Is Apple actually building a car?
Rumors have been swirling for a few years about an Apple car, and now the tech giant has registered three automotive web domains.
A woman looks at the screen of her mobile phone in front of an Apple logo outside its store in downtown Shanghai. Th
Aly Song/AP/File
Rumors have been swirling for a couple years about Apple building a car. We've heard it's supposedly called Project Titan, and that it could hit the streets by 2019. Friday, we learn that Apple has registered three automotive domains. Why would it do that if it isn't building a car?
MacRumors reports that as of January 8, the database of registered domain names, Whois, shows that Apple has registered apple.car, apple.cars, and apple.auto. The domains were registered through MarkMonitor Inc. in December of 2015. It's worth noting these domains aren't actually active, yet.
Could all of this be part of a larger plan involving Apple's CarPlay system? Sure, that's possible. But there's mounting evidence that Apple's looking to get into the car business in some capacity.
Apple's been hiring people away from Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA], Fiat Chrysler Automobiles [NYSE:FCAU], and battery supplier A123 Systems en masse recently.
As of September we heard that as many as 600 people were already working on Project Titan, and it had been given the green light for production.
Will Apple build a car? The evidence is pointing toward yes, but whether it'll manufacture it or contract it out is an entirely different question.
Stay tuned for more updates as they become available.