Report: Apple and Intel team up as iPhone maker looks to diversify its chip partners

Apple has been establishing interesting partnerships with competitors. It shook hands with Google for making Siri smarter and has been looking at alternatives to TSMC for its chip manufacturing. A new report has now claimed that the Cupertino giant has finalized a deal with Intel to make some of its chips, though the exact details of the agreement are currently unclear.

Apple has been in talks with Intel for over a year regarding shifting its chip manufacturing, or at least part of it, from TSMC. Samsung was also one of the considerations, but it is unknown how far that discussion has progressed. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal (via Macrumors), Apple and Intel now have a preliminary agreement in place, and the latter will supposedly manufacture lower-end processors for both iPhone and Mac models, based on the former’s designs.

In the past, Intel has been a few steps behind the competition in terms of chip manufacturing and yields. With a major management shift and strategy adjustment, under the leadership of Lip-Bu Tan, Intel has been focusing on more advanced processor nodes like 14A (1.4 nm) and 18A (1.8 nm). Now, it looks like Intel has finally reached a point where it can meet Apple’s demands.

This strategic partnership will benefit both parties as it will allow Apple to shift some of its chip manufacturing from just one source. There have also been reports indicating that TSMC, which also supplies chips to many other major brands, has been at capacity, and fulfilling Apple’s needs would demand a higher cost. This comes in relation to the MacBook Neo and its unexpectedly high demand, causing Apple to run out of the commissioned binned A18 Pro, and also constrained quantities of the A19 (Pro) chips.

As mentioned earlier, it is unclear exactly which chips Intel will be making for Apple and what specifications have been shared with the chip maker. It should also be noted that no formal, official announcement has been made yet.