May 7 (Reuters) - Apple ( AAPL ) on Tuesday introduced a

new chip called the M4 that it said would outclass personal

computers designed for artificial intelligence - but put the new

chip in an iPad Pro model rather than a laptop.

The move is unusual for Apple ( AAPL ), which typically puts its

latest chips into its Mac lineup, where M3 chips started to show

up last fall. But analysts told Reuters that Apple ( AAPL ) is likely

eager to get its latest chips, which are more power-efficient

and have larger portions of the chip dedicated to handling AI

tasks, into the hands of app makers ahead of its annual software

developer conference next month.

The iPhone maker's latest product launch event comes as the

Silicon Valley heavyweight trails Big Tech rivals while they

race to build AI into its products across their businesses and

dominate the emerging technology.

Apple ( AAPL ) said the iPad Pro - its highest-priced model - will

have upgraded displays and will now come with an M4 chip with a

larger "neural engine." Apple ( AAPL ) chips have featured a neural

engine since 2017, but rivals such as Intel and

have begun to tout their competitive technologies for

personal computers.

Apple ( AAPL ) also introduced new models of its mid-priced iPad Air,

which will now come in a larger 13-inch screen size at $800, as

well as the 11-inch size it previously came in for $600. The

models come with Apple's ( AAPL ) M2 chip, which first came to market in

Apple's ( AAPL ) MacBooks in 2022.

Apple ( AAPL ) often introduces new iPads in May, a time when

education customers are making purchasing decisions for the next

academic year. But in recent years, Apple ( AAPL ) has started to

transform its higher-priced models into devices for creative and

business professionals with its iPad Pro models.

Precisely what AI features the new chips could power might

not become fully clear until Apple's ( AAPL ) developer conference, where

it often shows new capabilities for Siri, its voice assistant,

as well as the rest of its operating systems.

For now, many AI features - such as helping zoom in on a

user during a video call and slightly altering the look of their

eyes to make it look as though they are looking directly into

the camera - are not likely to inspire a wave of upgrades,

according to some analysts.

"Is it really enough for people to look into it and buy

them? Probably not," said Mikako Kitagawa, an analyst at

Gartner. "It has to be some kind of remarkable experience."

Apple ( AAPL ) rivals Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Alphabet's Google

have dived headlong into AI, introducing chatbots that

aim to act as virtual assistants for tasks such as writing

emails or tapping out lines of computer code.

While those companies' stocks' have surged to record highs,

Apple's ( AAPL ) share have fallen 6% year to date as it struggles with

weak iPhone demand and tough competition in China, and as

investors wait for it to show how it will leverage AI

technology.

Apple ( AAPL ) Chief Executive Tim Cook said last week the company is

"very bullish about our opportunity in generative AI" and plans

to make more announcements later this year.

Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Creative Strategies, said

upgraded iPads could be a way for Apple ( AAPL ) to get new chips onto

the market ahead of its developer conference next month, where

it may reveal more about how it plans to address AI.

That could come in the form of automating common tasks to

make them faster, or letting Siri, the company's voice-based

assistant, delve deeper into apps to carry out tasks on the

user's behalf.

The key question facing Apple ( AAPL ) is how much it can improve its

AI features while processing most information on the device

itself, for privacy reasons.

"I always say that the AI is only as smart as the data it

can get its hands on," Milanesi said.