A new Bloomberg report details a project code-named ACDC, for Apple Chips in Data Centers, in which Apple will use its own silicon to provide cloud AI services. Apple is going big on AI with iOS 18 and macOS 15, and while on-device processing will be a big differentiator for the company, more advanced tasks will require the resources of big server infrastructure.
According to the report, the plan to use Apple’s own chips for cloud infrastructure began three years ago but has been accelerated due to the need to quickly bring to market advanced AI features. The first AI server chips will be M2 Ultra processors, it says, but there are already plans to upgrade to chips based on the M4 series in the future.
Apple is expected to perform relatively simple generative AI tasks (like summarizing your missed text messages) on-device, especially those that use your private data which Apple will surely want to ensure stays on your iPhone. The cloud would be used for more intensive gen-AI tasks like image generation or composing lengthier emails. According to the report, the upgraded version of the Siri voice assistant would use cloud processing as well, though we expect simple answers and tasks that use the information contained on your iPhone to still be processed and executed entirely on-device as they are now.
The company is expected to use its own data centers at first, but just as it does with iCloud, will augment that with third-party data centers from Google or other partners.
We’ll hear more about Apple’s AI plans and products in about one month at WWDC.
Author: Jason Cross, Senior Editor, Macworld
Jason has written about technology for more than 25 years - first in the gaming press, then focusing on enthusiast PCs and general technology. He enjoys learning how complicated technology works and explaining it in a way anyone can understand.