NPU
A small AI engine inside phones and laptops that runs models fast on little battery.
An NPU (neural processing unit) is a part of a chip dedicated to running AI models. Modern phones and many recent laptops have one inside their main chip, next to the CPU and the GPU. It is what blurs the background in a video call, finds faces in your photo library, transcribes a voice note or runs a small language model without sending anything over the internet.
Like a TPU, it is specialized in the multiplications that neural networks are made of, using low-precision numbers. The difference is the goal. A TPU lives in a data center and trains or serves giant models; an NPU lives in your device and runs small models for inference using as little energy as possible. The same task on the CPU would be slower and drain the battery faster.
NPUs matter because of on-device AI: processing data on the device itself is quick, works offline and keeps private things like photos and voice off someone else's server. Manufacturers often advertise NPU speed in TOPS (trillions of operations per second), but that number says little on its own; what counts is whether the apps you use actually take advantage of it. Brand names vary too: Apple, for example, calls its NPU the Neural Engine.
Keep in mind
- A part of a phone or laptop chip made for running AI models.
- Runs small models locally, quickly and on little battery.
- Keeps data on the device, so some AI features work offline and more privately.
- TOPS figures in ads are a rough guide, not a measure of real usefulness.
