The Fruity Cargo Cult Apple wants companies to buy expensive Macs for AI work after spending years fumbling the software people expected them to run.
According to Reuters Job’s Mob is pitching upgraded Mac minis and Mac Studios as an alternative to renting cloud computing power. Some configurations approach $20,000, which makes its argument about saving money on AI tokens one for the accountants to examine with both eyes open.
Apple spent much of the AI boom acting as though its existing products were too important to rush. Its promised Siri overhaul then suffered years of delays while rivals put working assistants in front of customers. The new Siri finally appeared in June, leaving Apple with some catching up to do and a remarkably expensive way to invite businesses along for the trip.
The hardware pitch has more substance. Apple’s unified memory design puts processors and memory close together, allowing Macs to run models that would strain conventional desktops. The company has added RDMA over Thunderbolt networking to Mac Studios so several machines can work on the same task.
At a launch event this month, Apple linked four Mac Studios to run a trillion-parameter model that found and fixed a graphics coding bug. The Tame Apple Press claimed the entire stack operated from one wall outlet. Apple has yet to show how the purchase price compares with cloud bills across ordinary business workloads.
Apple chief hardware officer Johny Srouji said buyers could keep using the machines without paying a provider for every token: There is still the cost per Mac, electricity, maintenance and the cheerful prospect of buying newer ones.
Job’s Mob says developers can move AI work between its Macs, iPhones and iPads because the chips share design principles. T
Winning corporate desktops will take more than a good demonstration. IDC puts Apple’s share of that market at about 4.6 per cent, against 91.3 per cent for Windows. Microsoft is pursuing local AI on PCs too, while Nvidia continues to dominate the data centre hardware Apple wants businesses to use less.
