When Apple officially cancelled its long-running self-driving car program, many saw it as a massive failure. However, the secret project left behind a powerful legacy: the advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips that now power Apple's latest devices.
During the early stages of the self-driving car project, Apple engineers realized that the vehicle would require immense computing power to handle real-time decision-making on the road. Although the car itself was never finished, the effort to build a dedicated automotive processor laid the groundwork for what we now know as the Neural Engine.
This specialized hardware made its debut in 2017 with the A11 Bionic chip in the iPhone X. In its early days, the Neural Engine was primarily used for computer vision tasks, such as powering Face ID facial recognition, Animoji, and augmented reality features. Since then, Apple has expanded this hardware capability across its entire product lineup, introducing the Neural Engine to its Mac desktop and laptop computers through the M-series processors.
Having robust, on-device AI hardware has given Apple a distinct advantage. It allows the company to process artificial intelligence tasks directly on users' devices rather than sending data to remote servers. This on-device processing has become a major selling point for Apple's privacy-focused marketing, as it ensures less personal information is sent to the cloud.
Apple is now doubling down on this chip legacy. Reports indicate that the company plans to skip the high-end Pro, Max, and Ultra versions of its upcoming M6 chip. Instead, Apple is accelerating the development of the M7 processor, which is expected to launch in the first half of 2027 with major upgrades to its Neural Engine. The most powerful version, the M7 Ultra, is even planned to power new server products designed to support massive workloads with up to 1.5 terabytes of RAM. While Apple's AI software development has sometimes lagged behind its competitors, the hardware foundations built during its failed car project continue to drive its future.