Apple isn’t ready to unveil its broader AI strategy yet – it’s saving that for its global developer conference in June – but the tech giant made sure to mention AI technologies across its device lineup at its iPad event on Tuesday. The company touted a new iPad Air as “an incredibly powerful device for AI”; its AI-powered features such as visual search, subject lift, and live text capture, among others; and of course the improved M4 chip, which features a neural engine “dedicated to accelerating AI workloads.”
Tuesday’s topic focused on the new hardware devices themselves – devices like new iPads and an updated Apple Pencil – rather than the AI advances Apple is making under the hood. But Apple has always indicated that its hardware advances could also help advance AI technologies.
For example, the iPad Air update, which now includes the M2 with a faster CPU, GPU and neural engine, was described as offering “powerful machine learning features” such as: B. visual search, which can identify objects in photos; an AI-powered tool that can highlight the subject of a photo; and Live Text Capture, which allows text to be copied, shared, looked up and translated within the camera frame.
When Apple didn’t have its own AI technology to point to, it referred to third parties. For example, when Apple talked about the iPad Air, he praised Pixelmator’s Photomator, which uses AI models trained on over 20 million professional images to improve photos with a single click.
Meanwhile, the iPad Pro has moved from the M2 to the new M4, the latest generation of Apple silicon with a new CPU, next-gen GPU, and next-gen ML accelerators that Apple claims have up to 50 % faster will deliver performance than the M2. Of course, the company also highlighted the chip’s Neural Engine (NPU), which is “dedicated to accelerating AI workloads.”
“While the chip industry is just beginning to incorporate NPUs into some of its processors, we have been integrating our industry-leading neural engine into our chip for years,” said John Ternus, Apple SVP, Hardware Engineering, during the event.
But consumers are waiting to see what use cases emerge for these hardware advances – and Apple hasn’t elaborated on that yet, although there was the possibility of announcing an iPadOS version with new AI features or other developer-targeted announcements.
Instead, Apple leveraged iPadOS’ existing features, such as the multitasking View Stage Manager and a display mode for creatives called Reference Mode.
Still, the company hinted that improved AI capabilities would soon be in the hands of iPadOS app developers, noting that the operating system software offers advanced frameworks like CoreML and that developers could leverage the neural engine to create “powerful AI.” “Provide features directly on the device.”
In other apps like Logic Pro, Apple has added new AI-powered session players, such as a bass and keyboard player, who can take part in a performance alongside the already available drummer. These AI-driven companion band members can also respond to feedback provided in the app, Apple said. The company also mentioned a machine learning-powered Logic Pro plugin, ChromaGlow, to add warmth to tracks.
Photo credit: Apple
Apple has pointed to how AI could solve problems in areas such as photography, such as trying to scan documents with a device’s camera.
“We have all tried to scan a document in certain lighting conditions where it is difficult to avoid shadows,” said Ternus. “The new Pro solves this problem. It uses AI to automatically recognize documents such as forms and receipts. If there are shadows in the way, the new adaptive flash takes multiple photos instantly. The images are stitched together and the result is a much better scan.”
While none of the mentions of AI turned out to be an exaggerated breakthrough, they did suggest that Apple’s style would be to highlight AI improvements as they relate to improving the consumer experience when using its devices.
We expect to hear a lot more about Apple’s AI plans at WWDC. According to rumors, the company could even announce an AI-powered Siri or a partnership with an AI provider like Google or OpenAI.
