Apple officially unveiled the M4 chip, fulfilling rumors that it would power the latest iPad Pro. This new SoC (System-on-a-Chip) boasts significant advancements, particularly in artificial intelligence capabilities.
Unprecedented Neural Engine Power:
The M4 integrates Apple’s most potent Neural Engine to date, capable of a staggering 38 trillion operations per second. Apple claims this surpasses “the neural processing unit of any AI PC today,” highlighting the M4’s potential for AI workloads on the iPad Pro.
CPU and GPU Enhancements:
The M4 features a next-generation CPU with a configuration of up to 10 cores, including 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores. This delivers a 1.5x performance boost over the M2 in the 2022 iPad Pro. Notably, comparisons to the M3 are absent. Built on a second-generation 3nm process, the M4 also boasts a completely redesigned display engine with tandem OLED support and ProMotion technology for a 10Hz to 120Hz variable refresh rate.
The 10-core GPU boasts hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading, further enhancing graphics capabilities.Apple claims the M4 achieves the performance of the M2 while consuming only half the power. Additionally, it delivers equivalent performance to “the latest PC chip in a thin and light laptop” using just a quarter of the power. This chip, for reference, is likely the ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED UX3405MA with a Core i7 155H processor and 32GB of RAM.
The M4 expands hardware acceleration capabilities by supporting the AV1 codec alongside existing support for H.264,HEVC, and ProRes. Rumors suggest the potential for M4-powered Macs to be unveiled later in 2024.
