Apple to overhaul Mac line with chips focused on AI

Updated computers planned for release from late 2024 as part of push to weave Al into products

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LOS ANGELES - Apple, aiming to boost sluggish computer sales, is preparing to overhaul its entire Mac line with a new family of inhouse processors designed to highlight artificial intelligence (AI).

The company, which released its first Macs with M3 chips in October 2023, is already nearing production of the next generation the M4 processor - according to people with knowledge of the matter. The new chip will come in at least three main varieties, and Apple is looking to update every Mac model with it, they added.

The new Macs are under way at a critical time. After peaking in 2022, Mac sales fell 27 per cent in the fiscal year, which ended in September 2023. During the holiday period, revenue from the computer line was flat.

Apple attempted to breathe new life into the Mac business with an M3-focused launch event in October 2023, but those chips did not bring major performance improvements over the M2 from the prior year.

Apple is also playing catch-up in AI, where it is seen as a laggard to Microsoft, Alphabet's Google and other tech peers. The new chips are part of a broader push to weave AI capabilities into all its products.