All major tech giants are investing resources in the development of solutions related to artificial intelligence. However, compared to Google and Microsoft, Apple is quite behind: it does not have its own AI chatbot (like Gemini and Copilot) and its devices cannot count on innovative features such as, for example, Circle to search. However, there could be a change of direction this year, also with the presentation of the range iPhone 16.
According to the latest report by Economic Daily News (via MacRumors), i chip A18 is M4 for the upcoming new generations of iPhone and Mac they will be equipped with a Neural Engine with a significantly larger number of cores so that we can better manage the activities of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
In this regard, it is said that iOS 18 it will bring with it new AI features for Siri, Apple Music, Messages and more. Furthermore, during a recent conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that the company is actively working on features based on generative artificial intelligence and that will share details on this by the end of 2024. The best opportunity to reveal these innovations is undoubtedly the WWDC24the event dedicated to new software which – barring surprises – will be held in June, in Cupertino.
Returning to the A18 chip (and related variants), it will almost certainly debut with the range iPhone 16, in September. Again according to rumors, some AI features may be exclusive to 2024 smartphonesperhaps precisely because of the updated Neural Engine.
As for the Mac, all or almost all models that use an Apple Silicon chip can count on a 16-core Neural Engine. The only exceptions are the Mac Studio and Mac Pro, which feature a 32-core Neural Engine when configured with the M1 Ultra or M2 Ultra. Looking to the immediate future, the first Macs with M4 should appear between the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025.