Apple Debuts Ai-focused M4 Chip In Ipad Pro Upgrade

Apple has introduced a new chip called the M4 that it said will outclass PCs designed for artificial intelligence but put the new chip in an iPad Pro model rather than a laptop.

The move is unusual for Apple, which typically puts its latest chips into its Mac line-up, where M3 chips started to show up last spring. But analysts said that Apple is likely eager to get its latest chips, which are more power-efficient and have larger portions of the chip dedicated to handling AI tasks, into the hands of app makers ahead of its annual software developer conference next month.

The iPhone makers latest product launch event comes as the Silicon Valley heavyweight trails Big Tech rivals while they race to build AI into its products across their businesses and dominate the emerging technology.

Apple said the iPad Pro its highest-priced model will have upgraded displays and will now come with an M4 chip with a larger neural engine. Apple chips have featured a neural engine since 2017, but rivals such as Intel and have begun to tout their competitive technologies for PCs.

Apple also introduced new models of its mid-priced iPad Air, which will now come in a larger 13-inch screen size at US$800, as well as the 11-inch size it previously came in. The smaller version costs $600. The models come with Apples M2 chip, which first came to market in Apples MacBooks in 2022.

Apple often introduces new iPads in May, a time when education customers are making purchasing decisions for the next academic year. But in recent years, Apple has started to transform its higher-priced models into devices for creative and business professionals with its iPad Pro models.

Precisely what AI features the new chips could power might not become fully clear until Apples developer conference, where it often shows new capabilities for Siri, its voice assistant, as well as the rest of its operating systems.

Apple rivals Microsoft and Google have dived headlong into AI, introducing chatbots that aim to act as virtual assistants for tasks such as writing emails or tapping out lines of computer code.

While those companies stocks have surged to record highs, Apples share have fallen 6% year to date as it struggles with weak iPhone demand and tough competition in China, and as investors wait for it to show how it will leverage AI technology.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said last week the company is very bullish about our opportunity in generative AI and plans to make more announcements later this year.

Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Creative Strategies, said upgraded iPads could be a way for Apple to get new chips onto the market ahead of its developer conference next month, where it may reveal more about how it plans to address AI.

That could come in the form of automating common tasks to make them faster, or letting Siri, the companys voice-based assistant, delve deeper into apps to carry out tasks on the users behalf.

The key question facing Apple is how much it can improve its AI features while processing most information on the device itself, for privacy reasons.

I always say that the AI is only as smart as the data it can get its hands on, Milanesi said. (c) 2024 Reuters