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is positioning its newest Macs as a cost-effective alternative to cloud-based AI, arguing that local hardware eliminates the recurring per-token charges that define current AI infrastructure economics.
Apple hardware chief Johny Srouji told Reuters, "There's no cost per token. You're just using the machine again and again." This pitch directly challenges the revenue model driving the recent surge in AI spending.
To demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, Apple showed four Mac Studios running a trillion-parameter AI model as a cluster. Reuters reported that this setup could operate from a single wall outlet.
In Apple's framing, businesses pay a one-time hardware cost to run models locally, avoiding continuous payments to cloud providers or AI companies for usage. However, the upfront capital expenditure is significant.
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