Report: Apple's A18 Pro to bring on-device AI, A18 to miss out

A report from Apple's supply chain indicates that Apple's A18 Pro chip will feature a larger die area (vs the A17 Pro), which could be needed for more AI computing power.

The report comes from Jeff Pu at Haitong International Tech research, via 9to5Mac The chip will reportedly process AI on-device, something current top-dog Androids can already do thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip.

The increased die area on the A18 Pro means the chip can accommodate more transistors or specialized components - hinting at the hugely improved Neural Engine we've heard about. Apple could leverage AI on its 2024 iPhones by using a combination of on-device AI and Google's Gemini AI, which Apple is reportedly looking to license.

In Pu's memo, he deliberately underscores the A18 Pro as the 6-GPU version, which confirming the existence of the A18 non-Pro chip with a lesser GPU, for one.

This ties in nicely with reports that the entire iPhone 16 lineup will adopt the A18 SoC only there's going to be a twist. The 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max will get AI-ready A18 Pro SoCs, while the vanilla 16 and 16 Plus will get bumped the plain A18.

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