Apple envisioned using your fingerprint as a car key

Apple has been working on an electric, self-driving car since 2014, but nobody outside of the company knows what specific ideas and features the company had in mind.

New details about what Apple had been working on were revealed in a Bloomberg report about how Apple's car project has been wracked by internal turmoil.

Turns out, Apple had a few interesting ideas about what Apple could do with a car - starting with its Touch ID fingerprint technology.

"Apple executives had imagined an electric car that could recognize its driver by fingerprint and autonomously navigate with the press of a button," according to Bloomberg. "One plan sought a partially autonomous car that still had a steering wheel and pedals, while later plans migrated toward a fully autonomous vehicle."

Touch ID is a fantastic example of how Apple's vertically integrated business model and computing technology could transition to the car. Put your finger on the sensor, and have your car take you to your destination.

It's also worth noting that at least at the beginning, Apple did envision a "partially autonomous" car that the driver could control.

Still, from the report, it sounds as if Apple has backed away from building its own automotive hardware in favor of self-driving software. So the fingerprint-unlocked car may be mothballed for now - but it remains a great example of how cars may transform when technology companies start building them.