Apple's $10B Car Flop Now Powering M7 AI Chip Design
Lessons from self-driving car research give Apple's M7 chips a neural processing edge.
Deep Dive
Apple's canceled Project Titan research shaped the Neural Engine and is now influencing M7 AI chips. The M7 generation prioritizes Neural Engine gains over CPU/GPU, with base chip expected H1 2027, Pro/Max later, and Ultra reportedly arriving in 2028 that could support up to 1.5TB unified memory for servers. This reportedly reduces reliance on third-party AI accelerators and strengthens on-device privacy.
Key Points
- Project Titan cost Apple ~$10 billion over ~10 years with no car produced
- Research helped create the Neural Engine, first in A11 Bionic (iPhone X) for Face ID and AR
- M7 Ultra server chip to support up to 1.5TB unified memory for large AI workloads
Why It Matters
Apple gains control over AI chip design, reducing costs and improving on-device privacy for enterprise users.