Apple’s progress in artificial intelligence owes much to its silicon development efforts, which took a pivotal turn back in 2017 to prepare for the future of AI. In a recent episode of The Circuit podcast, Apple executives Tom Boger and Tim Millet shed light on how Apple silicon and AI evolved together.
The discussion revealed that Apple’s first Neural Engine was initially designed to enhance computational photography. However, it soon became a foundation for the company’s broader AI ambitions, 9to5Mac reports.
Here’s a key moment from 2017 that set the stage for AI capabilities on M1 devices, as:
We introduced [the Neural Engine] in 2017, but another interesting thing happened in 2017, that was the paper that got published, Attention is All [You Need]. This was a paper that sort of led to the transformer networks… Well, my team was paying attention. They were reading the paper back in 2017, and they were like, holy mackerel, this stuff looks like it might be interesting. We need to make sure we can do this.
And another excerpt from the podcast:
And so, we started working on re-architecting our neural engine the minute we started shipping it, so that by 2020, when we released M1 into the Apple silicon transition, we were in a position to be able to run these networks. Now, what did that mean? Well, that meant that we, as we introduced Apple Intelligence, we can commit to say, we can do that on all the Macs running Apple Silicon, because M1, we had the foresight to be able to look, and we’re paying attention to the trends and introduce it, knowing that silicon takes time to get it in there.
Who gets Apple Intelligence?
For now, Apple Intelligence is available on a handful of devices. | Image credit – Apple
Apple Intelligence is Apple’s new personal intelligence system, introduced in the Fall of 2024, bringing a host of new features to iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Apple Intelligence is available on select mobile devices, including the iPhone 15 Pro models and newer, as well as iPad Pro and iPad Air models equipped with the M1 chip or later. If you own one of these devices, you’ll have access to this feature:
Keep in mind that if you’re in the European Union, Apple Intelligence won’t be available immediately, even if you have a supported device. This delay is due to concerns surrounding the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
So what does Apple Intelligence do?
In the Safari web browser, AI highlights key topics and provides summaries, while a Web Eraser tool hides unwanted page elements.
In Messages, AI suggests replies, summarizes long texts with Siri, and creates custom emojis. Mail now offers Smart Replies, improved search, email summaries, and a Rewrite feature to adjust tone and style. Photos uses AI to remove unwanted objects, improve search, and create personalized movie memories.
Notes and Voice Memos include voice-to-text transcription and AI-generated summaries. Notifications now show summaries of important information. A new Image Playground app lets users create images in various styles, and Writing Tools in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 allow for rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing text across apps.