The Neural Engine also gained some performance, with the 16-core component upgraded to run at up to 18 trillion operations per second.

Qualcomm has had its AI Engine (PDF), a combination of hardware and software for AI tasks, on the Snapdragon 820 since 2015. Apple introduced its Neural Engine NPU in 2017 with the A11 Bionic chip.

It's worth noting that the new Spatial Scenes effect might sound like an Apple Intelligence feature, but it actually uses the Neural Engine to create a spatially reactive version of a photo that ...

Both have 10-core GPUs (for graphics performance and generative AI), 16-core Neural Engines (AI and machine learning), and identical Media Engines for A/V—but the newer M4 edges out the M3.

The leap in Neural Engine performance alone, which now handles 38 trillion operations per second, will significantly enhance AI-driven tasks and applications.