Apple wants its Apple Car to offer improved brake lighting and warning systems

Let the Apple Car rumors roll on. Apple has been granted a patent (number US 11858413 B2) for an “Exterior Lighting and Warning System for a Vehicle.”

About the patent

The patent relates generally to systems that generate warnings, and, more particularly, warnings such as brake light warnings for vehicles. When a driver brakes to slow a vehicle, the brake lights are activated. The brake lights are mounted on the rear of the vehicle, so the driver a following vehicle can be informed about the braking status of the vehicle. Some vehicles have brake lights that flash under hard braking to warn following vehicles.

In the patent Apple says that although existing systems for informing following vehicles of braking status can be satisfactory in normal driving conditions, it would be “desirable to provide additional brake status information and additional warnings in many situations.” The tech giant wants its Apple Car to provide improved brake lighting and warning systems.

Summary of the patent

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “A system may have system controls that are used in controlling the system. The system may have sensors that gather information on speed, orientation, and position. The sensors may also gather information on relative speed, information on risks of a collision, and other status information and operating environment information. Control circuitry may use light-based devices to display, information on speed, relative speed, status information, custom light information or other user-selected information, or other information on status and the operating environment.”

When might we see an Apple Car?

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said that Apple’s work on the Apple Car has “lost all visibility at the current time. He has noted that if Apple does not adopt some kind of acquisition strategy to make inroads in the automotive market, it is unlikely that the ‌Apple Car‌ will be able to go into mass production “within the next few years.”

On. Nov. 18, 2021, Bloomberg reported that Apple was accelerating development on its “Apple Car.” The article said that the electric vehicle will be self-driving and could roll out in 2025. However, this doesn’t look like a feasible scenario.