TMTPOST -- Apple Inc. may join in artificial intelligence (AI) spending spree with massive orders of chips from Nvidia Corporation.
Credit：Apple
Apple is in the process of placing orders for about $1 billion in Nvidia GB300 NVL72 systems, Loop Capital analyst Ananda Baruah revealed in a note to investors late Monday, noting that those orders equal to around 250 AI servers at $3.7 million to $4 million apiece.
Baruah said Apple is working with server builders Dell Technologies and Super Micro Computer on its large server cluster to support generative AI applications. "AAPL [Apple] is officially in the large server cluster Gen AI game and SMCI [Super Micro Computer] & Dell are the key server partners," he wrote in the note. "While we are still gathering fuller context, this appears to have the potential to be a Gen AI LLM (large language model) cluster."
If the AI chip orders Baruah disclosed are accurate, Apple could pre-order the GB300 NVL72 just as Nvidia announced it at its annual GTC conference last week. The GB300 NVL72 is part of evolution of the Blackwell AI factory platform-- Nvidia Blackwell Ultra. Built on Nvidia’s latest Blackwell architecture introduced a year ago, Blackwell Ultra includes the GB300 NVL72 rack-scale solution and the HGX B300 NVL16 system. The GB300 NVL72 connects 72 Blackwell Ultra graphics processing units (GPUs) and 36 Arm Neoverse-based Nvidia CPUs in a rack-scale design. It delivers 1.5 times more AI performance than the predecessor Nvidia GB200 NVL72, as well as increases Blackwell’s revenue opportunity by 50 times for AI factories, compared with those built with the Hopper architecture.
Apple was reported last year is developing its first AI server chip with semiconductor company Broadcom. Apple intends to develop its own server chip for internal use instead of a consumer product, and the iPhone maker and its partner Broadcom are focused on the chip’s networking technology , which is cruicial for AI processing, The Information reported in December. It said that the AI chip project, which was dubbed Baltra internally, is expected to get ready for mass production by 2026.
Apple rolled out in December more highly-anticipated Apple Intelligence features including GenMoji, Image Playground and the ChatGPT integration for Siri.ChatGPT integration enables Siri digital assistant to give users the option to ask ChatGPT certain questions it can’t answer itself. While Apple Intelligence-powered writing tools can’t write text for users, the company gives them a “compose” option, which calls on ChatGPT to generate text based on the prompt. Apple plans to run less complex tasks directly on its devices like iPhones, and more complicated AI tasks are planning to get handled through the cloud to data centers using servers powered by its in-house chips.
Apple introduced Apple Intelligence at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in last June, and its advanced personal AI system is now available in U.S. and six other countries for English version. Apple said in January it will release a simplified Chinese version in April. But it’s still unclear when Apple Intelligence can be available for users in China for Apple has to obtain regulatory approval for launch of the AI software.
Apple recently started working with Alibaba to offer AI features on its devices such as the iPhone in China, The Information reported last month. The report suggested the partnership made significant progress as two companies have submitted the AI features they co-developed for regulatory approval. Alibaba Group Chairman Joseph Chung-Hsin Tsai later that month confirmed his company is joining hands with Apple to offer AI features on iPhone in China. “Apple has been very selective, and talked to a number of companies in China. And in the end, they choose to do business with us. They want to use our AI to power their phones,” Tsai said.
Apple announced on Tuesday the WWDC this year would be held online from June 9 to 13. “Available for free to all developers, WWDC25 will spotlight the latest advancements in Apple software. As part of Apple’s ongoing commitment to supporting developers, the conference will provide them with unique access to Apple experts, as well as insight into new tools, frameworks, and features,” said Apple in a press release.
It was said Apple will release a new round of operating systems at the WWDC, including iOS 19, iPadOS 19, visionOS 3, tvOS 19, macOS 16 and watchOS 12. Bloomberg earlier this month reported iOS 19 will be “one of the most dramatic software overhauls” in Apple’s history and “the biggest revamp since iOS 7” in 2013. The update will reportedly refresh the design of icons, menus, apps, windows, and more. It will also simplify how users navigate and control their devices.
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