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In 2017 Apple released iPhone X including a Neural Engine. In 2020 Apple released a Mac Mini including a Neural Engine. In both product lines (and iPad Pros), year on year, the Neural Engines have become increasingly powerful and ubiquitous. There's a hint there that substantial processing of AI (ML, LLM or whatever) will be done on device.

There may be a hierarchy here, with recent devices processing substantial AI tasks onboard and older devices off-loading them to Apple servers. There may instead be all on-device processing but with progressively greater limitations on what older devices can support. The second approach would be consistent with other hardware supported features that are only available on new(er) devices, this then motivates users to update their devices.

I know which one I would I would bet on.

I really don't want a touchscreen on my Mac. A touchpad, mouse or whatever is very efficient and much more accurate. However, the big issue is actually getting a finger to the touchscreen: an iPad is easy, there's no keyboard in the way and a Mac's display is standing upright (iMac or MacBook).

I had the Touch Bar on my previous MBP. That just brought a disconnect into my mouse/keyboard working. A touch screen would do the same, just in a rather harder to reach fashion.

Luis.A.Masanti said:

quote: “But, it still has support pages on AirPort routers too, and those are as dead as a doornail.”

Maybe… the reason why AirPort routers have pages is… because it was an Apple's product.

Yes, I retired my AirPort Extreme 'tower' because I was concerned that it was becoming unsupported, it was working fine. It's good that the documentation is still available but I worry that it might not receive security updates in future.

A new Apple router would be very welcome.

danox said:

I hope not but this off to the side tech which is non glamorous back of house tech at that will draw the ire of the EU or the Justice Dept and it would be unfair to Apples future competitors if pursued.  

Not to mention that it would be unfair to those who would like to use our networks and devices but don't want to bother us by telling us they're there. 

If I side load an app onto my new iPhone, does that void the warranty?

Serious question: suppose I load some dreadfully (or maliciously) coded app that seeks to occupy all the processor cores at 100% all the time in the background. My battery then lasts for a much shorter time than Apple said it would, so I innocently claim I have a faulty phone. Or, I have to recharge it so frequently that it needs a new battery within the warranty period. There must be lots of examples, much more serious than this contrived example, where Apple would spend time offering support etc but be unable to help (‘cos they don’t know about the app I’m using).