What do you want in the iPhone 16 when it launches this fall? We’ve already heard rumors ofbetter cameras, improved battery life, more efficient thermal design and more. But a new report claims that the processors in the 16 series will ramp up AI computing cores, compared to current models.
The report, from Taiwanese site Economic Daily News and spotted by Joe Rossignol’s eagle eyes at MacRumors, “will greatly increase” the number of AI cores.”
These extra cores will increase performance, which fits with the rumors that generative AI features are coming to the next series of iPhones. When I say rumors, I also mean that CEO Tim Cook has told me that Apple is working on generative AI, and told an earnings call that Apple would share details later this year—almost certainly in June at WWDC or the fall when the iPhones are released.
And since there have also been reports that some generative AI features would be exclusive to iPhone’s class of 2024, the extra cores predicted now would make sense.
It seems that there will be benefits for the Mac as well, with the report saying, “Apple’s product line will be greatly upgraded, and the new generation of M4 and A18 processors for terminal devices such as iPad, Macbook and iPhone will greatly increase the number of built-in AI computing cores.”
Apple’s machine learning smarts are part of what it calls the Neural Engine in its chips, which date back to the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. Then, the Neural Engine had two cores. The next year this rose to eight cores, and has had 16 cores since the iPhone 12.
So, if Apple is going to “greatly increase” the number, what will it mean? Perhaps 24 or even 32. Apple is so skilled at efficiency, it could be that 20 cores could make a substantial difference.
That’s not quite the end of the story. Economic Daily News says that the existing processors will improve, even without the introduction of new cores, presumably by redirecting the software to use the Neural Engine differently. This kind of improvement has happened before, with performance increases claimed by Apple on the same number of cores.
The new report says, “This year, it will not only greatly strengthen the AI computing power of M3 and A17 processors, but also significantly increase the number of AI computing cores and performance of the new generation of M4 and A18 processors.”
With these changes, plus better OLED screens, a new microphone to improve Siri, an extra button, designed for shooting video and an improved main camera sensor, things are shaping up nicely for the iPhone 16 series.
