The idea of a Tesla phone, rumored to be called Model Pi/P, has circulated the internet. But how likely is the tesla smartphone release? No credible sources have convinced us of its existence, but it got us thinking: what would a smartphone from the world’s most valuable automaker look like?
When Will the Tesla Phone Be Released?
Tesla has a history of releasing interesting, though still, on-brand products like the Cybertruck-inspired all-electric vehicle for kids, an umbrella with their logo stamped on it, and a stainless-steel whistle. Adding a smartphone to the mix wouldn’t be nearly as unexpected, but its release isn’t as believable as those other items, at least not yet.
There are a few primary reasons we’re questioning whether this phone is due for an actual release:
- Most of the rumors come from an early 2021 YouTube video from adrstudiodesign, but they clearly state those are the designer’s ideas, not real leaks or details from Tesla. Most of the rumors we’ve seen appear to be based on that source.
- We’ll get into these more below, but the ideas for this phone are a bit too advanced to be realistic right now, like Neuralink support and connectivity on Mars. Those capabilities don’t have to be in the phone’s first iteration, so a device could still be in the works without them. It’s reasonable to be skeptical when those ideas are thrown around this early.
- If one of the distant side effects, or even plans, of brain-connected technology like Neuralink is to phase out phones altogether, it’d be counterproductive to put work into one.
Release Date Estimate
Some estimates provide an ambitious release date of 2022, but we’ll take Musk’s tweet as evidence that these rumors are simply fantasies. Granted, Tesla could still release a phone in the future, but there’s no reason to believe it’ll happen with the information we currently have. If (that’s a big if) this phone is genuinely being worked on in secret, and every rumor is accurate, there’s little chance we’d see it until closer to 2030.
Tesla Phone Price Rumors
A phone with all the advanced tech described below would cost more than a few thousand dollars. Subsequent versions could come down in price as more people start using the technology, but we wouldn’t expect the first iteration to be affordable for most people.
Assuming the phone is real (again, we don’t think so) and that it would start relatively basic with just a few of the rumored features, it’d likely sit at a more sensible $800-$1,200.
Pre-Order Information
We imagine an announcement many months before the official release, and pre-orders could start early. But without a release date to reference, we have no idea when pre-orders for the Tesla phone could start.
Tesla Phone Specs and Hardware
Assumptions are all anyone can run on with this phone, and with zero reliable sources to use, it’s unclear what this phone could look like on the inside. It would have all the standard components, like 1–2 TB of storage, 16 GB or more RAM, an AMOLED display, and a screen around 6.5 inches.
As for the outside, check out the Tesla Model P concept designs created by ADR Studio, the source of most of these rumors. There are high-quality renderings you can look through beyond the ones we have used in this article.
