The reason that Apple is able to sell iPads and iPhones is that they are small computers, something which Apple has made and sold from day 1. This is not true of cars. Apple's entire business model has been predicated on proprietary computer hardware that's smaller and more capable with each iteration. When it became possible to play music, watch videos, and make phone calls on these small computers, Apple started selling them for that. The only new business Apple has ever gotten into is media, and that rides on the back of their hardware.
None of this is true for cars! Apple's production, design, marketing, etc. have no overlap with how cars are made or sold -- and no amount of wishing or money will give them that overlap. It's not that it's a new business for Apple, cars are completely unrelated to anything Apple has ever made or done. No business in history has ever pulled off a switch like that. It's the reason that railroads never became airlines, for example.
Even with unlimited capital, Apple lacks the mindset to produce and market a car out of thin air -- a task which is difficult even for those entrenched in the industry.
The Verge's auto editor's repeated stance (it's easiest to spot in somewhat recent Ford F-150 Lightning articles) is that any modern EV is "a computer on wheels". Especially as cars trade physical cabin controls for touch screens, the resemblance to phones only increases. But there's also the fact that EV's physically simple drivetrain is augmented by the fact that it is much more than ICE a "software-defined drivetrain" with firmware replacing things that used to be physics (the power/torque curve of the acceleration pedal, for instance).
There's certainly enough people outside of Apple wondering if "cars are just computers now with wheels" that maybe Apple isn't entirely crazy if they think it is an adjacent market they might compete in.
And all of that's before buying into any hype about "self-driving" and "AI cars".
Well, I'll go ahead and say the Verge's auto editor is wrong on this one. A car is a mechanical device with lots of moving parts which aren't programmable. It's also a safety cage for people and regulatory nightmare for compliance with every jurisdiction's safety requirements, neither of which Apple is prepared for. Finally, cars require a sales and support network which Apple won't be able to build. It's more accurate to think of cars as boxes with wheels. The computer being in charge of throttle, brake, and speed has been a factor for a long time -- before Apple got involved -- and doesn't make Apple a car company.
None of this is true for cars! Apple's production, design, marketing, etc. have no overlap with how cars are made or sold -- and no amount of wishing or money will give them that overlap. It's not that it's a new business for Apple, cars are completely unrelated to anything Apple has ever made or done. No business in history has ever pulled off a switch like that. It's the reason that railroads never became airlines, for example.
Even with unlimited capital, Apple lacks the mindset to produce and market a car out of thin air -- a task which is difficult even for those entrenched in the industry.