Apple is gearing up to deploy Apple silicon chips on some of its data center servers to power AI features with the upcoming iOS 18 update, reports Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman.
Per the report, Apple will begin using existing Apple silicon processors on its servers this year, with plans calling for the M2 Ultra as the first chip for the endeavor. This corroborates information the Wall Street Journal shared earlier this week under the codename Project ACDC. In addition to the M2 Ultra, Apple has plans to deploy a high-end version of the just-announced M4 chip, likely the M4 Max or M4 Ultra, on its servers in addition to the M2 Ultra.
The data centers fitted with Apple silicon will reportedly power some AI features heading to iOS 18 later this year. While simple AI features coming to iOS 18 will run on-device on the iPhone, such as summarizing missed notifications or incoming messages, more sophisticated capabilities must be processed on Apple’s servers. Some power-intensive AI features Apple plans to process on its new servers could include content generation like image creation and generating email responses on the user’s behalf, long text summarization, and an LLM-power Siri.
The report adds that Apple first conceived the idea of deploying Apple silicon for its servers three years ago, but was forced to accelerate its plans following the recent AI hype dramatically. During the same period, Apple reportedly invested “hundreds of millions of dollars” to bring its cloud-based AI capabilities up to speed.
The online processing approach for AI reportedly represents a shift from the company’s policy of prioritizing on-device processing. Nevertheless, the reliance on Apple silicon for cloud-based AI features should still safeguard the privacy and security of user data. Apple is still expected to tout on-device AI features once iOS 18 is revealed in WWDC, but some features are expected to be exclusive to the recent Apple silicon chips like the iPhone 15 Pro’s A17 Pro and the M4.
It’s all but confirmed that Apple will bring forward a slew of new AI-based features across the board with iOS 18, macOS 15, and more at WWDC 2024. Apple aims to introduce AI capabilities within every corner of iOS 18 as the company has largely remained silent features-wise on today’s AI frenzy that has swept the market.
Look out for AI-powered features spanning Siri, Messages, Spotlight Search, Safari, Apple Music, Xcode, and more. iOS 18 is also said to introduce considerable UI design changes across the board, with these changes said to make the update one of the biggest in iPhone’s history.
WWDC 2024 kicks off on Monday, June 10 when iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15, watchOS 11, and visionOS 2 are expected to be announced. Beta testing for all the new updates will last throughout the summer until they’re released to the public in the fall and later in the year.
