It could happen to any of us
In 2010, a 27-year-old software engineer walked into a bar, downed a German beer, and left a top secret prototype of a next generation iPhone behind.
A 21-year-old found the device, asked around, and when nobody claimed it, he sold it to tech magazine Gizmodo for $5000.
Gizmodo spilled the secrets of the iPhone 4, and it became worldwide news.
Apple doesn’t slip up very often
The company has a pretty good track record of keeping its products under wraps until it launches them – which is why slip ups become such big news.
When the iPhone was first being worked on, according to Brian Merchant in The One Device, Apple’s top engineers were disappearing from their desks, being summoned to commit to a top secret project they wouldn’t be able to talk about even with their friends or family until it launched years later.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs was notoriously paranoid, and the company’s culture of product development secrecy still persists but for a few clues.
The clues come in the forms of accidental slip ups, such as phones left in bars or restaurants, and in the patent applications filed by the company.
Here are some secret projects Apple’s been said to be working on
The Apple Car:
The Apple Car has been rumoured since at least 2014, when more than 1,000 engineers got to work on it in a secret location.
In late 2022, Bloomberg reported that Apple’s car release would be delayed until at least 2026, was expected to sell for less than USD $100,000, and wouldn’t be self-driving at launch.
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has previously called autonomous driving the ‘mother of all AI problems’.
GQ reports that Apple has applied for a series of patents related to its car project, which include smart headlights, adjustable tinted windows, and adjustable exterior lighting.
Apple Watch-enabled non-invasive diabetes testing:
People with diabetes are tasked with checking and controlling their blood sugar levels in order to stay healthy. For many, this means frequent invasive pin pricks to test their blood sugar.
Last week, Bloomberg reported that Apple has developed a proof of concept prototype that uses a silicon chip to shine light from a laser to figure out the density of blood sugar for a user. Now, the company has to work out how to condense it to make it fit into its Apple Watch.
An estimated 10.5% of people in the US alone have diabetes, so this tech could be a game changer for them, and significant for Apple.
The foldable iPhone:
Apple’s been filing patents for a foldable iPhone since at least 2018, according to Patently Apple. Its competitors, Samsung and Motorola, each have foldable phone offerings. There’s speculation that Apple’s patents might instead point to the company launching a foldable iPad first.
A mixed reality headset:
Apple’s reportedly been working on an AR/VR headset. Analysts are tipping there’ll be entry and pro level devices, which will be used for communication, content viewing and gaming uses. Apple’s not yet going all in on the metaverse.
How has innovation helped Apple stay ahead?
We asked our Spaceship Voyager investment team. Here’s what investment analyst Maddy Falkiner had to say.
“Steve Jobs once said that “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”.
This encapsulates Apple’s position as one of the most successful companies in history where continuous innovation has effectively enabled the company to compete and win in markets where the rate of technological change and disruption is high.
Apple hasn’t maintained this stronghold position by simply innovating cutting-edge products but instead, innovation is embedded throughout the organisation – they foster a culture of innovation where the company is structured by aligning expertise and decision rights and then combine this with heavy investments in research and development (R&D). In 2022 Apple spent a massive $26.2 billion on R&D which provides strong evidence of the importance of innovation using both hardware and software to drive the company’s success over the long term.
Through the combination of a unique culture based on continuous improvement, collaboration, openness to change and technical expertise coupled with dedicated R&D spending, we believe Apple has created one of the strongest competitive moats in history that will sustain its relevance for decades to come.”
Some of our Spaceship Voyager portfolios invest in Apple at the time of writing.
Important! We’re sharing with you our thoughts on the companies in which Spaceship Voyager invests for your informational purposes only. We think it’s important (and interesting!) to let you know what’s happening with Spaceship Voyager’s investments. However, we are not making recommendations to buy or sell holdings in a specific company. Past performance isn’t a reliable indicator or guarantee of future performance.
