Joe Rossignol
Apple's Intelligence servers currently run on the M2 Ultra chip, and are expected to start using the M4 series chips next year. As part of a possible move away from Mac chips for use in servers, The Information reported today that Apple is developing a new server chip that will provide even faster performance for AI functions.
The report says the new chip contains “many duplicates” of Apple's Neural Engine, so it looks like it will provide increased performance for AI processing.
At least three companies are believed to be involved in the development of the chip. Apple is said to be handling the overall design of the chip, while Broadcom is said to be providing some of the networking technology for it. TSMC is expected to begin mass producing the chip in 2026 using its third-generation 3nm process, known as N3P. It’s the same process that’s expected to be used for the A19 chips in next year’s iPhone 17 models.
According to the report, the chip will likely support some Apple Intelligence features that rely on server-side generation, such as Image Playground:
Apple will likely use the new AI chip it’s developing for inference, where the chip processes new data — like a user’s description of a possible image — and applies it to models to generate output, such as creating the image itself.
More on Broadcom’s involvement from the report:
Like Google, Apple relies on Broadcom for technology to network, or link chips together so they can work in sync to compute data faster. The technology has become a key driver of AI development, enabling the computation of the massive amounts of data needed to train and run LLMs. Networking is one of Broadcom’s core strengths.
The paid report has many more details about the chip.
Apple announced that iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 will be released today with additional Apple Intelligence features, including Genmoji, Image Playground, Image Wand, and ChatGPT integration for Siri. All iPhone 16 models also feature a new Visual Intelligence feature that lets you quickly identify things in the real world using the camera button on these devices. As part of Apple Intelligence, Siri will gain features like on-screen awareness and deeper control over each app, likely starting with iOS 18.4. And with the release of iOS 19.4 in 2026, Siri is expected to become more conversational, like ChatGPT.
Tags: Apple Intelligence Guide, The Information[ 23 comments ]
