> From the manufacturers point of view phones not being future proof is a feature, not a bug, that way you'll upgrade to that new shiny item which will keep the profits rolling in.

I don't think a better AI chip will be a convincing argument to change a phone one year later.

Not if you put it that way. Apple can simply make new AI features exclusive to newer phones with updated versions of the chips. If they open the chip up to developers, this effect can spill out to the app store. That would then provide the impetus to push consumers to upgrade.

You nailed the Apple plan, they did exact same thing staring from Introduction of Siri (4S?), ... then Force Touch etc.

With each iteration of phone, they add a shiny new feature that is ONLY available on the newer model.

Siri was only available on new iPhones from then on, but it's now available on regular Macintoshes going back like 7-8 years.

i don't see how force touch can be added to older hardwares...

It can't be. Night Shift, on the other hand...

I think you underestimate the power of marketing.

> I think you underestimate the power of marketing.

With Steve Jobs gone, Apple is more and more seen as the emperor without clothes[0] that it is.

[0] I.e. yet another rebrander of Chinese goods with marginal differences from other franchises

"I'd bet on this being an ASIC"

Aren't all the iPhone chips ASIC's with the main one custom by those hardware people they acquired? Seems to be default expectation for whatever they add next. They sure as hell have the money, too. :)

I don't think so. I believe Apple is basically going to do what Google and Qualcomm do and use a DSP's.

'A DSP's'? (sic)

DSPs are not nearly as good at matrix math as a GPU and the phone already has one of those. DSPs are typically good at signal processing in a fairly limited domain, they would not be calling it an AI chip if it was just a DSP.