Apple prepares new iPads with AI chips to catch up with rivals Google and Microsoft

This event to launch Apple’s next products comes as the company is trailing its Big Tech rivals, who are racing to incorporate artificial intelligence into its products across all their activities and dominate this emerging technology.

Apple typically launches new iPads in May, a time when education customers make purchasing decisions for the upcoming academic year. But in recent years, Apple has begun to turn its higher-priced models into specialized devices for creative and business professionals.

It is these tablets, which are currently equipped with Apple-designed chips that previously appeared in MacBook laptops, could receive an update with a new processor optimized for artificial intelligence work. But what specific AI functions might power the new chips remains to be seen until Apple holds its annual software developer conference next month.

Apple’s rivals, namely Microsoft and Google, have advanced considerably in the field of artificial intelligence, introducing chatbots that aim to act as virtual assistants for tasks such as writing emails or writing lines of computer code.

While those companies’ shares have soared to record highs, Apple shares are down 6% year-to-date as it struggles with weak iPhone demand and stiff competition from China, and investors expect it to shows how it will leverage AI technology.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said last week that the company is “very optimistic about our opportunity in generative artificial intelligence” and plans to make more announcements later this year.

Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies, said the upgraded iPads could be a way for Apple to introduce new chips to the market ahead of its developer conference next month, where it could reveal more about how plans to tackle AI.

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