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What you gotta know
Apple just unveiled its M4 processor, which promises impressive AI performance.
The M4 processor will power theOLED iPad Pro, an impressively thin rig featuring an OLED display.
The new iPad Pro will be the first device to run on Apple’s new M4 processor.
And presumably, make its way through Apple’s lineup over time.
2024 looks to be the year for Windows 11 on Arm.
Microsoft hasnew Surface hardwarepowered bySnapdragon X Elite processors.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite promises more TOPS than Apple’s M4, but Apple’s new processor wins in other areas.
Qualcomm’s new chips will also power PCs from other big-name manufacturers.
The Snapdragon X Elite is the top dog forTOPS (Tera Operations per Second).
TOPS measures the performance ofNeural Processing Units (NPUs), which are specialized to perform AI tasks.
Apple compared its new M4 processor to the M2 rather than the M3.
NPUs will become increasingly important as more AI tasks run on devices locally rather than through the cloud.
Meanwhile, the Snapdragon X Plus has 10 performance cores, but none can turbo.
Of course, that’s all based on hardware specs.
Does the new M4 make up that 28% peformance difference on Geekbench compared to the M3, letting it beat the Snapdragon X Elite? It seems unlikely.
We still have to see how Windows 11 handles the new chips from Qualcomm.
Luckily for those interested,Build 2024will focus heavily onWindows 11 on Arm.
Apple had since released the M3, so a comparison to the latest processor would make more sense.
Well, not exactly.
The hell if we know.
“That piece has since been updated since we have more benchmarks and figures.
We now know much more about M3 and the Snapdragon X Elite.
However, the fact remains that a comparison to Apple’s M2 proved useful.
That became truer when Apple framed the M4’s figures against the M2.
Apple’s M-series and diminishing returns
The jump to Arm architecture represented a significant shift in computing.
The M2 then saw significant improvement, but not as much as expected.
The bump to M3 saw even less of a jump despite the node jump.
You’ve likely sensed a pattern by now.
Apple burst onto the scenes with the M1 but is now starting to run into physical limitations.
The long-in-short is that companies like Qualcomm have an opportunity to play catchup.
