musk says he approached the Apple CEO about a deal but Cook refused to take the meeting.
马斯克说,他曾就一项交易与苹果首席执行官接洽,但库克拒绝参加会议。
Tesla eventually overcame its production problems.
特斯拉最终克服了生产问题。
But it only took 17 years to become profitable - proving that manufacturing automobiles is a struggle.
但它用了17年才实现了盈利——这证明了制造汽车是一项艰巨的任务。
A big advantage for Tesla going forward is that it will manufacture virtually every component of its vehicles in-house, including its new batteries - which will drive down costs.
特斯拉未来的一大优势是,它将在内部生产几乎所有汽车部件,包括新电池,这将降低成本。
Apple doesn't have that kind of manufacturing know-how, so it's likely to rely on an outside manufacturer to build the car - just as it relies on other companies to make the iPhone.
苹果没有这种制造技术,因此很可能依赖外部制造商来制造这款车——就像它依赖其他公司制造iPhone一样。
Same goes for potentially tapping partners for elements such as sensors to help with self-driving.
对于潜在地挖掘诸如传感器等元件的合作伙伴以帮助完成自动驾驶来说,也同样适用。
Apple could be seen testing out various sensors a few years ago on a Lexus.
几年前,人们就可以看到苹果在雷克萨斯上测试了各种传感器。
Though its own vehicle would hardly be 'sleek and stylish' with this bulky addition.
尽管有了这种庞大的配件,它自己的车辆几乎不会变得“造型时尚而雅致”。
In order to further its self-driving expertise, Apple also purchased Drive AI in 2019, a self-driving vehicle startup designed to operate as a shuttle service.
为了进一步提升自动驾驶专业知识,苹果还于2019年购买了Drive AI,这是一家旨在作为班车服务运营的自动驾驶汽车初创公司。
Its entire car division has now moved under the leadership of John Giannandrea, Apple's senior vice president of AI and machine learning.
整个汽车部门现在已经由苹果公司人工智能和机器学习的高级副总裁约翰·吉安南德拉领导。
So clearly what Apple has in mind is much more complex than simply building upon its software system Apple Car Play, which allows features of the iPhone to be available on the in-built display of another company's vehicle.
因此,很明显,苹果的想法要比基于其软件系统Apple Car Play复杂得多,这可以让人们在另一家公司生产的车辆的内置显示屏上使用iPhone的功能。
So the big question is: when can we see an Apple car on the road?
所以最大的问题是:我们什么时候能在路上看到苹果汽车?
Reuters is suggesting it could come as early as 2024.
路透社暗示可能最早会在2024年出现。
Although, the pandemic could delay things because of supply chain issues.
不过,由于存在供应链问题,目前新冠疫情可能会拖延时间。
Despite all the hurdles, the potential rewards are staggering.
尽管存在种种障碍,但潜在的回报却是惊人的。
Tesla is already the most valued automaker in the world… worth more on paper than the seven top car companies combined.
特斯拉已经是世界上最有价值的汽车制造商了……账面价值超过了七大汽车公司的总和。
It recently joined the prestigious S&P 500 index fund and its stock price appears to know no limits.
它最近加入了著名的标准普尔500指数基金,其股价似乎不受限制。
However,if Apple cuts into Tesla's profits, it could temper Tesla's share price - although some analysts point out Apple is more of a threat to legacy automakers like Ford rather than Tesla.
不过,如果苹果削减特斯拉的利润,可能会打压特斯拉的股价——尽管一些分析师指出,苹果对福特等传统汽车制造商的威胁更大,而不是特斯拉。
Some have accused Apple of having lost its innovative edge following the death of Steve Jobs.
一些人指责苹果在史蒂夫·乔布斯去世后就失去了创新优势。
But a car would be a game-changer.
但是这款汽车将改变游戏规则。
And with the age of mobility setting in - is it any wonder a giant of the tech industry also wants a piece of the EV pie?
随着移动化时代的到来,一个科技行业的巨头也想要在电动汽车市场分一杯羹,这也不足为奇吧?
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