Apple is expected to make a major announcement about its AI efforts at this year's WWDC, in an attempt to catch up in that area. However, a new report from Bloomberg suggests that the iPad set to be announced on May 7 may get a head start on that AI push. According to Mark Gurman, who is well-versed in Apple's internal information, the new iPad Pro is likely to skip the M3 chip entirely and instead be the first Apple device to feature an "M4" chip.
According to Gurman, the M4 chip comes with an upgraded new Neural Engine, and Apple reportedly intends to position the new iPad Pro equipped with this chip as its first "true AI device". Through this, Apple apparently plans to showcase the advanced AI processing capabilities of the new iPad lineup. Gurman believes that all of Apple's future products will feature advanced AI capabilities centered around next-generation chips going forward.
Additionally, this M4 chip is reportedly set to be included in new Macs later this year.
According to Gurman, by unveiling the M4-equipped iPad Pro ahead of WWDC, Apple will be able to present developers with a "focused" vision of integrating AI into hardware and software at WWDC 2024.
That said, it's worth considering that only about six months have passed since the M3 chip was introduced. While Apple does appear to be accelerating its development pace, it remains questionable whether the company would really take a step that would render its existing products obsolete in such a short span of time.
The new iPad Pro may feature an OLED screen, along with machine learning tools aimed at content creators and designers. The upgraded tablet is also expected to support the latest generation Apple Pencil. It has also been reported that the new Apple Pencil may introduce haptic feedback for the first time, simulating the sensation of writing on paper.
Sources