Defending the Apple Neural Engine (ANE)
10 hours ago
- #Machine Learning
- #Apple
- #Hardware
- Apple's ANE (Apple Neural Engine) was introduced in 2017 with the iPhone X, designed for efficient, low-power neural network inference.
- ANE is used extensively in Apple's ecosystem for features like Face ID, text extraction from images, Siri voice processing, and computational photography.
- ANE's performance has improved significantly over the years, from 0.6 TOPS to 35 TOPS, though it remains limited to specific model types and architectures.
- MLX, Apple's open-source machine learning framework, does not use ANE because it is designed for broader, more flexible use cases, unlike CoreML which leverages ANE for specific tasks.
- Apple has introduced neural accelerators in their latest GPUs (M5 and A19 Pro) for more complex models and training, but these serve different purposes than ANE.
- CoreML remains the preferred framework for third-party apps on Apple devices, utilizing ANE, GPU, and CPU as needed.
- The misconception that MLX replaces CoreML or that ANE is useless is incorrect; both serve distinct roles in Apple's ecosystem.