Apple plans to bring Intel back into its chip supply chain, but this time the roles look very different. Apple will still design every processor in house. Intel will only manufacture some of them. If the plan moves forward, Intel will make chips for select iPhones, iPads, and Macs later this decade, while TSMC stays Apple’s main partner.
This setup gives Apple more control over supply and production. It also lets the company spread risk across more than one factory partner. Apple keeps its silicon roadmap intact, but it no longer depends on a single chip foundry.
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What Jeff Pu Says About iPhone Chips
GF Securities analyst Jeff Pu says Intel will start making some Apple chips using its upcoming 14A process, which targets mass production in 2028. He expects Intel to supply chips for non Pro iPhone models first. These chips could be part of Apple’s A21 or A22 generation.
Pu also says Intel has a strong list of outside customers for 14A, including Apple, AMD, and Nvidia. That puts Apple inside Intel’s long term manufacturing plans. Even so, TSMC will keep producing most iPhone chips.
What Ming Chi Kuo Says About Macs and iPads
Ming Chi Kuo reports that Intel will start shipping Apple’s lowest end M series chip as early as 2027. This chip would likely power base model Macs and some iPads. For this work, Apple plans to use Intel’s 18A process.
Kuo did not mention iPhones, but his timeline lines up with Pu’s view that Intel will enter Apple’s supply chain in stages, starting with simpler chips.
Apple Still Designs Everything
This is not a return to Intel designed processors. Apple left Intel’s x86 chips behind when it moved Macs to Apple Silicon in 2020. That shift will not reverse.
Under this plan, Apple engineers still design every iPhone and Mac processor. Intel only runs the factories that turn those designs into real chips. In the past, Intel both designed and built the processors. This time, it only builds them.
Why Apple Wants Intel Involved
Apple wants to diversify its supply chain. TSMC faces heavy demand from companies like Nvidia, especially for AI servers. That pressure makes capacity more valuable and harder to secure.
By working with Intel, Apple adds a second large scale manufacturing partner. At the same time, Apple increases U.S. based chip production, which fits with the current push for domestic manufacturing.
Intel also brings a strategic angle. It gives Apple more bargaining power and more flexibility when planning future products.
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