Apple scrapped these project ideas apart from its electric car
Apple recently pulled the plug on its autonomous electric car project, known as Project Titan, which started in 2014. The company had hired top executives from Tesla and Ford to work on the project. With the cancellation, some employees lost their jobs, while others were reassigned to other teams within Apple. Prior to Project Titan, Apple undertook several initiatives that never came to fruition. Here are some of the most noteworthy Apple projects that never saw the light of day.
AirPower: Qi-based wireless charger
In 2017, Apple announced AirPower, a wireless charging mat designed to charge up to three devices at once using the Qi standard. However, the project was canceled in 2019 because it didn't meet Apple's "high standards." Apple later replaced it with the MagSafe Duo folding travel charger in 2020. Unlike AirPower, the MagSafe Duo can only charge two devices simultaneously: an iPhone and either an Apple Watch or AirPods.
UHD TV and Vademecum tablet
Rumors of an ultra-high-definition television set from Apple (separate from Apple TV) circulated in 2011 but never came to fruition. Similar to Project Titan, Apple never officially acknowledged its existence before reportedly abandoning it years ago. Apple also experimented with an early tablet called Vademecum in 1994, featuring a stylus and built-in camera. However, the project was canceled because there was "no market for a tablet computer," former Apple executive Dan Russell revealed in a 2018 blog post.
PenLite met similar fate as Vademecum
In 1992, Apple was in the midst of developing yet another tablet known as PenLite. It seemed to be built upon System 7.1, the initial version of Apple's Macintosh operating system tailored for PowerPC-based machines. Reports indicated it would feature a stylus and a 25MHz Motorola processor. Unlike the Vademecum, the PenLite was said to be under development without a camera. However, Apple eventually decided to abandon this project as well, concluding that the market wasn't prepared for it.
MessageSlate and W.A.L.T
Apple's Newton OS-based MessageSlate, codenamed Senior, was yet another tablet project that never made it to market. Instead, Apple released the MessagePad, a smaller version of the MessageSlate prototype, in 1993. Before iPhones became popular, Apple also explored a "telephone Mac" called W.A.L.T. that had a touch panel with stylus support and features like fax and caller ID. However, this device was never publicly discussed by the company.
