Apple plans to equip Mac devices with new M4 chips to boost AI features: Gurman

MADRID, (Portaltic/EP) – Apple plans to renew its entire line of Mac computers with a new family of internal processors, the M4 chips, designed to power Artificial Intelligence (AI) functions, which will arrive between the end of this year and the beginning of 2025.

Those from Cupertino presented their family of M3 processors in October 2023 (made up of the standard model, M3 Pro and M3 Max), which had “revolutionary technology” according to the brand, being the first 3 nanometer (nm) chips for computers and integrate a faster CPU and neural engine.

With the aim of boosting computer sales, the company has begun preparing to renew its entire Mac line with a new family of internal processors designed to enhance AI functions, which will arrive between the end of this year and the beginning of the next, as Apple analyst and Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman reports.

People related to the brand have confirmed to Bloomberg that this new chip will have at least three different models: the basic one is Donan, followed by a more powerful one called Brava and a high-end processor known internally as Hydra.

Donan will come to the basic MacBook Pro, the new MacBook Air and a lower-end version of the Mac mini, while the Brava chips will work in the advanced version of the next MacBook Pro and a more expensive model of the Mac mini.

On the other hand, the firm is testing Mac Studio with a “still unreleased” M3 chip, as well as a variant of the M4 Brava processor. Finally, the firm’s high-end desktop, Mac Pro, will be equipped with the Hydra chip.

According to Gurman, with these M4 chips the brand would seek to compete against companies like Microsoft or Google, which have been developing AI-based capabilities for their products for months.

For this reason, Apple’s goal in 2024 is to add AI-powered functions to all of its products, which it will likely discuss at its developer conference on June 10.

Some of these features will be designed to run on the devices themselves, rather than on remote servers, so the new processors will help drive these improvements, which will also fall on the iPhone’s processor.