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Apple has unveiled new iPads equipped with a “tremendously powerful AI chip,” signaling the Silicon Valley giant’s growing focus on artificial intelligence services.
The company launched the “M4” chip for its latest iPad Pro devices on Tuesday, just months after introducing the M3 alongside new Macs in October.
AI developers’ insatiable need for computing power is driving Big Tech companies like Apple and Nvidia to increase the pace at which they release more powerful processors that can process large amounts of data.
Chip design has become an important skill for the world’s richest technology companies. Microsoft, Amazon and Google have all unveiled new processors focused on AI in recent months.
Tim Millet, Apple’s vice president of platform architecture, hailed the combination of M4’s central processing unit, graphics processor and dedicated AI capabilities – which M4 calls a “neural engine” – as a major advance over its previous chips.
He said at an Apple event on Tuesday that these components combined make the “M4 an incredibly powerful chip for AI.”
Apple is under pressure from investors to unveil new AI features to compete with Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Google at a time when iPhone sales have fallen.
The explosion of new AI apps since OpenAI launched its groundbreaking ChatGPT chatbot 18 months ago has sparked a race for the powerful processors needed to create so-called large language models – AI systems that produce human-like text and images can generate.
Apple has been developing its own Arm-based processors for its iPhones since 2010 and switched from Intel chips for its Mac computers in 2020 with the M1.
The latest iPad Pro models, unveiled at an event on Tuesday, offer thinner and brighter screens that require more sophisticated processors. But like previous incarnations of its M-series chips, the M4 is expected to mark the start of a broader upgrade of its bespoke chips across Apple’s lineup, paving the way for more advanced AI features.
Nvidia, the Silicon Valley company whose chips are in high demand among startups and Big Tech companies, launched a new generation of its AI processors last month in a bid to cement its dominance.
Analysts say Apple’s latest chips offer the ability to bring many AI functions that run in the cloud to its customers’ own devices, making apps run faster and providing more privacy.
“The flexibility of Apple’s silicon architecture remains one of its greatest technical advantages over the competition,” said Ben Bajarin, tech industry analyst at Creative Strategies, adding that the company is “starting to be more intentional about highlighting its advantages.” [chips’] Role in AI.”
According to Millet, the M4 used the most advanced manufacturing process technology currently available at scale – the so-called second-generation 3nm node – which promises to improve energy efficiency. The chip also offers more memory bandwidth, a crucial feature for data-hungry AI applications.
He took a swipe at Apple’s competitors by pointing out that the iPhone maker has been using some of its processors for AI functions, the so-called Neural Engine, “for years” and claiming they are “more powerful” than the equivalent chip in “every AI”. PC today”.
Apple’s PC rival Microsoft is planning a Windows event this month that is expected to focus on AI and portability and unveil new Arm-based processors from Qualcomm.
“The new iPad Pro with M4 is a great example of how creating world-class custom silicon enables breakthrough products,” said Johny Srouji, senior vice president of hardware technologies at Apple.
Apple’s event also unveiled a redesigned Pencil stylus for its tablets and a cheaper version of its larger 13-inch iPad model.