another triumph for x86
This is a fab deal, nothing to do with x86
Technically, but the money doing this will indirectly help Intel's chip line through experience and increased fab quality
Apple, Intel have reached preliminary chip-making deal
51–60 of 150 posts
Re: Apple, Intel have reached preliminary chip-making deal
#52Pardon my lack of faith but ... this article is clueless. No information whatsoever. Except:
> The Journal report said the U.S. government, which became Intel's largest shareholder last year under a deal with its CEO Lip-Bu Tan, played a major role in bringing Apple to the negotiating table.
... smells what it smells.
Re: Apple, Intel have reached preliminary chip-making deal
#53Big deal, smart for all parties, really. Apple standards will make Intel step up and become a better foundry partner. Apple will gain increasingly needed diversification. US supply chain gets a boost. Should be fine for TSMC in the short to medium term. Apple not going to risk actual mainline iPhone SoC on Intel any time soon, so lion share of TSMC Apple revenue will be fine.
This is the third year in a row that Apple's most advanced chips have used a version of TSMC's 3nm node, with a transition to a more advanced node due in the next generation.
Intel would only need to be on par with TSMC's older 3nm node to Fab Apple's entry level SOCs.
Re: Apple, Intel have reached preliminary chip-making deal
#54Big deal, smart for all parties, really. Apple standards will make Intel step up and become a better foundry partner. Apple will gain increasingly needed diversification. US supply chain gets a boost. Should be fine for TSMC in the short to medium term. Apple not going to risk actual mainline iPhone SoC on Intel any time soon, so lion share of TSMC Apple revenue will be fine.
It’s the main processor:
Apple Inc. has held exploratory discussions about using Intel Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. to produce the main processors for its devices in the US, a move that would offer a secondary option beyond longtime partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. [0] (paywalled)
They wouldn’t need either Intel or Samsung if it wasn’t bleeding edge. I think it’s 14A for Intel. TSMC is still have the edge overall, but they are neck and neck in terms of node.
TSMC will be more than fine. They are hardly able to meet the demands.
[0] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-05/apple-exp...
Re: Apple, Intel have reached preliminary chip-making deal
#55Intel seems far & away the best at chiplet right now. Foveros, EIMB, etc, and possible Z-Angle next... Intel seems way ahead. They're trying to get to 12x reticle size in 2028, and doing it super smartly (eimb). https://bsky.app/profile/ogawa-tadashi.bsky.social/post/3mld... That alone is a strong reason for Apple to show up. Apple has some pretty wild patents on chiplet System-on-Chip designs! https://bsky.app/profi…
Yes, Intel is actually competitive again. Between working backside power, the most advanced chiplet packaging tech going, 18A yields steadily improving, and other good news, Intel is really on plane. Now they've landed both SpaceX and Apple.
It's good to see. Guess they were worth saving. I do hope their abandonment of discrete desktop GPU is temporary.
Re: Apple, Intel have reached preliminary chip-making deal
#56Big deal, smart for all parties, really. Apple standards will make Intel step up and become a better foundry partner. Apple will gain increasingly needed diversification. US supply chain gets a boost. Should be fine for TSMC in the short to medium term. Apple not going to risk actual mainline iPhone SoC on Intel any time soon, so lion share of TSMC Apple revenue will be fine.
The biggest reason to do this is because TSMC's N2 node and future nodes will be dominated by AI chips. Since AI chips have far bigger margins than most Apple chips, Apple will get outbid by companies like Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom. Nvidia already became TSMC's biggest customer last year. Every TSMC advanced node from N5 to N2 is fully booked and running at max capacity. It's not really realistic to make Mac, Watch,…
Apple arguably are making AI workstations that can do inference and training by their Mac Studio and Macbook Pros to a lesser extent. The M6 generation is going to be interesting and before the memory pricing going up their products were competitive to the rest of the industry. Intel is still working with small and smaller process nodes.
Re: Apple, Intel have reached preliminary chip-making deal
#57Wasn't the whole apple silicon thing about Intel being unable to keep up? Is this maybe a way to expand the affordable neo line?
It was about x64 being unable to keep up - independent of Intel’s Fab capabilities which have improved lately. Also, the NEO line uses cutting edge technology that is necessary for the iPhone SOC, so this is probably for other chips.
> It was about x64 being unable to keep up - independent of Intel’s Fab capabilities which have improved lately.
But the big reason x64 couldn't keep up was that Intel's fab capabilities were horrible. Intel got stuck and couldn't get smaller nodes out and competing fabs caught up and left Intel in the dust.
Apple was able to ship 22nm Intel processors in Summer 2012 while their iPhone processors were 32nm that Fall and 28nm in Fall 2013. Spring 2015, Apple shipped 14nm Intel laptops and later that Fall 14/16nm iPhones. Competitors had caught up and soon TSMC started surpassing Intel.
Yes, Intel's fab capabilities have improved lately, but Intel's fab failures were causing x64 to fall behind. If Intel had retained fab supremacy, x64 wouldn't have fallen behind. I think Apple still likes the idea of being able to build exactly the parts they want (so they can optimize for power, thermals, etc), but Intel fell behind because their fabs stopped being competitive.
Re: Apple, Intel have reached preliminary chip-making deal
#58> The Journal report said that the U.S. government, which became Intel's largest shareholder last year under a deal with its CEO Lip-Bu Tan, played a major role in bringing Apple to the negotiating table. Ah, so this wasn't a decision Apple freely made based on technical merits. Instead it sounds more like big government and a fancy stock manipulation scheme. My guess, Apple drags their feet for a couple years and ba…
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Re: Apple, Intel have reached preliminary chip-making deal
#59> The Journal report said that the U.S. government, which became Intel's largest shareholder last year under a deal with its CEO Lip-Bu Tan, played a major role in bringing Apple to the negotiating table. Ah, so this wasn't a decision Apple freely made based on technical merits. Instead it sounds more like big government and a fancy stock manipulation scheme. My guess, Apple drags their feet for a couple years and ba…
>big government and a fancy stock manipulation scheme. What's wrong with US gov caring about supply chain and manufacturing capability of the most needed technology right there - on American soil? It is in US' interest to be able to produce such complex tech locally
Samsung has a Texas fab(and AAPL is in discussions with them alongside INTC).
Re: Apple, Intel have reached preliminary chip-making deal
#60Big deal, smart for all parties, really. Apple standards will make Intel step up and become a better foundry partner. Apple will gain increasingly needed diversification. US supply chain gets a boost. Should be fine for TSMC in the short to medium term. Apple not going to risk actual mainline iPhone SoC on Intel any time soon, so lion share of TSMC Apple revenue will be fine.
> Apple not going to risk actual mainline iPhone SoC on Intel any time soon Not to mention that Intel does not and will not any time in the next decade have the capacity for a product of that quantity.
Next decade seems possibly false - if Intel starts getting deals and commitments now, it takes them about half a decade to build a fab. Agree it seems unlikely though.