Apple to Power AI Features With M2 Ultra Servers

Apple plans to power some of its upcoming iOS 18 features with data centers that use servers equipped with Apple silicon chips, reports Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

iCloud General Feature
M2 Ultra chips will be behind some of the most advanced AI tasks that are planned for this year and beyond. Apple reportedly accelerated its server building plans in response to the popularity of ChatGPT and other AI products, and future servers could use next-generation M4 chips.

While some tasks will be done on-device, more intensive tasks like generating images and summarizing articles will require cloud connectivity. A more powerful version of Siri would also need cloud-based servers. Privacy has long been a concern of Apple’s, but the team working on servers says that Apple chips will inherently protect user privacy.

Gurman previously claimed that all of the coming ‌iOS 18‌ features would run on-device, but it sounds like some capabilities coming this year will in fact use cloud servers. Apple plans to use its own servers for now, but in the future, it may also rely on servers from other companies.

Popular Stories

Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's CarPlay Ultra Is Here – Does Your iPhone Support It?

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple's recently announced CarPlay Ultra promises a deeply integrated in-car experience, but not all iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature. According to Apple's press release, CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or later. This means if you're using an iPhone 11, iPhone XR, or any older model, you'll need to upgrade your device to access...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's 'CarPlay Ultra' Experience Now Available

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:07 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its next-generation CarPlay experience, now dubbed "CarPlay Ultra" begins rolling out today, starting with Aston Martin vehicles. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. CarPlay Ultra is now available with new Aston Martin vehicle orders in the U.S. and Canada. It will also be available for existing models that feature the brand's next-generation ...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Battery Capacity and Weight Allegedly Revealed

Monday May 19, 2025 2:22 am PDT by
Apple is expected to launch an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air later this year, and while there have been plenty of rumors about the camera's overall design and thinness, we haven't heard any details about the device's weight and battery capacity until now. According to the leaker going by the account name "yeux1122" on the Korean-langauge Naver blog, the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air has a weight ...
CarPlay Ultra Climate Controls

Apple Says These Vehicle Brands Plan to Offer All-New CarPlay Ultra

Thursday May 15, 2025 8:13 am PDT by
Apple today announced the launch of CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. CarPlay Ultra features deep integration with a vehicle's instrument cluster and systems, built-in Radio and Climate apps, customizable widgets, and more. The interface is tailored to each vehicle model and automaker's identity, and drivers can also adjust...
iOS 18 Siri Personal Context

Apple Will Reportedly Be More Cautious About Announcing New Features Well in Advance

Sunday May 18, 2025 2:50 pm PDT by
Apple plans to mostly stop announcing new features more than a few months before they are ready to launch, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett. The pair of reporters revealed this noteworthy tidbit towards the bottom of a lengthy report about Apple's artificial intelligence shortcomings today. This alleged change in strategy comes after Apple was forced to delay its more...
Apple Intelligence General Feature

Report: Apple's Next-Gen Version of Siri Is 'On Par' With ChatGPT

Monday May 19, 2025 9:00 am PDT by
Apple has big plans to improve Siri over the next few years, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett report. Some Apple executives are now reportedly pushing to turn Siri into a true ChatGPT competitor. A next-generation, chatbot version of Siri has reportedly made significant progress during testing over the past six months; some executives allegedly now see it as "on par" with recent...

Top Rated Comments

brett_x Avatar
14 months ago
If only they had a server operating system of their own....
(says a former OS X Server sys admin)
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
andrewxgx Avatar
14 months ago

Maybe just use Nvidia GPU's that are like 50 times faster and are actually built for this type of workloads ?
why pay nvidia 80% margin if you can use your own hardware?

you are also missing the obvious: the M2 Ultra is a niche product, and bigger chips (the so-called M1/M2 Extreme) were cancelled because of that.
now Apple has an incentive to built those as not only they can sell it in Mac Pro/Studio, they can run their own servers on it with massive cost saving compared to what AMD and Nvidia offers.

big chips were given green light if this rumor is true
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
14 months ago
"Introducing our magical, incredible iCloud AI Pro Max... starting at only $69/month.

We think you'll love it!" ;)
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BC2009 Avatar
14 months ago
I don't see how any chip could "inherently protect user privacy" -- that is just nonsense. Privacy is primarily a function of the software running on the chip. While there may be features of a chip that could help protect privacy in a multi-tenant environment (like a cloud server), that would be at a very low level such as protecting memory from being read across processes or threads.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DelayedGratificationGene Avatar
14 months ago

Maybe just use Nvidia GPU's that are like 50 times faster and are actually built for this type of workloads ?
And also need the power of the Hoover Dam to complete the workload. No thanks! Apple is way more efficient then Nvidia
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
14 months ago
I just hope they will have something useful to offer for the average consumer who is not on the "AI hype for hype sake"
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)