The iPhone 16 will probably be smarter than ever before because, according to a new report, the “Neural Engine” built by Apple will have significantly more cores. There is also a very good reason for such an upgrade and Apple will probably show us this in the summer.
For seven years, every new iPhone has had a so-called „Neural Engine“. It is an AI accelerator developed by Apple specifically for machine learning. The number of computing cores has not changed since the iPhone 12, although the performance of the “Neutral Engine” has nevertheless been constantly improved.
iPhone 16: More cores for AI
A new report promises a bigger performance boost from the “Neural Engine” for the upcoming iPhone 16. The current one is intended for this purpose The number of 16 cores in the new A18 chip has been significantly increased become. But not only the iPhone will receive a better AI chip, the future M4 for Macs will also receive a “Neural Engine” with more cores (Source: Economic Daily News).
The goal of this hardware upgrade is clear, because such an upgraded “Neural Engine” would Noticeably improve performance for AI and machine learning tasks. This is necessary for iOS 18. According to rumors, the next major system update will offer users generative AI functions for the first time, for example for Siri, short commands, messages or Apple Music.
Competitor Samsung has already presented its “AI phone”:
There were already rumors before that Some of these generative AI features are reserved for the iPhone 16 alone be. The reason for this could probably be the improved “Neural Engine”, which the current and older iPhones simply cannot access.
Conjectures about the number of cores
The report is still silent about the number of cores in the AI accelerator, However, at least a doubling to 32 cores can be assumed. There was only a bigger leap initially, when the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR offered a “Neural Engine” with 8 instead of just 2 cores compared to the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X. However, we will only be certain about this when the iPhone 16 is presented in September 2024.
Apple will show some of the AI functions at the first preview of iOS 18. This is expected at WWDC – Apple’s developer conference. Probably this one as usual in June take place.