Apple has disclosed that its newly announced Apple Intelligence features were developed using Google's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) rather than NVIDIA's widely adopted hardware accelerators like H100. This unexpected choice was detailed in an official Apple research paper, shedding light on the company's approach to AI development. The paper outlines how systems equipped with Google's TPUv4 and TPUv5 chips played a crucial role in creating Apple Foundation Models (AFMs). These models, including AFM-server and AFM-on-device, are designed to power both online and offline Apple Intelligence features introduced at WWDC 2024. For the training of the 6.4 billion parameter AFM-server, Apple's largest language model, the company utilized an impressive array of 8,192 TPUv4 chips, provisioned as 8×1024 chip slices. The training process involved a three-stage approach, processing a total of 7.4 trillion tokens. Meanwhile, the more compact 3 billion parameter AFM-on-device model, optimized for on-device processing, was trained using 2,048 TPUv5p chips.

Apple's training data came from various sources, including the Applebot web crawler and licensed high-quality datasets. The company also incorporated carefully selected code, math, and public datasets to enhance the models' capabilities. Benchmark results shared in the paper suggest that both AFM-server and AFM-on-device excel in areas such as Instruction Following, Tool Use, and Writing, positioning Apple as a strong contender in the AI race despite its relatively late entry. However, Apple's penetration tactic into the AI market is much more complex than any other AI competitor. Given Apple's massive user base and millions of devices compatible with Apple Intelligence, the AFM has the potential to change user interaction with devices for good, especially for everyday tasks. Hence, refining AI models for these tasks is critical before massive deployment. Another unexpected feature is transparency from Apple, a company typically known for its secrecy. The AI boom is changing some of Apple's ways, and revealing these inner workings is always interesting.

While everyone has been focused on shipping an AI-enhanced product recently, one tech giant didn't appear to be bothered- Apple. However, according to Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, Apple is readying an overhaul of its Apple Silicon M-series chips to embed AI processing capabilities at the processor level. As the report indicates, Apple is preparing an update for late 2024 and early 2025 with the M4 series of chips, which will reportedly feature AI processing units similar to those found in other commercial chips. There should be three levels of the M4 series, with the entry-level M4 codenamed Donan, the mid-level M4 chip codenamed Brava, and the high-end M4 chip codenamed Hydra.

Sales of Apple Macs peaked in 2022; the following year was a sharp decline, and sales have continued to be flat since. The new AI PCs for Windows-based systems have been generating hype from all major vendors, hoping to introduce AI features to end users. However, Apple wants to be part of the revolution, and the company has already scheduled the World Wide Developer Conference for June 10th. At WWDC this year, Apple is supposed to show a suite of AI-powered solutions to enable better user experience and increase productivity. With M4 chips getting AI enhancement, the WWDC announcements will get extra hardware accelerations. However, we must wait for the exact announcements before making further assumptions.

Apple has struggled in the area of offering comprehensive gaming ecosystems - in the personal computer space - over the past few decades with only a handful of studios bothering to port their games over to macOS, but material presented at this week's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) indicates that the technology giant is getting serious about its silicon becoming a legitimate platform for video games. A lot of the company's presentation focused on the controversial Vision Pro Headset, but some press outlets took notice of a quieter announcement during proceedings. Hideo Kojima (of Metal Gear Solid fame) made an appearance and announced: "I have been a die-hard Apple fan since I bought my first Mac back in 1994—and it has been a dream of mine to see my team's best work come to life on the Mac. Death Stranding Director's Cut on the Mac takes advantage of the latest Apple technologies to provide the best experience to our fans." Several other development outfits have also declared that their games are set for arrival on Mac systems this year. Apple was enthused about this new strategy and let everyone know that: "tens of millions of Macs can run demanding games with outstanding performance, exceptional battery life, and breathtaking visuals."

Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations stated: "A new era for gaming on Mac is here...Developers around the world can harness our powerful tools in Metal 3 to deliver incredibly responsive gameplay with high frame rates to more players than ever before." Their software engineering team has been working on a system that simplifies and accelerates the process of creating Windows-to-Mac game ports. A Proton-esque environment - comparable to Valve's software layer efforts with Steam Deck - is capable of translating and running the latest DirectX 12 Windows titles on macOS. Codeweavers revealed in a blog post that Apple has chosen to base the Game Porting Toolkit on their CrossOver source code.

Today, Apple unveiled the lineup for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, including the timing of the keynote and Platforms State of the Union presentations, and shared more information with developers about what they'll learn and experience. Free for all developers, WWDC23 will take place in an online format from June 5 through 9, with an opportunity for developers and students to celebrate in person at a special experience at Apple Park on opening day.

The packed week of events and activities will help developers learn about the latest technologies, tools, and frameworks coming to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS. Throughout the week, developers will be able to connect directly with Apple engineers and experts through one-on-one labs and activities in Slack for guidance on building innovative and platform-differentiating apps and games.

Apple today announced it will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in an online format from June 5 through 9, 2023, with an opportunity for developers and students to celebrate in person at a special experience at Apple Park on opening day. Free for all developers, WWDC23 will spotlight the latest iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS advancements. As part of Apple's ongoing commitment to helping developers create innovative apps, the event will also provide them with unique access to Apple engineers, as well as insight into new technologies and tools to help them realize their visions.

"WWDC is one of our favorite times of the year at Apple because it's an opportunity to connect with the talented developers from around the globe who make this community so extraordinary," said Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "WWDC23 is going to be our biggest and most exciting yet, and we can't wait to see many of you online and in person at this very special event!"