Bloomberg reported on Monday (local time) that Apple is installing a high-tech chip similar to the one designed for Mac, the company’s PC series, on a cloud computing server to handle cutting-edge AI tasks on Apple devices. The company added that simple AI functions will enable direct processing on iPhones, iPads and Macs.
The AI function is driven by the device itself or by receiving relevant information from an external data center, and Apple has been developing its own AI chip for data centers and is pushing for some AI functions to be implemented through data centers equipped with the chip. Earlier on the 6th, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Apple has been developing its own chips that allow AI software to run on data center servers since a few years ago.
Apple had planned to use its own chips to enable AI work in the cloud three years ago, but has reportedly moved up the schedule as competition intensified due to AI fever such as ChatGPT and Jeminai. Bloomberg said Apple’s first AI server chip will be the M2 Ultra. The M2 Ultra is a system-on-chip that Apple unveiled in June last year, and has been installed in Mac Studio and Mac Pro.
CPU grows 20 percent faster and GPU grows up to 30 percent faster than M1 Ultra. Neural engines specialized in AI tasks are up to 40 percent faster. However, M2 Ultra’s data center installation is short-lived, and Apple is already paying attention to future versions based on M4 chips, the agency added.
The M4 chip is the latest chip in its own development released by Apple on the 8th and is installed on the Pro, the highest-end iPad model. Apple has explained that the M4 chip is “a chip for powerful AI” and is equipped with Apple’s fastest neural engine. Apple is reportedly in discussions with OpenAI and Google on how to incorporate ChatGPT or Geminai into its AI functions.
The world is currently active in the AI field. If Apple puts its own functions, the AI market will be more active. We hope that AI functions will be available on pads or laptops in the future.
JENNIFER KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
