Everyone wondering what exactly is going on with Apple’s rumored car project will rejoice at the latest development: Apple is reportedly bringing back legendary hardware engineering head Bob Mansfield to oversee Project Titan and the development of an electric vehicle.
Mansfield started working for Steve Jobs in 1999 and was still employed by Apple but had stepped away after developing the MacBook Air, iMac, and iPad. Those successful products are plenty for one lifetime. Mansfield had transitioned from leading the hardware engineering department to overseeing special projects three years ago. One of those projects? The Apple Watch. Mansfield is now back in the swing of things after some time away, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Apple has yet to acknowledge the existence of its rumored car division, but the WSJ notes that Apple employees figured out Mansfield’s return from the company directory—all of Project Titan’s senior managers now report to the special projects guru.
The story behind the story: While the Apple Car is an open secret, Apple’s cone of silence means that we don’t know much about the project other than that its release date is still a ways off. Last week, The Information reported that Project Titan’s top exec left in January and that the car’s 2020 release target had been pushed back a year. With Mansfield’s proven track record, having him at the helm of such a huge project must be reassuring to Apple employees.