Apple looks to Korean company for chips for its self-driving car

Apple's much written about autonomous car project cannot seem to let go off its Korean connection. It was initially rumoured that the project was to be handled by Hyundai and Kia. But they pulled out eventually. Yet, Apple continued to be in talks with many Korean component manufacturers, including LG, SK and Hanwha for its putative car.

And now according to a report in Korean supply chain news site The Elec, the Cupertino-based company is apparently developing the self-driving chip for its car project in partnership with Korean OSAT (outsourced semiconductor package test) company just as it did for the M1 processor.

The Apple Silicon department that develops the Mac and iPhone processors is reportedly the one handling the self-driving system chip as well. 

The project, which started last year, is expected to be completed in 2023.

The Apple car, according to the Korean media, will be announced in 2025.

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The report did not mention the name of the South Korean OSAT firm working on the module for a chip that operates the autopilot function in the Apple car. It is to be noted that the development of Apple's M1 chipset in recent Macs and iPads was also tested with Korean OSAT firms.

For the record, Tesla's Autopilot and the Full Self-Driving Beta system rely on a tailored 14nm Samsung Exynos chipset, memory, and cameras integration, and another Korean company assembled them for it. Apple is apparently taking the same route.

So Korean companies seem to be the go-to solutions in the manufacture and assembling supply chain of chips.   

Reports say that the Apple car's autonomous driving set that the Korean OSAT is handling is expected to sport a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) component, too. The NPU will be a key hub for the artificial intelligence calculations needed to monitor and manage the Apple EVs reactions to the road conditions and driver input.

Apply autonomous car project, despite poaching of key staff recently, continues to progress steadily.

Top executives and engineers of Apple have been visiting South Korea regularly to meet with local suppliers. 

Aside from chips, Apple has also had talks with SK Innovation, the EV battery-making arm of SK Group, and LG Electronics for batteries.

It is also said that iPhone assembler Foxconn, which is now looking to pivot to EVs manufacture, is reportedly planning to build a dedicated assembly line in Thailand for Apple car.

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