It’s clear artificial intelligence is going to be a major focus across the tech industry this year, and Apple is prepping big moves in AI for its upcoming products.
According to a new report out of Taiwan, the iPhone 16 line launching later this year will feature a massively upgraded Neural Engine chip to power new AI capabilities in iOS 18.
Significantly More Cores
The Neural Engine in the iPhone 16 series will apparently have “significantly” more cores than previous iPhones. Since the iPhone 12, Apple’s Neural Engine has been stuck at 16 cores.
So a big jump in core count will provide a major boost to AI performance. This sets the stage for more advanced on-device AI features.
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Generative AI for iOS 18
The report suggests the enhanced Neural Engine is designed specifically to handle new generative AI functionalities coming in iOS 18.
Apple is expected to announce iOS 18 at WWDC in June, likely alongside a new version of Siri with expanded intelligence.
Launching with iPhone 16
The iPhone 16 lineup, anticipated for a September launch per usual, will be the first to ship with the upgraded Neural Engine and iOS 18 software.
This one-two punch of new hardware and software focused on AI represents a major initiative by Apple to push the boundaries of on-device intelligence.
The wait for an iPhone with powerful integrated AI capabilities may soon be over. But we’ll have to wait for WWDC and the iPhone 16 launch to find out exactly what Apple has in store.
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