A new report by the Economic Daily News says that Apple’s next-generation A18 and M4 chips for upcoming iPhone, iPad, and Mac models will feature an upgraded Neural Engine with “significantly” more cores.
The Neural Engine is a special processor unit that makes machine learning models really fast. The unit makes possible advanced on-device features such as natural language processing and image analysis without tapping into the cloud or using excessive power.
The Economic Daily News says that this year Apple supplier TSMC will “not only greatly strengthen the AI computing power of M3 and A17 processors, but also significantly increase the number of AI computing cores and performance of the new generation of M4 and A18 processors, and the carrying rate of AI applications in all product lines will be greatly improved.”
The latest iPhones have a 16-core Neural Engine. As for the Mac, most models with Apple Silicon (M-series) chips are equipped with a 16-core Neural Engine. The only exceptions are the Mac Studio and the Mac Pro, which feature a 32-core Neural Engine when configured with an M1 Ultra or M2 Ultra chip. MacRumors notes that the first Macs with an M4 chip would likely be released in late 2024 or early 2025.
