Last week, at WWDC 2024, Apple revealed its new AI system, Apple Intelligence. It shall be obtainable throughout its iOS, iPadOS, and macOS {hardware}, specifically for the iPhone 15 Pro and M-series iPads and Macs. With the brand new AI options locked to newer merchandise, Apple’s AI chief just lately revealed why the brand new AI system is restricted to its flagship smartphone and Apple silicon iPads and Macs.
Appearing on The Talk Show Live (noticed by The Verge), Apple SVP of Machine Learning and AI Strategy John Giannandrea defined that working giant language fashions (LLMs) requires a whole lot of computing energy, so the machine working the LLMs must be quick and highly effective sufficient to deal with it.
“The inference of huge language fashions is extremely computationally costly,” Giannandrea defined. “So it is a mixture of bandwidth within the machine, it is the dimensions of the ANE, it is the oomph within the machine to really do these fashions quick sufficient to be helpful. You might, in concept, run these fashions on a really outdated machine. But it could be so sluggish it could not be helpful.”
Listening (or studying this), you’d in all probability suppose this was Apple’s excuse to promote new units, particularly pushing to promote extra iPhone 15 Pros. But Apple’s Marketing Chief Greg Joswiak pushed again on that concept, saying, “No, under no circumstances. Otherwise, we have been sensible sufficient simply to do latest iPads and Macs, too.”
Apple Intelligence will introduce a slew of AI-powered options to the relevant units. Some of the options coming because of Apple Intelligence embrace Writing Tools, which can supply the power for AI to rewrite and proofread paperwork (akin to options obtainable through Grammarly), Genmoji, which can use generative AI (GenAI) to create new emotes based mostly on textual content descriptions offered by the person, and an overhaul to Siri.
Since its launch final yr, the iPhone 15 Pro has positioned better emphasis on making it a “flagship” smartphone. With the A17 Pro system on a chip (SoC), Apple has made the iPhone 15 Pro the primary iPhone to introduce Apple intelligence, the primary iPhone to assist hardware-based raytracing, and the primary to obtain console-quality ports that run natively on the machine.
In our 9/10 assessment of the iPhone 15 Pro, IGN wrote: “The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max have extra happening than their comparable outward look suggests. Even extra pro-level digicam options, critical gaming energy, and long-overdue freedom from the proprietary Lightning cables make this a major improve over final yr’s cellphone.”
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can observe her on Twitter @TayNixster.
