Apple used to employ Intel chips in its laptops and desktops, but moved away from them once the in-house designed M-series chips arrived. Now it seems like the company is on the verge of reaching a new deal with Intel, but this will be different.
Intel will just be making chips for Apple – it won’t be involved in the design phase at all. Basically, Apple wants to not depend entirely on TSMC for chip fabrication, and Intel is the way to do that.
GF Securities analyst Jeff Pu says he and his colleagues now expect a deal between Intel and Apple to be reached for at least some non-Pro iPhone A-series chips to be supplied starting in 2028. Intel would make a small percentage of Apple’s chips, at least initially, with TSMC remaining the main supplier.
Last month, Ming-Chi Kuo said Intel would start making Apple’s lowest-end M-series chips for Macs and iPads as early as mid-2027. For the M-series chips, Apple would use Intel’s 18A process, which is supposed to be the “earliest available sub-2nm advanced node manufactured in North America”.
