Apple’s failed self-driving car program left a legacy of powerful AI chips

苹果失败的自动驾驶汽车项目留下了一份强大的 AI 芯片遗产

Apple’s self-driving car program never really got off the ground, but it may have been what made the company’s chips the powerful AI performers they are. Early in the development of the self-driving platform, Apple realized that it would need powerful on-device AI processing. While the car processor was never finished, as Mark Gurman details in his latest Power On newsletter, it did lead to the development of the Neural Engine, the backbone of Apple’s on-device AI processing.

苹果的自动驾驶汽车项目从未真正起飞，但这或许正是该公司芯片能够拥有强大 AI 性能的原因。在自动驾驶平台开发的早期，苹果意识到它需要强大的设备端 AI 处理能力。正如马克·古尔曼（Mark Gurman）在其最新的《Power On》通讯中所述，虽然车载处理器最终未能完成，但它确实促成了神经网络引擎（Neural Engine）的开发，而这正是苹果设备端 AI 处理的核心支柱。

The Neural Engine made its debut with the iPhone X and the A11 Bionic. In those early days, it was primarily used for computer vision, powering FaceID, Animoji, and augmented reality features. But by laying the groundwork for on-device AI processing, Apple established itself as an early leader by bringing the Neural Engine to desktops with the M-series chips. While Apple’s AI software efforts have lagged behind the rest of the industry, its hardware has been impressive. It’s also what has allowed Apple to tout its privacy features, since less data is sent to the cloud.

神经网络引擎首次亮相于 iPhone X 和 A11 Bionic 芯片。在早期，它主要用于计算机视觉，为面容 ID（FaceID）、动话表情（Animoji）和增强现实功能提供支持。但通过为设备端 AI 处理奠定基础，苹果通过将神经网络引擎引入 M 系列芯片并带入桌面端，确立了其早期领先者的地位。尽管苹果在 AI 软件方面的努力落后于行业其他公司，但其硬件表现一直令人印象深刻。这也是苹果能够标榜其隐私功能的原因，因为发送到云端的数据更少了。

Apple is making its AI hardware a cornerstone of its strategy going forward. According to Gurman, the company is skipping the Pro, Max, and Ultra versions of its upcoming M6 chip. Instead, it’s accelerating development of the M7, which should arrive in the first half of 2027 with significant Neural Engine upgrades. The M7 Ultra is expected to be the basis for a new server product from Apple as well, with support for up to 1.5TB of RAM.

苹果正将 AI 硬件作为其未来战略的基石。据古尔曼称，该公司将跳过即将推出的 M6 芯片的 Pro、Max 和 Ultra 版本。相反，它正在加速 M7 的开发，该芯片预计将于 2027 年上半年发布，并对神经网络引擎进行重大升级。M7 Ultra 预计也将成为苹果新服务器产品的基础，并支持高达 1.5TB 的内存。