Apple’s New M4 Chip Is Expected to Be Dedicated to Artificial Intelligence

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Apple’s M3 line of Mac computers is essentially completely new. The company launched in October with the MacBook Pro M3 and iMac, and last month updated the MacBook Air with the M3 . But Apple is apparently not resting: The company is reportedly preparing to update its entire Mac lineup, including desktops and laptops, with the M4 chip. Why? AI, of course.

This news was brought to us by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman , whose sources claim that Apple is preparing to begin production of the next line of Apple silicon devices for every Mac. Like previous generations of M series chips, Apple plans to create at least three tiers for the M4. The company has fun code names for each of them: Donan, the entry-level M4; Brava, M4 mid-level; and Hidra, a high-end M4. If Apple sticks to previous naming conventions, you can reasonably expect Apple to call them M4, M4 Pro and M4 Max.

Can’t wait for the M4? These are my favorite Mac options available now:

Apple plans to add these chips to a variety of Mac products: Donan will likely appear in the MacBook Air, iMac, base model MacBook Pro, and base model Mac mini. Brava will likely run on more powerful versions of the MacBook Pro and Mac mini. (Apple is reportedly testing the Brava chip in Mac Studio against the unreleased M3 chip.) Hidra will be reserved for the Mac Pro, the most powerful Mac Apple makes. Apple may even increase the maximum amount of RAM on high-end Macs to 500GB (up from the current maximum of 192GB).

However, we don’t really know how powerful these chips will be. Apple Silicon’s year-over-year performance gains are typically modest, as each M-series iteration is impressive in its own right. This year, however, things could be different: Apple is expected to announce a slew of new AI features during WWDC in June . The company will likely want these Macs to be configured as best as possible to support these AI features, as they want to make as much of a splash in the AI ​​space as possible.

Apple is notoriously behind the curve in the field of generative artificial intelligence: with the exception of some small AI-based features, the company has almost completely avoided this new technology, becoming one of the last major tech companies to do so. If the company wants to catch up and catch up quickly, it will have to surprise us with all the new features it plans to introduce in its products this year. Having Macs with chips designed using AI will make a big difference in this regard, even if some of these AI features may be powered by Google’s AI technology . It could even boost Mac sales: If consumers believe the M4 is a better market than previous models, Apple could see improved performance after sales fell 27% in the last fiscal year.

However, I can’t imagine Apple abandoning its existing M-series lineup in favor of the M4. These chips are still great, and I still recommend the M1 MacBook Air to most people . Unless the company is planning a complete diversion in favor of boosting its AI capabilities, I’m confident the M4 will be more of a show of commitment to AI than a Mac revolution. Of course, buy the M4 if you want to get the most out of Apple’s new AI features, but if you have an M1, M2, or M3, I’m guessing you’ll be able to take advantage of the new features as well.

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