Apple unveils new AI-focused chip in iPad Pro

Apple AAPL.O on Tuesday unveiled its latest iPad Pro with a new chip for artificial intelligence processes, as it races to catch up with big rivals in a race to dominate an emerging technology.

The debut of its latest chip in a tablet rather than its Mac laptops is unusual for Apple, and suggests it is keen to give app makers a head start in creating AI-related software ahead of its annual Apple conference. software developers next month, according to analysts.

The announcements did little to move Apple shares, which were up about 0.53 percent at 17:28 GMT, after gaining as much as 1.8 earlier in the day.

While Microsoft MSFT.O and Alphabet GOOGL.O have dove into the AI ​​sector and seen their shares soar to all-time highs, Apple shares have fallen 5 percent so far this year as it battles the weak demand for the iPhone, and as investors wait for it to show how it will take advantage of AI technology.

Apple said the iPad Pro – its highest-priced model – will have upgraded displays and will start at $1,000 for an 11-inch (27.9 cm) model and $1,300 for a 13-inch (33 cm) model.

It will carry an M4 chip with a larger “neural engine,” a part of the chip designed specifically for the type of calculations required by AI functions, such as generating text or images.

Apple’s chips have had a neural engine since 2017, but rivals such as Intel INTC.O and Qualcomm QCOM.O tout competing technologies, which they refer to as neural processing units, or NPUs, for personal computers.

“At this level of performance, the Neural Engine and M4 are more powerful than any current AI Neural Processing Unit in any PC,” said Tim Millet, Apple’s vice president of platform architecture, during the presentation.

Apple also introduced new models of its mid-priced iPad Air, which will now come in a larger 13-inch screen size for $800, as well as the 11-inch size it previously had for $600. Those tablets come with Apple’s M2 chip, which hit the market in Apple MacBooks in 2022.

Precisely what AI features the new M4 chips could power might not become clear until June 10 at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, where it often shows off new capabilities for its voice assistant, Siri, as well as the rest of its operating systems.