McLaren recently denied Apple had made a takeover offer for the British engineering company, but have now confirmed talks did in fact take place with the technology giant, but eventually came to nothing.
It was speculated that Apple had approached McLaren with a view to taking over the company, including the Formula 1 team, its automotive business and technology arm.
The Cupertino company is believed to be designing its own autonomous car codenamed 'Titan', and that's where a tie-up or takeover of McLaren would have made most sense.
However the British company denied the reports at the time, but McLaren Automotive chairman Mike Flewitt has now confirmed discussions were held between the two parties.
"There wasn't a bid from Apple," he told Reuters. "They visited. We talked. We talked about what they did. We talked about what we did. They toured. It never matured to a definitive proposition."
McLaren is currently seeking a new chairman following the forced removal of Ron Dennis after he tabled a bid, backed by Chinese investors, to take control of the company.
Flewitt revealed that there have been a number of rival bids, but believes the current shareholders are taking McLaren in the right direction.
"There have been a number of bids," he added. "I am comfortable with where our current shareholders are that they want to retain ownership of the company.
"They want to develop both companies. I genuinely believe they are very committed to them."
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