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OPINION: If you’re in the business of computer chips, and the devices that house them, right now then artificial intelligence will be all over your agenda. Like Intel, AMD, Qualcomm and more, Apple is all over it. But, the upcoming M4 chip needs to be a worthy AI showcase.
I’ve already had a good old whinge about the term “AI PC” and how its buzzwordy nature isn’t providing meaningful value to your average consumer quite yet. Well, unsurprisingly, it seems Apple is putting a focus on AI with its expected next set of chips. But, here’s hoping Apple won’t just say “AI” several times in its big reveal to please its stakeholders but will implement useful new features.
Webcam effects won’t be enough
Undoubtedly, artificial intelligence is set to play a huge, and growing, part in our daily home and working lives over the next decade and beyond. But, for now, AI PCs have primarily showcased new features through one simple addition, and that’s Windows Studio Effects.
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That fancy new NPU that comes inside new Intel Core Ultra and some AMD Ryzen 8000 chips that are now on the market has been talked up to high heavens but, then, when it comes to showing what it can do for typical users, there isn’t a ton of benefit quite yet.
Instead, the big feature is Windows Studio Effects, letting you natively add video conferencing-related effects to your video and audio. And, these are things apps like Zoom could largely do anyway.
One of the first Windows “AI PCs” – Asus Zenbook 14 (2024)
The next big thing when people think of AI coming to more PCs in 2024 is, of course, assistants. But, for now, Microsoft’s Copilot operates in the cloud so whether your hardware is an “AI PC” or not is largely irrelevant. However, deeper Copilot hardware integration is expected as we venture further into this new AI era (via The Verge).
So, what could an AI MacBook actually do?
Apple is yet to formally reveal its upcoming AI-focused plans, which is expected at June’s Apple WWDC event. Instead, information comes via a report from veteran Apple reporter Mark Gurman (via Bloomberg). But, it looks set to fit with expectations that are being set by key rivals like Microsoft. Gurman highlights, “A large swath of those features is designed to run on the devices themselves — rather than in remote servers”.
MacBook Air M3
This would provide that step up in capabilities from what we’ve experienced with “AI PCs” thus far. Further, Gurman adds that Apple is set to drive this with “speedier chips”. Technically, Apple has had an “AI PC” on its hands for much longer than most key rivals, with the M1 chip featuring an NPU right from the inception of Apple Silicon.
Again, it’s key to think about what this all means, as no customer benefits from a brand simply touting better AI without key features to show for it.
Well, to get some idea of what Apple may be planning, we can look to its rivals who have already been demoing more on-device AI. I’m talking about the upcoming Snapdragon X Elite platform from Qualcomm. Since its reveal, the brand has been demoing various on-device AI features to talk up its artificial intelligence chops and we can expect these to be key battlegrounds going forward
The features include more powerful and faster image generation that you currently get from cloud-based solutions, as well as boosting image editing itself. There’s also been the touting of intriguing new tools like fast on-device multimodal features, such as image-to-text translation, speech-to-text translation and more (via Qualcomm). Privacy features heavily too, something Apple regularly showcases with its devices.
Aside from these boosted versions of features that already exist in some form, creating AI assistants that feel truly useful remains a missing piece of the “AI PC” puzzle and we know it’s something Apple is keen on enhancing with its devices — and taking it further with physical robot assistants using these models too (via Bloomberg).
Apple has an impressive habit of presenting new and exciting leaps forward in technology in a way that seems actually useful for consumers. That’s often presented up against some rivals who focus on performance metrics over user needs. It’s time for Apple to use this superpower once again and make a MacBook truly worthy of the moniker “AI PC”.
Ctrl+Alt+Del is our weekly computing-focused opinion column where we delve deeper into the world of PCs, laptops, handhelds, peripherals and more. Get it straight into your email inbox every Saturday by signing up for the newsletter.
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