Apple has long been rumored to be working on an electric car but recent reports suggest that the company has given up on plans of building an actual car. It’s now believed that Apple is going to develop an operating system for self-driving cars which it will then provide car companies that want to jump on the bandwagon. A new report from Bloomberg reveals that Apple is working on this new operating system in BlackBerry’s backyard. You might be wondering how BlackBerry is relevant here, but it most certainly is.
QNX is a Canada-based leading provider of automotive software and it happens to be owned by BlackBerry. According to the report, Apple has made the rare move of taking research and development of a new project to someplace other than its headquarters in Cupertino, California.
Apple is now said to have dozens of engineers in Canada working on its operating system for self-driving cars. Most of the engineers were reportedly hired over the past year and about two dozen are said to have been hired from BlackBerry’s QNX.
These engineers are believed to be based at an Apple office in the Kanata suburb of Ottawa, which is about a five minute walk from QNX’s base. Apple reportedly hired employees from QNX as they have significant experience in developing fundamental components of power management and operating systems.
It’s obviously too soon to say right now when this new OS will be ready and when we’ll actually be able to see a car powered by it.