Apple has also joined the AIPC battle. Recently, Apple released the MacBook Air series products equipped with the M3 chip, claiming that the computer is "the best AI consumer grade laptop.".
In fact, the M3 series chips were already unveiled on the MacBook Pro series products released in September last year.
It is understood that Apple's M3 series chips have significantly improved performance compared to the previous generation M1 series. The neural network engine of the M3 chip is also 60% faster than the M1 series, and it supports a maximum memory capacity of 128GB. This means that under a unified memory architecture, it can provide a large amount of graphics memory, which is very beneficial for running large AI models and processing complex tasks.
In a press release for Apple's US region, it was mentioned that MacBook Air can run optimized AI models locally and also support cloud based solutions to run productivity and creative programs with AI capabilities, including Microsoft Copilot, Canva, and Adobe Firefly for Microsoft 365.
Apple claims that compared to the 13 inch model equipped with the M1 chip, using the Super Resolution feature of Photomator for AI image optimization on the new model can increase the speed by up to 40%, while for Mac models that have not yet upgraded to Apple chips, that is, models equipped with Intel chips, this number can be as fast as 15 times.
In domestic news articles, Apple's official website has removed more detailed descriptions of AI landing applications. The product manager from Apple told reporters, "At present, we are cautious about the AI aspect and can only share content mentioned in the press release. For example, using AI performance to enhance productivity and creativity, such as camera function, real-time voice to text conversion, translation, text prediction, visual understanding, auxiliary functions, etc."
The reporter learned that previously, hardware modules specifically designed to accelerate machine learning tasks were integrated into Apple's A-series mobile processors and M-series processors, and a machine learning framework for Core ML was provided.
At the recent shareholder meeting, Apple CEO Cook also discussed the company's views on generative artificial intelligence. He said that Apple believes that generative artificial intelligence has incredible breakthrough potential. He promised that later this year, Apple will show everyone its way of breaking new ground in AIGC. This is interpreted by the outside world as Apple's upcoming launch of a new technology with significant impact, which has the potential to redefine future technological development.
Angel investor and artificial intelligence expert Guo Tao told reporters, "Apple's advantage lies in its powerful software and hardware integration ability. Apple's M3 series Macbook Air is a typical example, which perfectly combines Apple's own artificial intelligence technology and hardware, and is expected to provide users with an excellent user experience."
AI, new driving force for growth in the PC industry
Recently, AIPC has become a hot topic of market attention.
Dell's Vice President of Business Computers and Software, Meghana Patwardhan, revealed at a press conference that in the short term, there are two types of PCs in the market that are equipped with AI hardware and those that are not, but in the long run, all personal computers will become AI computers.
Previously, on MWC 2024, Honor launched Magic OS8.0, Magic Big Model, and AIPC intelligent terminal MagicBook Pro 16. Lenovo has also released a series of business AIPCs, all of which use the latest generation Intel Core Ultra processors.
In an interview with reporters, Honor CEO Zhao Ming said, "Honor's AI strategy is to do end-to-end AI and platform level AI, using AI to reconstruct operating systems to provide a more personalized and intelligent user experience. At the same time, Honor will also choose to cooperate with AI service providers to provide diversified AI applications."
"At present, the application scenarios of AIPC are quite extensive, covering education, entertainment, and office work. In the field of work, AIPC can help users more efficiently complete various tasks such as intelligent document organization and automatic email reply," said Zhu Keli, Executive Director of the China Information Association and Founding Director of the National Research Institute of New Economy, to reporters
According to a research report by CICC, there will be three major upgrade trends for chip chips in the future: Arm architecture, with its low power consumption and long battery life, may achieve an increase in PC market share; Heterogeneous computing may become the mainstream solution, and end-to-end AI operation also requires higher memory requirements, which will drive an increase in DDR5/LPDDR5 penetration rate and DRAM capacity.
Data sources: Qualcomm official website, Intel official website, AMD official website, Apple official website, CICC research department
Qualcomm President and CEO Amon said in an interview with reporters, "Generative AI will revolutionize the user experience on the terminal side, and PCs with generative AI capabilities can better understand user needs."
Qualcomm and Microsoft teamed up to drive the transformation of Windows on Arm and promote the rapid development of the Arm PC ecosystem. With the upgrade of Windows 12 in 2024, it is expected to better support the Arm architecture through modular underlying design. With the continuous improvement of software and hardware compatibility, Arm PCs are expected to reach a turning point in 2024.
Wu Gaobin, Secretary General of the Metaverse Working Committee of the Chinese People's Association, also believes that the popularization of AIPC has indeed brought new growth points to the PC market. More and more consumers are inclined to purchase computers with AI capabilities to meet their needs in work, study, and entertainment. "Therefore, AIPC is expected to drive the growth of the PC market's shipment volume to a certain extent."