Apple is likely working on some kind of answer to ChatGPT and generative AI — because of course it is. It would have been safe to assume that without evidence, but now we have some solid proof that Apple is starting to take AI seriously.
As noticed by TechCrunch, Apple currently has posted 28 AI-related jobs in May alone, and 9to5Mac points out that there’s a total of 88 open jobs at Apple that are somehow related to AI. That’s a lot, especially considering the hiring freeze that was instituted earlier this year.
Still not convinced Apple is taking AI seriously? Well, CEO Tim Cook himself praised generative AI and talked rather positively about it at apple’s second-quarter 2023 earnings call. On the surface, it certainly seems like Apple is heavily interested in what companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and others are up to.
Along with the report that ChatGPT has been banned internally, the Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is, in fact, working on its own large language models.
All of that certainly makes it sound like Apple is developing its own ChatGPT alternative or AI chatbot. Apple has plenty of products, after all, that could use a healthy does of generative AI to stay up to date with the competition. Siri is the obvious example, and Apple’s recent update to iOS shows that the company is already making some interesting progress with it. But considering that Google has already seemingly abandoned Google Assistant for Bard, the future of Siri is certainly hanging in the balance. Because with the official iOS ChatGPT out in the wild, no one’s going to be using Siri (if they even were to begin with).
But even if Apple doesn’t make a straight ChatGPT alternative, the company has always been interested in assisting people using creative applications. The company has Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and an entire suite of office software — all of which could benefit from text-based generative AI.
Apple’s not usually first to technology, nor is one to copy the competition verbatim — so it’ll be fascinating to see Apple’s approach. Maybe it’ll happen s soon as WWDC 2023 early next month. although the company will likely have its attention focused on the launch of its Reality Pro mixed-reality headset.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.