Earlier this week reports surfaced that Apple was developing a standalone chip that would be used in their cloud AI browser. Under the Apple Chips in Data Center (ACDC) project, this AI browser will be the backbone of AI services that will be offered on various Apple devices starting this year. Bloomberg today reported that no specific new chip will be developed, instead the M2 Ultra chip will be used before switching to the M4 chip.
The generative AI system on Apple devices will be processed in the cloud for heavy tasks and light tasks will be run directly on the device. This is similar to what Samsung and Google are doing at this point. With its own AI browser, Apple can ensure that user data and privacy will be more secure.
The M4 chip has an NPU with a power of 38 TOPS which is less powerful than the Snapdragon X Elite with 45 TOPS. But this is still Apple's first attempt to offer AI features on their products and they may feel the M4's power is more than enough.