Tag: models

News

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Post author By miranda cosgrove
Post date April 24, 2024
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Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code.

Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri
As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the CoreNet library, and four instruction tuned models. Apple uses a layer-wise scaling strategy that is aimed at improving accuracy and efficiency.

Apple provided code, training logs, and multiple versions rather than just the final trained model, and the researchers behind the project hope that it will lead to faster progress and “more trustworthy results” in the natural language AI field.

OpenELM, a state-of-the-art open language model. OpenELM uses a layer-wise scaling strategy to efficiently allocate parameters within each layer of the transformer model, leading to enhanced accuracy. For example, with a parameter budget of approximately one billion parameters, OpenELM exhibits a 2.36% improvement in accuracy compared to OLMo while requiring 2x fewer pre-training tokens.

Diverging from prior practices that only provide model weights and inference code, and pre-train on private datasets, our release includes the complete framework for training and evaluation of the language model on publicly available datasets, including training logs, multiple checkpoints, and pre-training configurations.

Apple says that it is releasing the OpenELM models to “empower and enrich the open research community” with stage-of-the-art language models. Sharing open source models gives researchers a way to investigate risks and data and model biases. Developers and companies are able to use the models as-is or make modifications.

The open sharing of information has become an important tool for Apple to recruit top engineers, scientists, and experts because it provides opportunities for research papers that would not normally have been able to be published under Apple’s secretive policies.

Apple has not yet brought these kinds of AI capabilities to its devices, but iOS 18 is expected to include a number of new AI features, and rumors suggest that Apple is planning to run its large language models on-device for privacy purposes.

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Tags Apple, models, ondevice, open, releases, Run, source

Featured

AWS makes move to host your company’s home-made Gen AI models

Post author By lisa nichols
Post date April 24, 2024
No Comments on AWS makes move to host your company’s home-made Gen AI models

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In an effort to position itself as one of the leading platforms for custom generative AI models, AWS has announced the launch of Custom Model Import within Bedrock, its suite of enterprise-focused GenAI services.

As the name suggests, Custom Model Import will allow organizations to import and access their own generative AI models as fully managed APIs, which means they’ll get to benefit from the same infrastructure and tools that are available for existing models in Bedrock.

AWS sees the addition of custom model support as addressing a growing trend among enterprises to develop and refine their own in-house models.

AWS Bedrock now supports custom in-house models

Besides leveraging their own proprietary models, enterprises using Bedrock’s Custom Model Import will be able to use the suite’s other tools for knowledge expansion, fine-tuning and safeguarding against things like bias. In theory, it should give customers the best of both worlds.

Users will also be able to monitor and filter outputs for undesirable content like hate speech or violence, as well as assess the performance of models across various criteria.

The service is now available in preview, and it supports three of the most popular open model architectures – Flan-T5, Llama and Mistal. AWS has committed to adding more architecture support in the future.

In the same breath, AWS also revealed the general availability of Titan Image Generator and the launch of Titan Text Embeddings V2. Trained by AWS, the company says that reductions in storage and compute costs coincide with improved accuracy, making the Titan family more cost-effective for companies that don’t have the resources to develop their own models.

Meta Llama 3 foundation models have also arrived on Bedrock, with Cohere’s Command R and Command R+ models set to arrive soon.

On the whole, it’s refreshing to see AWS commit to interoperability by offering popular third-party and now in-house model support on its platform – it’s a move that could be set to jointly benefit it and its customers.

All iPhone 16 Models to Feature Action Button, But Usefulness Debated

Post author By miranda cosgrove
Post date April 16, 2024
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Last September, Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far.

The Action button replaces the switch that activates Ring and Silent on Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro models, while the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models retain the traditional Ring/Silent switch. By default, the Action button still activates these two functions via a long press, but users can also make it activate a range of other functions, including quickly opening the camera app or enabling the flashlight, activating Voice Memos, Focus modes, Translate, and accessibility features like Magnifier.

Of around 7,000 MacRumors readers who responded to our poll on social media, just over half (50.6%) said they often forgot the Action button is even there, while over a quarter of respondents (26.8%) said they use the Action button “occasionally.” Based on readers who commented, most occasional users assigned the camera or flashlight to the Action button – functions that are also easily accessible via the Lock screen. A subsection of users in the same category said they have the Action button set to activate/deactivate Mute, to mimic the physical Mute switch it replaced.

Some respondents (12.6%) agreed with the description that the Action button is a “game changer.” Most users in this category used it to activate custom Shortcuts, which allowed for novel uses like skipping forward in podcasts, adding to-dos, prompting ChatGPT, activating smart lights, or opening a folder. Some in this category simply appreciated the fact that it saved them time accessing more standard functions that would otherwise involve navigating through onscreen menus.

The rest of our poll respondents (10%) agreed that the Action button was something of a “volume decoy,” implying that they often pressed it by accident when they intended to adjust audio levels via the volume buttons, usually when their iPhone was in a pocket or purse.

With the Action button introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro set to expand to all models later this year, we want to hear from current users: Does it make your iPhone life easier?
— MacRumors.com (@MacRumors) April 15, 2024

Our social media poll represents a small, self-selecting cohort of iPhone 15 Pro users. It is also an example of convenience sampling, and by no means statistically sound. Even so, it seems the case could be made that many people have had trouble finding a dedicated use case for the Action button.

Assigning the button to the camera appears to be the most popular way to increase the likelihood that it gets used. Launching the camera app like this avoids having to press or swipe the Lock Screen or select the Camera app from the Home screen. However, Apple is rumored to be adding a “Capture button” to the iPhone 16 for video recording, so the Action button might get less useful for those who use it for this purpose.

Meanwhile, anecdotal evidence suggests there is a fair amount of frustration among “power users” that Apple has not added more flexibility to the way the Action button works. Currently the button only responds to a long press, but more sophisticated iPhone users want a built-in ability to set different customizations for short presses, double-presses, and triple presses.

So what do you think of the Action button? Is it a hit or miss for Apple? Let us know your thoughts and any favorite use cases in the comments.

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Tags action, Button, Debated, feature, iPhone, models, Usefulness

News

Both iPhone 16 Pro Models to Feature 256GB Base Storage, Claims Sketchy Rumor

Post author By miranda cosgrove
Post date April 16, 2024
No Comments on Both iPhone 16 Pro Models to Feature 256GB Base Storage, Claims Sketchy Rumor

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Apple will allegedly offer both the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max with a minimum 256GB of storage, doing away with the 128GB starting option on its smaller Pro model for the first time.

iPhone 16 Pro Front Feature
Currently, Apple’s 6.1-inch iPhone 15 Pro starts at $999 and comes with the minimum 128GB of storage, while the 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $1,199 with a minimum 256GB of storage.

However, according to a post on X (Twitter) by LeaksApplePro, Apple will bump up the base storage of the upcoming iPhone 16 Pro to 256GB to match the minimum capacity of the larger iPhone 16 Pro Max, while the starting price of Apple’s smaller Pro model will remain at $999.

The X account has no recent track record for accurate Apple leaks or rumors, so we are filing this one under sketchy. Having said that, the claim is not outside the realm of possibility.

If Apple drops 128GB as the base on the iPhone 16 Pro, that will leave three Pro storage options across the board: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.

It’s also worth noting that in 2018, Apple’s premium iPhone X came with 64GB, an entry-level storage tier that persisted in successive generations until the iPhone 13 in 2021, when Apple adopted 128GB as the new baseline. If Apple makes 256GB the new minimum across its premium devices, it could be settling into a pattern of doubling the minimum capacity every three years.

At the other end of the scale, a rumor in January out of Korea claimed that both iPhone 16 Pro models will be available with double the maximum storage capacity as the iPhone 15 Pro devices, increasing from 1TB to 2TB.

The maximum storage increase is said to be a result of Apple’s switch to higher-density Quad-Level Cell (QLC) NAND flash for higher storage models. Apple’s use of QLC NAND could allow Apple to fit more storage into a smaller space and it is less expensive than Triple-Level Cell (TLC) NAND, which current iPhones use.

This year’s iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are rumored to be getting bigger display sizes, increasing to 6.27- and 6.86-inches, respectively. For comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are equipped with 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays, respectively. The new display sizes will be the largest ever for the iPhone, and should also increase the physical space for internal components and parts.

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Tags 256GB, Base, claims, feature, iPhone, models, Pro, Rumor, Sketchy, storage

Featured

Intel unveils flurry of new Arc GPUs — however serious graphics users will have to wait for more powerful models, as these focus on a completely different and more lucrative market

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Two years after the debut of its Arc Alchemist GPUs, Intel is launching six new Arc products, but these are designed for edge/embedded systems.

These edge systems, which process data near the source to reduce latency and bandwidth use, are becoming increasingly essential in areas such as IoT, autonomous vehicles, and AI applications.

As Intel says, “AI at the edge is exploding with new use cases and workloads being developed daily. These AI workloads often require a high degree of parallel processing and memory bandwidth for peak performance, dedicated hardware, optimized architecture for compute efficiency, and reduced latency with faster results for real-time processing. A discrete GPU may be the ideal solution for edge AI use cases requiring high performance and complex model support.”

Six SKUs

The new Arc on edge GPUs are built on Intel’s highly scalable Intel Xe-core architecture and support AI acceleration, visual computing and media processing. Using the OpenVINO toolkit developers can deploy AI models across Intel hardware.

The Arc on edge offerings have a number of benefits, including reduced latency, improved bandwidth efficiency and better privacy and security.

For high performance and to handle heavy AI workloads and expansive use cases such as facial recognition and generative conversational speech, there’s the 7XXE. For immersive visual experiences and enhanced AI inferencing capabilities, there’s the 5XXE, and for low power and small form factor requirements, Intel has the 3XXE.

There are six SKUs available – the A310E and A3503 with 6 Xe-cores, the A370E and A380E with 8 cores, and the A580E and A750E with 28 cores. The A310E, A3503 and A370E have 4GB of GDDDR6 memory with 112GB/s memory bandwidth. The A380E has 6GB with 186GB/s bandwidth, while the A580E and A750E’s memory and memory bandwidth are unknown for now. Intel says only that it is “in planning”. There’s also no launch date for those two either, just TBD. The other four SKUs will be available this month.

Intel Arc GPUs are built to be paired with Intel Core processors, from 10th Gen upwards and Intel Xeon W-3400 and W-2400. A number of products featuring the new Arc GPUs are set to be released in the coming months from Intel partners including from ADLINK, Advantech, Asus, Matrox and Sparkle.

Arc on Edge

(Image credit: Intel)

iPhone 15 just got a big repairability boost and it’s good news for future models, too

Post author By lisa nichols
Post date April 12, 2024
No Comments on iPhone 15 just got a big repairability boost and it’s good news for future models, too

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Apple is easing up its self-repair policy, allowing iPhone owners to fix their devices with used parts instead of forcing them to buy new replacements. The tech giant told The Washington Post the update will apply to screens, batteries, and cameras among other things.

Apple states in its announcement post that they have plans to grow the program to include biometric sensors. The changes are scheduled to take effect this autumn, starting, Apple confirmed with TechRadar, with the iPhone 15 and future models.

Parts pairing, where the serial number of a component is matched with the iPhone, remains an important aspect of the repair process. Apple states the technology is important in determining whether a part is genuine and “critical to preserving the privacy, security, and safety of iPhone.” They will, however, relax some of the restrictions surrounding parts pairing.

Neither customers nor service providers will need to give Apple a phone’s serial number when ordering replacements – so long as you’re not fixing the logic board, in which case then you do. Calibration will occur right on the iPhone after the genuine part has been installed.

Maintaining quality

This is a big deal because, as The Washington Post explains, attempting to use “components harvested from other iPhones” results in performance problems. Colors on fixed displays may not look as vibrant as they once did.

But all that changes several months from now. You can expect the same level of quality regardless of whether a part is used or right out of the factory. The policy change could even be helpful for users who can’t afford out-of-warranty costs or don’t have an Apple Store near them.

Alongside the update, Apple is going to expand the availability of its Activation Lock tech to iPhone parts. The feature was originally “designed to limit… theft” by preventing access to lost or stolen devices. Moving forward, if an iPhone under repairs notices a part has either Activation Lock or Lost Mode activated, calibration for that replacement will be disabled. What’s more, the company plans to upgrade an iPhone’s Parts and Service History to show information about whether a part is new or used.

No word on how much these parts will cost or where people can buy them. Presumably, it’ll all be done through the company’s Self Service Repair Store. We’ve reached out for info and we’ll update this story if we hear back.

Potential future changes

Aftermarket parts built by third parties will not be allowed. The Washington Post states that if you try to install one of those components, you’ll receive a warning stating the part isn’t legitimate and certain features won’t work such as the battery health readout.

Of course, things can always change. Apple was once famously against the right to repair, and yet here they are, providing the parts themselves. We could see additional repair policy changes later in the year moving into 2025. Parts pairing, in particular, is currently caught in the crosshairs. Oregon recently banned the practice back in late March although the law won’t take effect until January 2025. The EU is considering doing the same, but nothing is set in stone.

John Ternus, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering at Apple, defended parts pairing in an interview with TechCrunch by calling the practice “not evil.” However, if there’s one thing we’ve learned is that with the right motivation, Apple can change its mind.

Be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best iPhones for 2024.

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Tags Big, Boost, Future, Good, iPhone, models, News, repairability

Featured

Meta is on the brink of releasing AI models it claims to have “human-level cognition” – hinting at new models capable of more than simple conversations

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We could be on the cusp of a whole new realm of AI large language models and chatbots thanks to Meta’s Llama 3 and OpenAI’s GPT-5, as both companies emphasize the hard work going into making these bots more human.

In an event earlier this week, Meta reiterated that Llama 3 will be rolling out to the public in the coming weeks, with Meta’s president of global affairs Nick Clegg stating that we should expect the large language model “Within the next month, actually less, hopefully in a very short period, we hope to start rolling out our new suite of next-generation foundation models, Llama 3.”

Meta’s large language models are publicly available, allowing developers and researchers free and open access to the tech to create their bots or conduct research on various aspects of artificial intelligence. The models are trained on a plethora of text-based information, and Llama 3 promises much more impressive capabilities than the current model.

No official date for Meta’s Llama 3 or OpenAI’s GPT-5 has been announced just yet, but we can safely assume the models will make an appearance in the coming weeks.

Smarten Up

Joelle Pineau, the vice president of AI research at Meta noted that “We are hard at work in figuring out how to get these models not just to talk, but actually to reason, to plan . . . to have memory.” Openai’s chief operating officer Brad Lightcap told the Finacial Times in an interview that the next GPT version would show progress in solving difficult queries with reasoning.

So, it seems the next big push with these AI bots will be introducing the human element of reasoning and for lack of a better term, ‘thinking’. Lightcap also said “We’re going to start to see AI that can take on more complex tasks in a more sophisticated way,” adding “ We’re just starting to scratch the surface on the ability that these models have to reason.”

As tech companies like OpenAI and Meta continue working on more sophisticated and ‘lifelike’ human interfaces, it is both exciting and somewhat unnerving to think about a chatbot that can ‘think’ with reason and memory. Tools like Midjourney and Sora have championed just how good AI can be in terms of quality output, and Google Gemini and ChatGPT are great examples of how helpful text-based bots can be in the everyday.

With so many ethical and moral concerns still unaddressed with the current tools available right now as they are, I dread to think what kind of nefarious things could be done with more human AI models. Plus, you must admit it’s all starting to feel a little bit like the start of a sci-fi horror story.

Acer launches two all-new 14-inch gaming laptops alongside updated 16-inch models

Post author By lisa nichols
Post date April 9, 2024
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Acer’s midrange gaming laptop line has four new arrivals today following the company’s refresh of its flagship models at CES 2024. On Tuesday, the company unveiled a pair of new 14-inch entries alongside two refreshes of existing 16-inch models. The Intel-powered Predator Helios Neo 14 and Nitro 16 will join the AMD-fueled Nitro 14 and Nitro 16, launching globally later this spring.

As is often the case with pre-launch laptop announcements, Acer only reveals the devices’ minimum pricing rather than a full specs-to-cost breakdown (Acer says they aren’t yet finalized), making it impossible to gauge their overall value. You can expect that info closer to their respective launches in May and June.

Product marketing image for the Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 gaming laptop. An open version sits on th left, with a partially closed view from behind on the right. Grayish-blue background. — Acer

The Acer Predator Helios Neo 14, one of the two all-new models, is the first sub-16-inch variant in the high-performance line. (At $1,800 and up, it’s also the most expensive of the new batch.) That price gets you up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor 185H (with dedicated AI acceleration) paired with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU. The lower-cost models will downgrade those to Intel Core Ultra 7 155H or Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and RTX 4060 or 4050 graphics.

The top-of-the-line variant has a 14.5-inch WQXGA (3072×1920) display with a 165Hz refresh rate, 100 percent coverage of the sRGB color spectrum and NVIDIA G-Sync support. Its cheaper variants will drop the resolution to 2560 x 1600 or 1920 x 1200 with a 120Hz refresh rate.

The Windows 11 laptop has a 76Wh battery and offers up to 32GB of LPDDR5X SDRAM and 1TB of storage. It weighs 4.19 lbs, has a built-in 1080p webcam, and supports Intel Killer Wireless Wi-Fi 6E. It includes a USB-C/ThunderBolt 4 port with a microSD reader. On the cooling front, it uses a 5th Gen AeroBlade 3D fan and Vortex Flow tech.

The Predator Helios Neo 14 arrives in North America in May, starting at $1,800.

Product marketing image of the Acer Nitro 14 gaming laptop. Two models float dramatically in the air: one facing forward with its screen and keyboard visible, the other (behind it) showing a back view. Grayish-blue background. — Acer

The Nitro 14 is the first 14-inch variant in the company’s midrange Nitro line. It should offer solid performance with up to AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS processor and RTX 4060 graphics. Cheaper variants drop that down to a Ryzen 5 8645HS processor and RTX 4050 or 3050 graphics.

Its maxed-out model gives you a 14.5-inch 2560 x 1500 display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 9ms response time and sRGB 100 percent gamut support. The entry-level model drops that down to 1080p at 120Hz.

The laptop has USB 4 and USB 3.2 Type C ports, a pair of USB-A ports (including one with offline charging support), HDMI 2.1 and a microSD slot.

The Acer Nitro 14 arrives in North America in May. It starts at $1,300.

A gamer sits in a posh, modern-lit gaming room with an Acer gaming laptop. A second TV shows a different part of a game behind them. — Acer

The company’s updated Nitro 16 is launching in separate Intel and AMD variants with different model numbers (AN16-73 for Intel and AN16-43 for AMD). The former has up to an Intel Core i7-14700HX processor, while the AMD version has up to a Ryzen 9 8945HS (the same as the maxed-out Nitro 14). Otherwise, the two models are only separated by extremely minor weight differences (5.37 lbs for the AMD, 5.4 lbs for Intel) and Wi-Fi (Intel’s branded Killer Wireless Wi-Fi 6E vs. a nondescript Wi-Fi 6E for AMD).

As for the many specs the Intel and AMD variants of the Nitro 16 share, they both have Nvidia graphics, maxing out at RTX 4060 with 8GB of dedicated GDDR6 RAM. Cheaper models swap that for either an RTX 4050 or 3050.

Their screens have up to 2560 x 1600 resolution with 500 nits brightness, 165Hz refresh rates and a 3ms response time. The laptops each offer up to 32GB of DDR5 SDRAM and 2TB storage. They have 76Wh batteries with measly 720p webcams.

Both versions of the Nitro 16 will launch in North America in May. They start at $1,400. If you’re considering the new models, you can expect a more detailed configuration-pricing breakdown at or around launch time, so stay tuned.

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Tags 14inch, 16inch, Acer, AllNew, Gaming, laptops, launches, models, updated

News

Apple Seeking Deal to License Billions of Images to Train AI Models

Post author By miranda cosgrove
Post date April 8, 2024
No Comments on Apple Seeking Deal to License Billions of Images to Train AI Models

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Apple is believed to be among the companies seeking an agreement with Photobucket to train its artificial intelligence models, Reuters reports.

Photobucket’s vast image library of over 13 billion photos and videos has attracted renewed interest as tech companies, including Apple, seek to license content for AI training purposes. The rise of generative AI has spurred demand for diverse datasets, and companies like Photobucket are able provide a vast amount of of visual data that could train AI to produce content in response to text prompts.

Apple already reached an agreement with Shutterstock to license millions of images shortly after the debut of ChatGPT in late 2022, in a deal believed to be worth $25 million to $50 million. The pursuit of “ethically sourced” and legally clear data marks a departure from the earlier practice of freely scraping web data. Apple is reportedly preparing to showcase a series of AI features with iOS 18 and its other major software updates at WWDC in June.

When to Expect the Next iPad Mini and Low-End iPad Models to Launch

Post author By miranda cosgrove
Post date April 7, 2024
No Comments on When to Expect the Next iPad Mini and Low-End iPad Models to Launch

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While rumors have been focused on new iPad Pro and iPad Air models, some Apple customers are wondering when the next iPad mini will be released.

iPad Mini 6 YouTubed 2
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman said new iPad mini and entry-level iPad models will be released in late 2024 at the earliest.

“The company is also working on new versions of the low-end iPad and iPad mini, but those won’t be coming before the end of the year at the earliest,” he said. “The new downscale iPad will probably end up being a cost-reduced version of the 10th generation model from 2022, while the iPad mini update won’t include much more than a processor upgrade.”

The current sixth-generation iPad mini was released in September 2021, and it is equipped with an A15 Bionic chip. Gurman expects the next model to feature a newer chip, but few other changes. Additional features rumored by other sources include camera upgrades and a fix for the “jelly scrolling” display behavior.

The low-end iPad was last updated in October 2022. An eleventh-generation iPad could start at a lower price than the 10th-generation iPad, which could pave the way for Apple to discontinue the ninth-generation iPad with the Lightning connector.

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