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Apple on Tuesday unveiled its latest iPad Pro with a new chip for artificial intelligence processes, as it races to catch up with big rivals in a race to dominate an emerging technology..
The debut of its latest chip in a tablet rather than its Mac laptops is unusual for Apple, and suggests it is keen to give app makers a head start in creating AI-related software ahead of its annual conference. software developers next month, according to analysts.
While Microsoft and Alphabet have dived into the AI sector and seen their shares soar to all-time highs, Apple shares have fallen 5% so far this year as it battles weak iPhone demand, and as investors wait for him to show how he will leverage AI technology.
Apple said that The iPad Pro – its highest-priced model – will have improved screens and will start at US$1,000 for an 11-inch (27.9 cm) model and US$1,300 for a 13-inch (33 cm) model..
It will carry an M4 chip with a larger “neural engine,” a part of the chip designed specifically for the type of calculations required by AI functions, such as generating text or images.
Apple’s chips have had a neural engine since 2017, but rivals such as Intel and Qualcomm tout competing technologies, which they refer to as neural processing units, or NPUs, for personal computers.
“At this level of performance, the Neural Engine and M4 are more powerful than any current AI Neural Processing Unit in any PC,” said Tim Millet, Apple’s vice president of platform architecture, during the presentation.
New iPad Air
Apple also presented new models of its mid-priced iPad Air, which will now come in a larger 13-inch screen size for $800, as well as the 11-inch size it previously had for $600. Those tablets come with Apple’s M2 chip, which hit the market in Apple MacBooks in 2022.
Precisely what AI features the new M4 chips could power might not become clear until June 10 at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, where it often shows off new capabilities for its voice assistant, Siri, as well as the rest of its operating systems.
