Apple & Rivian Reportedly in Partnership Talks

[Supratachophobia]

The question to ask yourself is why would Apple have an interest in doing something like that. The financials just don't seem to make sense.

They pickup a fully warrantied, tried and true drivetrain that they don't have to staff for maintainence/repair and then go on to do what they do best, software. I mean, I guess technically, Fox Conn makes the Apple hardware so in a way, they already do this.

And before you say, "well they make their own hardware", they do. But it's disposable hardware, sunk cost hardware, section 179 hardware. Tesla tried to subscription cars for a bit, and I think it surprised space-Karen that the majority of their customers didn't/couldn't repurchase after every little iteration. I was actually in a Q/A session with him once and I asked about the promised MCU upgrades for older Tesla owners. And he responded, "Why? Just but a new car."

I'm just spit balling here, no preference either way except to say that not even a Rivian-backed car would get me into the Apple ecosystem at this moment.

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[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I listened to that interview again and while I think streaming Apple services are the most plausible, did anyone get a vibe that *maybe* Apple would be interested in a white box chassis/platform that they could then throw a body and infotainment/FSD hardware into?

No. Cuppertino has most definitely moved on from making a car. AI. AI. AI. AI all the things. They snoozed on AI and allowed competitors beat them to the headlines. Steve Jobs would not have allowed his company to be seen as a “me too” to emerging trends. The sudden stoppage on Titan and personnel shift to AI is telling sign on sense of urgency and gravity.

 

[RivFly]

Apple, Rivian, buy or partnership is only going to help Rivian. In the end it can only help bring in more refinement, streamline manufacturing, overall scaling which is frankly a need if you're going to be in the auto industry. There is no going around it....unless you have a boatload of money and don't care about making money.

 

[Chewy734]

My prediction: this thread is going to be 100 pages long of speculation before anything gets officially announced.

After which, we will learn that the “collaboration” entailed just renaming Rivian Guides -> Rivian Geniuses, the new steering wheel will have an Action button, and the R3 will be coming in pastel colors.

 

[Supratachophobia]

No. Cuppertino has most definitely moved on from making a car. AI. AI. AI. AI all the things. They snoozed on AI and allowed competitors beat them to the headlines. Steve Jobs would not have allowed his company to be seen as a “me too” to emerging trends. The sudden stoppage on Titan and personnel shift to AI is telling sign on sense of urgency and gravity.

Apple licensed AI self-driving algorithms, I could see that.

Imagine, "iDrive, brought to you by Apple. No, not the cloud backup product."

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Apple licensed AI self-driving algorithms, I could see that.

Imagine, "iDrive, brought to you by Apple. No, not the cloud backup product."

Personally, not interested.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

No. Cuppertino has most definitely moved on from making a car. AI. AI. AI. AI all the things. They snoozed on AI and allowed competitors beat them to the headlines. Steve Jobs would not have allowed his company to be seen as a “me too” to emerging trends. The sudden stoppage on Titan and personnel shift to AI is telling sign on sense of urgency and gravity.

Not sure if you've watched the ColdFusion channel on YouTube, but Dagogo does amazing summary videos of technology, finance and just larger news in general. Well presented and easy to digest.

The one linked below goes more into depth about Apple and their AI efforts. Pretty interesting especially when you realize how stagnated Siri has become (dev's focused elsewhere)


TLDW
Apple has been buying up more AI companies over the years than any others. Apple isn't always first to market, but they are typically the ones that revolutionize it and set the new standard.

Also, not an apple product owner, but I appreciate what they've accomplished.

 

[DrewT]

I have been an Apple customer since 1985 and an Apple shareholder since 1995 .I had deposits on The Cybertruck and the Ford F 150 Lightning but ultimately bought the R1T which has been a magnificent machine . After I bought the R1T , I kept thing RJ kept reminding me of Steve Jobs and I bought a good slug of Rivian stock . I hope they are in serious talks and I think both companies have a lot to offer each other . Vivian's may not be exactly what Apple had in mind for a car but the R3 X might go a long way . Perhaps most importantly I think getting together would be very good for the North America economy . I accept the EV's are inevitable but I fear the American auto industry could be given a massive wake up call . Apple and Rivian make a lot of strategic senes .

 

[TollKeeper]

My prediction: this thread is going to be 100 pages long of speculation before anything gets officially announced.

After which, we will learn that the “collaboration” entailed just renaming Rivian Guides -> Rivian Geniuses, the new steering wheel will have an Action button, and the R3 will be coming in pastel colors.

What if after those 100 pages... It comes out that Rivian and Apple have already been in this partnership, but due to NDA's and stock protection, they couldnt announce it until the tech was proven?

Just a thought...

 

[Supratachophobia]

Personally, not interested.

Samsies. My preference in who drives:

1. Me
2. Mobile Eye
3. Whatever Rivian uses
...
....
.....
99. Apple
100. Tesla FSD

 

[Zoidz]

I have been an Apple customer since 1985 and an Apple shareholder since 1995 .I had deposits on The Cybertruck and the Ford F 150 Lightning but ultimately bought the R1T which has been a magnificent machine . After I bought the R1T , I kept thing RJ kept reminding me of Steve Jobs and I bought a good slug of Rivian stock . I hope they are in serious talks and I think both companies have a lot to offer each other . Vivian's may not be exactly what Apple had in mind for a car but the R3 X might go a long way . Perhaps most importantly I think getting together would be very good for the North America economy . I accept the EV's are inevitable but I fear the American auto industry could be given a massive wake up call . Apple and Rivian make a lot of strategic senes .

A scenario that makes the most sense to me is essentially this. I too have been an Apple customer since 1981 with an Apple 2 and then many Macs and buying stock when the Macs were young. I had the honor of meeting John Sculley (honor, lol) and Guy Kawasaki (honor, yes) at MacWorld in 1987 while working for a development company of a Mac software product. I still have an Alpha prototype of the Mac SE in my basement, lol. For these reasons, I've pretty closely monitored how they operate for a long time. The good, bad and ugly.

Apple has a long history of not necessarily being first to the market with revolutionary tech, but they do bring it to the mass market and it is usually well refined, polished, etc. They didn't really invent anything the Mac featured, but they brought it to mass market, and this pushed IBM and Microsoft to improve their GUI offerings.

I suspect that whatever is going on is a longer term strategic plan, born out of Apple's efforts and ultimate retreat from the EV market. They certainly must have some proprietary EV tech that is of value. This plus Apple's late but rapid push into AI makes me think that they are considering some sort of joint agreement with Rivian that will give Tesla a run for the money in autonomous driving/robotaxi market, and leave all the other automakers in the dust. The companies have similar ethos/philosophy. Pure speculation - I think a Rivian OEM'd Apple co-branded robotaxi could be in the future, with perhaps Apple putting $$$ in now to bridge the EV winter?

 

[electruck]

They pickup a fully warrantied, tried and true drivetrain that they don't have to staff for maintainence/repair and then go on to do what they do best, software. I mean, I guess technically, Fox Conn makes the Apple hardware so in a way, they already do this.

That's really not true if Apple were only acquiring the skateboards from Rivian and then "throw[ing] a body and infotainment/FSD hardware into" them. If it has an Apple top hat and Apple branding, Apple will want/need to provide branded service and delivery. That's assuming Rivian contract manufactures the entire vehicle, otherwise Apple also has to contract that out to someone else or do it themselves. Either way, it would still be a huge investment for the mere opportunity to "do software". Car Play 2.0 gives them the opportunity to "do software" in the automotive space and it's proving a tough sell.

When it comes down to it, software is one of the few brand differentiators in the BEV space. Efficiency, reliability, aesthetics, and software are the things a car company can use to differentiate itself from its competitors which is why most brands aren't willing to give up that control over the software. A bit of a tanget but... I think Fisker has just proven that aesthetics aren't enough to make a car company viable (and without any manufacturing capability or meaningful IP, they're not even a viable acquisition target).

Now, if Apple's project Titan actually generated something meaningful in the way of autonomous driving, perhaps they partner with Rivian as an initial first customer to showcase that capability hoping to attract other adopters. It's certainly an area where Rivian doesn't have the capital to invest but would really benefit from more advanced capabilities that they currently have. And Apple wants to pursue AI but doesn't really want to be in the auto business. Rivian certainly has the ideal platform as a starting point. But autonomous driving is about as far as I can see any kind of partnership between Apple and Rivian going - and I would be highly surprised by even that.

 

[Blueassassin]

Apple buys Rivian next thing you know they make it some special charging cord that doesn't come with the truck and you have to buy separately. But don't worry it was to save cardboard and the environment...

 

[electruck]

Apple buys Rivian next thing you know they make it some special charging cord that doesn't come with the truck and you have to buy separately. But don't worry it was to save cardboard and the environment...

Didn't Tesla do exactly that like 2 yrs ago? I honestly think Rivian should do the same. I've never used the one I carry in the frunk so don't even know if it works.

 

[azbill]

Most likely this is fake news designed for stock market manipulation. If there's one thing Apple and Rivian are good at, it's keeping secrets.

If it's real news, I'm going to speculate that it's probably navigation related.

Apple has really good maps and navigation. Rivian needs help with maps and navigation.

ABRP has the best EV routing data, and is developing real-world data with charger scores. This is data that would be very valuable to a map provider that wants to provide EV relevant navigation.

Apple already has EV route planning, and to me, it is better than ABRP. Works today in my Mach E.

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