the only thing I really want AI in is fully intelligent Siri in my HomePods so she can understand the commands she once understood EIGHT years ago....
$$$ and marketing.What’s preventing them from using 8GB of Ram with the A16 and giving it Apple Intelligence?
Apple Intelligence is NOT opt out, it's opt in. Or in other words it's completely disabled until you turn it on.In fact, I *was* planning on buying the next iPhone SE immediately when it comes out, but now I will wait until Apple changes their policy with regard to AI. At this point AI is probably costing them more sales than they are gaining. Recent studies show new iPhone buyers don't care about it, and aren't buying it because of that. But if some people are *not* buying products because of it, that's not good for Apple.
Perhaps, but Apple explicitly states it must have A17 Pro or later. To put it another way, there's nothing stopping Apple from sticking to this requirement, whether or not it's technically necessary.A16 supports AI. We've been through this before.
NPU in A16 is 17 TOPS. NPU in M1 is 11 TOPS.
The limitation has always been RAM. If iPad A16 gets 8GB, it will support AI.
On the other hand, the iPhone SE is expected to handle AI. I don’t see why the new iPad 11 wouldn’t.
Perhaps, but Apple explicitly states it must have A17 Pro or later. To put it another way, there's nothing stopping Apple from sticking to this requirement, whether or not it's technically necessary.
Uh huh, sure, that's why people "leak"....as they wish to remain anonymous and maintain a low profile.
Probably nothing. The A16 also has an NPU, though not as performant as later designs.What’s preventing them from using 8GB of Ram with the A16 and giving it Apple Intelligence?
People who buy base iPads generally don’t upgrade every cycle. Many use them until they die. This model exists simply to satisfy demand at the bottom of the market. If you care about having AI this early on, Apple will happily sell you a mini, Air or Pro instead.If the iPad 11 doesn't support AI, I think it will be a disaster. At that point, it would just be a slightly faster iPad 10, so everyone may as well keep their old iPads (or buy the 10s for much less than the 11).
The iPhone 15 has an A16 with 6GB of RAM and it doesn't support AI, so I would expect that iPad 11 would be better than that. Maybe they will have an A16X with 8GB of RAM and a faster Neural Engine?
Our iPad Pro 10.5" with A10X and 4 GB RAM does not support iPadOS 18.
Our iPad 7th gen with A10 and 3 GB RAM supports iPadOS 18.
Yes, this. They are all in on apple intelligence. They even spec bumped the MacBook Air mid cycle to let Apple Intelligence run better, and they never do that. We aren’t going to see any new devices that don’t run AI, so either it’s an a17 pro, a18, or they lower the requirements in iOS 19.It will, it has to. AI has been out for months now, and heavily advertised – can’t release a new product now without these features.
If the iPad 11 doesn't support AI, I think it will be a disaster. At that point, it would just be a slightly faster iPad 10, so everyone may as well keep their old iPads (or buy the 10s for much less than the 11).
@paradox00People who buy base iPads generally don’t upgrade every cycle. Many use them until they die. This model exists simply to satisfy demand at the bottom of the market. If you care about having AI this early on, Apple will happily sell you a mini, Air or Pro instead.
Yes, this. They are all in on apple intelligence. They even spec bumped the MacBook Air mid cycle to let Apple Intelligence run better, and they never do that. We aren’t going to see any new devices that don’t run AI, so either it’s an a17 pro, a18, or they lower the requirements in iOS 19.
Nothing about all this is making sense. For a year now we've been hearing how Apple and TSMC are very eager to get off the N3B process which was exclusively used to make the A17 Pro & M3 chips. I sort of get that the iPad Mini gets a binned A17 Pro because it is estimated to make up <10% of the iPads sold so there is likely enough excess A17 Pro (both chips with only 4 working GPU cores and excess inventory 5 GPU core chips that will have a core disabled). But the base iPad sells around 4x as many units (and more than the iPad Air) so Apple would likely have to keep the A17 Pro production lines going and it's possible that TSMC discontinues the line.
If the iPad 11 doesn't support AI, I think it will be a disaster. At that point, it would just be a slightly faster iPad 10, so everyone may as well keep their old iPads (or buy the 10s for much less than the 11).
The iPhone 15 has an A16 with 6GB of RAM and it doesn't support AI, so I would expect that iPad 11 would be better than that. Maybe they will have an A16X with 8GB of RAM and a faster Neural Engine?