Apple registers car-related domains: apple.car, apple.cars, and apple.auto

By Jason Hahn Published January 9, 2016

Volkswagen MIB II Apple Carplay — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Apple just turned the Apple Car hype meter up a notch: The company recently registered a set of domains that are undeniably related to their plans for an Apple automobile. The company registered apple.car, apple.cars, and apple.auto in December, according to the keen eyes at MacRumors.

The three domains were registered on December 9, 2015, according to the Whois records noticed by MacRumors, which were updated on January 8. None of the domains are currently active.

Recommended Videos

These domain registrations are just three in a pool of thousands by Apple. Apple Inc. is associated with more than 10,000 domains, while domains@apple.com is associated with more than 13,000, and apple-noc@apple.com is associated with nearly 4,000, according to Whois.

It’s also worth noting that Apple’s CarPlay may be the beneficiary of these domain registrations.

Nevertheless, this is likely the first of many Apple Car breadcrumbs in 2016. Last year was full of reports about Apple’s “Project Titan,” including the hiring of a former Tesla senior engineer, word that the company’s car will be an electric vehicle, and sources saying the company is targeting a 2019 ship date.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Jason Hahn is a part-time freelance writer based in New Jersey. He earned his master's degree in journalism at Northwestern…

Cars

Apple Car project continues to veer, report claims

Apple's experimental self-driving car

Whether Apple will actually unveil an electric, autonomous vehicle seems as unclear as ever following a new report that claims the initiative is still facing serious challenges.

Codenamed Project Titan, Apple has reportedly been working on building a car for years, though over that time the company has reportedly struggled with key personnel changes, uncertainty over its approach and ultimate goals, and issues with finding partners to help it move the project forward.

Cars

Apple CarPlay feature to offer an easy way to pay for fuel

Apple CarPlay interface

Apple is developing a new CarPlay feature that will let drivers pay for gas via their vehicle’s dashboard.

The feature was quietly unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in early June but went unreported until now.

Cars

The next generation of Apple CarPlay will power your entire car, riding the trend of all-screen autos

Apple CarPlay interface

Apple is taking CarPlay to an entirely new level with a huge announcement at WWDC 2022. In what it called a "sneak peek," Apple showed off an entirely new generation of CarPlay that expands beyond infotainment and becomes the car's entire interface, from a gauge cluster screen to the center stack and including every car function.

Almost every car from the past handful of years has CarPlay, and it's one of the most-requested features from car buyers. Even still, it's a pretty disjointed experience that transports you to an entirely different interface and leaves you jumping back and forth to the car's own operating system anytime you want to perform "car" functions and not entertainment functions. With this shift, that all goes away: Apple wants to make CarPlay the only interface in your car.