Following the wildly successful release of the AirPods Max Dec. 15, Apple has announced its next project: the iWheel. The adapted high-tech steering wheel will combine traditional features of a car’s dashboard and center console into an all-in-one aerodynamic disk.
“I think I’m speaking for most people when I say that it’s a huge pain-in-the-you-know-what to look at every single dial on the dashboard to find out how fast you’re going or what time it is when you’re on the road,” said Mark Upp, a senior public relations specialist at Apple. “We’re hoping to alleviate some of that stress by making everything nice and compact in our design process.”
Upp explains that the conventional layout of a car’s control panel has been faulted by many for being too spread out and old-fashioned. The iWheel, in contrast, will feature a touchscreen panel with various dashboard functions such as viewing the speedometer, and several unmarked but sleek buttons for functions such as changing the air conditioning.
“It just needs a makeover, basically,” Upp said. “Instead of all over the place, everything you need will be on your iWheel.”
Apple fans all over the country have been getting excited about the newest product.
Dorothy Higgins from Austin, Texas, said, “It’s just too darn hard moving my eyeballs around my entire car, looking for the darn thingamajig to lower the volume. Sometimes a nasty song like WAP comes on and my grandkids are in the backseat.”
Others predict it will be a good present for friends and family who are also fans of the company’s products.
“I can’t wait to purchase the iWheel for my nine year old son,” said Chad Hogan, a father from Cambridge, Mass. “He loves all the other Apple products we get him every Christmas, but he’s starting to get tired of his MacBooks.”
Some online critics have pointed out the high price tag as a potential flaw. While standard steering wheels range around $200, the iWheel has a projected cost upwards of $1,000. Apple has faced similar backlash for pricing on several of its other products, such as the iPhone and AirPods Max.
The AirPods Max was criticized for appearing to be the same product as Beats and other wireless headphone sets, while costing two or three times as much as competitors, at $549.
Robin Wallitz, chief marketing officer of Apple, said in a press release that Apple did have a specific pricing strategy.
“Here’s our secret formula: you do a quick Google search of the product type, average out the first ten prices, and multiply that by five,” said Wallitz.
The ECHO tested this formula and found it does hold true for the new iWheel.
Apple also stresses that the iWheel will only be compatible with people who own iPhones.
“Honestly, most functions don’t require your phone or anything, but it just works better for Apple users,” Upp said. “Of course, even for the loyal customers, you’ll probably need it replaced every couple of years.”
Hogan said this aspect will be a plus for his family, and expects to buy the newest iWheel for his son each Christmas.
The iWheel is planned to arrive in the standard model, as well as the iWheel Air and iWheel Pro, which will feature fewer buttons and more buttons, respectively. The colors are currently still in the design process but will likely include Silver, Space Gray and Rose Gold. The release date is also unknown as of yet.
Wheel image courtesy of Evan-Amos/Vanamo Media; Photo Illustration by Caroline Chen/The ECHO.
