iMac Pro Appears to Include A10 Fusion Chip for Always-On 'Hey Siri'
According to some digging into Apple's "BridgeOS 2.0" code and macOS this weekend by Jonathan Levin, Steven Troughton-Smith, and Guilherme Rambo, the upcoming iMac Pro appears to feature an A10 Fusion chip with 512 MB of RAM. While the full functionality of the A10 chip isn't yet known, it appears the chip will enable support for "Hey Siri" functionality, potentially even when the iMac Pro is turned off.
As noted by Troughton-Smith, the A10 will manage the booting process and security for the iMac Pro, and with hooks into system audio, he theorized that the chip might support always-on "Hey Siri."
The "Hey Siri" theory was quickly
confirmed by Rambo, who shared both a boot chime for BridgeOS and the setup process for "Hey Siri" discovered within macOS.
Rumors of ARM-based chips being included in Macs have been circulating for some time, and with the T1 chip appearing in the MacBook Pro to drive the Touch Bar last year, the rumor began coming to fruition. The T1 was just the first step in the process, however, with
Bloomberg reporting in February that a
custom "T310" ARM-based Mac chip similar to the T1 could be included in future Macs and take on some additional functionality such as handling "Power Nap" low-power mode functionality.
In June, Pike's Universum reported that the upcoming iMac Pro will include a Secure Enclave, suggesting the machine would indeed include an ARM-based coprocessor as on the MacBook Pro.
Unveiled at WWDC in June, the iMac Pro is scheduled to launch next month, but Apple has yet to give a specific launch date for the high-end desktop that will start at $4999.
Popular Stories
Alleged photos and videos of an unannounced 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M4 chip continue to surface on social media, in what could be the worst product leak for Apple since an employee accidentally left an iPhone 4 prototype at a bar in California in 2010. The latest video of what could be a next-generation MacBook Pro was shared on YouTube Shorts today by Russian channel Romancev768, just...
An alleged unboxing video for an unannounced 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 chip was uploaded to YouTube today by Russian channel Wylsacom. The video was later linked to on social media platform X by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. It is possible that this is the same MacBook Pro box shown in photos that were shared by leaker ShrimpApplePro in late September, as he claimed that this MacBook Pro...
Apple will announce several new M4 Mac models around the end of October, with the company planning to launch at least some of them as soon as Friday, November 1, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said that Apple will launch a new M4 version of its low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro, as well as higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models...
Apple's new Vitals app for watchOS 11 appears to be impressing some users with its ability to detect potential illness days before symptoms manifest, according to recent reports on Reddit. The Apple Watch app, which analyzes key health metrics measured during sleep over the last seven days, appears to be providing early warnings of impending sickness for at least some Apple Watch wearers...
Apple intends to launch iOS 18.1 with the first set of much-anticipated Apple Intelligence features on October 28, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Gurman says the release date is arriving this month later than initially expected, as Apple is reportedly taking extra time to ensure a smooth rollout and prepare its AI cloud...
We're nearing the end of the iOS 18.1 beta testing process, but Apple is continuing to make tweaks to refine built-in features ahead of when the software launches. With testing winding down, there are fewer new additions, but Apple has made changes worth noting. The new beta is available for both developers and public beta testers. Control Center In the Control Center, Apple has added new...
Rumors strongly suggest Apple will release the seventh-generation iPad mini in November, nearly three years after the last refresh. Here's a roundup of what we're expecting from the next version of Apple's small form factor tablet, based on the latest rumors and reports. Design and Display The new iPad mini is likely to retain its compact 8.3-inch display and overall design introduced with...