Apple never stops with its secret projects with mysterious code names. After the Alaska project, which concerned the second generation of Vision Proand the V68 project around of a future foldable iPhonehere is new information reaching us on another Cupertino project. This time, it is a chip called “Baltra”.
After abandoning the famous “Extreme (double-Ultra)” chip, the Apple firm is actively developing new solutions to integrate artificial intelligence into its ecosystem. The Apple Intelligence tool suite has since been available for some lucky people in Europe, but not yet in France. A system that requires considerable computing power.
A development that shakes up habits
The Apple team behind the Apple Silicon chips that replaced Intel on Macs in 2020 is now in charge of this new project. To give it every chance of success, the firm took a radical decision this summer: it paused the development of a highly anticipated Mac chip, which was to be composed of four processors linked together. As stated above, this is the Extreme (double-Ultra) chip.
This decision shows the strategic importance of the Baltra chip for Apple. Engineers can therefore fully concentrate on this new processor intended for artificial intelligence servers.
An unexpected partnership for a revolutionary chip
To develop Baltra, Apple partners with a giant semiconductors: Broadcom. This collaboration marks a turning point for the firm, which usually designs its chips in-house. Broadcom will bring its expertise in network solutions, essential for AI processing.
The Baltra chip will use TSMC's N3P engraving process, more advanced than that of current M4 processorswhich is as a reminder the N3E. (Go here to learn more about Apple Silicon manufacturing procedures).
Its production should begin in 2026, allowing Apple to catch up in the field of AI against competitors like Google or Microsoft.
By : Keleops AG
