According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is offloading tasks such as speech recognition and facial recognition on its mobile devices to a dedicated artificial intelligence chip. The chip is internally known as “Apple Neural Engine” and it is reported that the chip will aid in improving battery life and overall performance.

Apple is exploring the idea of including these chips on upcoming iPhones and iPads and it is said that the Cupertino giant has already commenced the testing of these chips on prototype iPhones. It is not clear yet whether these chips will be included in the iPhone 8 or the updated iPhone 7s/7s Plus.

It has been rumoured that Apple has been investing a lot of their time and money into artificial intelligence as they want to compete with companies like Amazon and Google who are currently withholding their presence in the AI game. The Apple Neural Engine can also be implemented in self-driving cars or AI glasses which have been rumoured to be in the works by Apple, for the past few months.

© Apple

© Apple

It is possible that Apple may discuss their AI endeavours during WWDC in June as Google has already announced their interest in AI in May at the I/O event. Apple has been known to develop chips especially for certain offerings such as the M-series chip in the iPhone 6s for motion capabilities and the W1 chip in the iPhone 7/7Plus for Bluetooth connected Airpods.

© YouTube

Apple has a dedicated AR team at Cupertino and it consists of hundreds of engineers that are currently developing features that may compliment upcoming iPhones. Tim Cook considers AR a better technology than virtual reality as it does not appeal to a niche audience, rather the mass market. Apple has acquired companies like FlyBy and PrimeSense that further solidifies Apple’s journey into the AR game and we might see an incorporated device by Apple very soon. 

Source: The Verge