The future of technology involves AI and Apple is doing everything it can to be part of that future. To that end, a new report says the company has set up a partnership to develop its AI hardware.
According to The Information (subscription required), Apple is working with Broadcom on a server chip that can handle the demands of AI processing. The chip, named Baltra, is expected to be ready by 2026. While Apple is working with Broadcom on the development of Baltra, The Information reports that the actual manufacturing will involve TSMC's N3P process, an improvement on production technology 3 nm.
Last May, Bloomberg reported on Project ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Centers), Apple's effort to build cloud infrastructure using its own chips. The ACDC project began in 2021, but with the AI boom, Apple prioritized the project to support its Apple Intelligence features. ACDC involved the use of M2 Ultra chips with plans for the M4; it is unclear whether Baltra will be part of the ACDC project, but it seems appropriate.
AI technology is processor-intensive, so much so that many tasks are processed in the cloud – other companies' AI technologies rely primarily on cloud processing. Apple has been able to develop many Apple Intelligence features so that processing occurs on the device, but as features evolve, they become more complex and require the processing power provided by the cloud. If Apple succeeds in running Baltra by 2026, it could be followed by a wave of more robust and complex Apple Intelligence features.
AI chips are all the rage, with Google announcing its own Willow quantum AI chip this week. Google says the chip, which represents the culmination of a decade of development, performed “a standard benchmark calculation in less than five minutes that would take one of the fastest supercomputers in the world 10 seven billion years.” Today “.
On Wednesday, Apple introduced a second wave of Apple Intelligence features that include the Image Playground app where you can create AI-generated images; Genmoji, custom emoji that you create; ChatGPT-based writing tools, and more. The new features are available in iOS 18.2, iPadOS, 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 updates.
The Apple/Broadcom AI deal is the latest in the two companies' joint history. Apple is working with Broadcom on RF filters for Apple's 5G modem that could debut on the iPhone SE in 2025. Additionally, a report last October indicated that Apple was developing its own Wi-Fi chip that would replace a chip made by Broadcom.
