Skip to main content

Intel processors could adopt one of the best Apple and iPhone features

Intel could harness one of the best features of Mac and iPhone processors in its future CPUs, according to a new rumor. YouTube channel Moore’s Law is Dead (MLID) uploaded a video focused around a Vision Processing Unit (VPU) in upcoming Intel processors, which could handle machine learning tasks like upscaling video, recovering over-exposed photos, and enhancing text-to-speech.

If this is the first time you’re hearing about VPU, you’re not alone. They come from a company called Movidius, which Intel acquired in 2016. It’s similar to the Neural Engine that Apple uses on its M1 desktop and tablet chips, as well as the one featured in iPhone chips from the iPhone 8 to the recently released iPhone 13 Pro.

Intel CEO talking about Meteor Lake.
Intel

It’s basically an A.I. accelerator, not dissimilar from the Tensor cores that show up on Nvidia RTX graphics cards. The rumor alleges that Intel is planning on integrating a VPU into its Meteor Lake processors, which are rumored to launch in 2023. Intel has confirmed that Meteor Lake will feature a modular design, which the company has been building toward.

Using its Foveros packaging technology, Intel plans to combine multiple manufacturing processes onto a single chip. Basically, they’ll look a lot like the Apple M1. In renders shown by Intel, the processors will feature a compute die where the CPU lives, a system-on-a-chip (SoC) that includes I/O, and a GPU die. The VPU will likely live in the compute die as Intel moves to a smaller manufacturing process with Meteor Lake.

It’s not a cop-out to say that the applications of a VPU are almost endless. Currently, Apple leverages its Neural Engine in apps like Translate for real-time text-to-speech translation and to recover detail in HDR photos. Third-party apps like Seek use it, too, helping identify plants and animals from a photo in a matter of seconds.

For the Intel chip, one of MLID’s sources provided an example where you could highlight text and have it read to you. Dedicated A.I. accelerators have applications in gaming, too, as Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) has proved. Intel is using something similar for its upcoming Arc Alchemist graphics cards as well.

Despite the marketing buzz surrounding A.I. and machine learning, dedicated accelerators have dozens of applications in the data center and in consumer devices. Now, major tech companies are throwing difficult problems to machine learning, and the results speak for themselves. The A.I. upscaling on the Nvidia Shield is a testament to that.

Meteor Lake is still a ways off, and it’s important to reiterate that the VPU is just a rumor right now. Intel still has to take the first step of proving that it can design chips with a hybrid architecture, which it’s set to do with upcoming Alder Lake chips. For Meteor Lake, we’ll have to wait and see. A dedicated A.I. accelerator is plausible, though, if not likely.

Editors' Recommendations

Jacob Roach
Senior Staff Writer, Computing
Jacob Roach is a writer covering computing and gaming at Digital Trends. After realizing Crysis wouldn't run on a laptop, he…
Why every iPhone 12 in France could be recalled
iPhone 12 in purple.

Apple may be facing a recall of all of its iPhone 12 devices in circulation in France if it fails to resolve a dispute with a regulator over how much radiation the handset emits.

The story emerged on Tuesday -- the same day that the tech giant unveiled the latest iteration of its popular smartphone -- when France’s National Frequency Agency (ANFR) claimed that recent testing showed that the iPhone 12 emits electromagnetic radiation beyond the regulated limit, Reuters reported.

Read more
I hope Apple brings this Vision Pro feature to the iPhone
A concept of spatial FaceTime from Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset running on iPhone.

Digitally crafted alternative realities can be exciting or discomforting, based on how you envision them. But Apple, among other companies invested in AR- and VR-dominant future, clearly wants you to focus on the bright side. That's why Apple spent a substantial chunk of time at its WWDC 2023 developer conference to highlight the various features of the Apple Vision Pro — Apple's extravagant new mixed reality headset.

As per Apple's surefooted narrative at the event, the Vision Pro delivers us into a new era in computing and pushes beyond the boundaries of fixed displays. The promotional walkthroughs easily convince us the headset is both visually and functionally unique in many ways.

Read more
Have an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch? You need to update it right now
iPhone 14 Pro Max against a red background.

If you own an Apple product — be in the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or a Mac — you should update it immediately. Why? Apple has begun rolling out updates to all of its devices with fixes for a serious security vulnerability.

The security vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-32434, and it has to do with the kernel privileges of Apple devices. Per Apple's website, the vulnerability allows third-party apps to "execute arbitrary code." In other words, if a bad actor knows how to exploit this vulnerability, they could potentially gain access to your Apple device and wreck havoc.

Read more