Hardware

Apple Plans AI Server Return Using Nvidia Tech

Apple reportedly plans to re-enter the server market by 2029, leveraging its future M8 Ultra chips and Nvidia technology to capture a share of the booming artificial intelligence sector.

The Verge AI20 hrs agoHardware
Image: The Verge AI

Apple is preparing to re-enter the enterprise server market to capitalize on the massive demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. According to reports, the tech giant is designing a new server product scheduled to debut around 2029. This move marks a significant shift for Apple, which officially retired its Xserve hardware line in 2011 and has since left the server space to other enterprise manufacturers.

The upcoming servers are expected to run on either two or four of Apple's future M8 Ultra chips, depending on the specific model configuration. Because Apple only recently announced its M6 processor line in August, the M8 series remains several years away. To maximize the performance of these processors, Apple is rumored to be incorporating Nvidia's NVLink Fusion technology. This proprietary interconnect allows multiple chips to be linked together so they can function seamlessly as a single, highly powerful unit.

While Apple and Nvidia have historically maintained a frosty relationship, the two companies have recently begun collaborating more closely. Apple already turned to Nvidia hardware to power its newly revamped Siri servers. For AI practitioners and developers, Apple's return to hardware infrastructure could ease ongoing compute shortages. Currently, developers have heavily adopted the Mac Mini and Mac Studio for AI workloads, leading to hardware supply constraints.

By offering dedicated enterprise servers, Apple will provide AI engineers with a highly efficient, ARM-based alternative to traditional x86 server architectures. The integration of NVLink Fusion with Apple's own silicon could deliver unprecedented memory bandwidth and processing efficiency for training and deploying local models. This development suggests that Apple aims to become a major infrastructure player, offering tightly integrated hardware stacks optimized specifically for next-generation AI workloads.

This is our own summary of reporting by The Verge AI

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