Apple and Intel Rumored to Partner on Mac Chips Again in a New Way

[MacRumors]

While all Macs are now powered by Apple's custom-designed chips, a new rumor claims that Apple may rekindle its partnership with Intel, albeit in a new and limited way.

Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said Intel is expected to begin shipping Apple's lowest-end M-series chip as early as mid-2027.

Kuo said Apple plans to utilize Intel's 18A process, which is the "earliest available sub-2nm advanced node manufactured in North America."

If this rumor proves to be accurate, Intel could supply Apple with M6 or M7 chips for future MacBook Air, iPad Air, and iPad Pro models at a minimum. However, while previous Intel chips for Macs were designed by Intel and based on x86 architecture, M-series chips are designed by Apple and use Arm architecture. Intel would only assist with manufacturing.

TSMC would continue to supply the majority of Apple's M-series chips.

Kuo said that Apple choosing to have Intel supply its lowest-end M-series chip would appease the Trump administration's desire for "Made in USA" products, and it would also help Apple to diversify its supply chain for manufacturing.

Apple began transitioning away from Intel processors in Macs in 2020, and its own M-series chips continue to provide industry-leading performance per watt.

Apple previously announced that macOS Tahoe will be the final major macOS release that supports Intel-based Macs with x86 architecture.

Article Link: Apple and Intel Rumored to Partner on Mac Chips Again in a New Way

 

[Naraxus]

Dear god no.

 

[abatabia]

Oy vey.

 

[nikhsub1]

Probably not a bad idea for so many reasons.

 

[hybrid_x]

Is Intel up to it? They've fallen behind in their fabrication capabilities in recent years.

 

[cdsapplefan]

Knowing Cook 🧑‍🍳 it’s to cut costs in the supply chain. 💻

 

[Rudy69]

Dear god no.

Why? Having multiple foundries available is a good way to keep prices down and ensure TSMC can't just jack up prices on Apple.

They're not switching to x64, they will still be Apple Silicon and the end user won't be able to tell the difference. As long as Intel is able to manufacture them

 

[centauratlas]

Why? Having multiple foundries available is a good way to keep prices down and ensure TSMC can't just jack up prices on Apple.

They're not switching to x64, they will still be Apple Silicon and the end user won't be able to tell the difference. As long as Intel is able to manufacture them

Precisely. I'd also add that if China were to invade, blockade or otherwise interfere in Taiwan, it would be the height of preparedness and smart business to have a foundry that is available in the US.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Knowing Cook 🧑‍🍳 it’s to cut costs in the supply chain. 💻

Is that a bad thing? Is it bad to also diversify the supply chain outside China and Taiwan?

 

[Polesky]

By the time the M6 or M7 are ready in 2027, Intel's fab facilities will have been sold to somebody else, so this won't be an Apple/Intel collaboration.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Dear god no.

Not to worry. Intel, as they ALWAYS do, will miss performance and TDP goals. They can’t NOT do that, it’s in their DNA. I’m sure the contract contains “If you’re unable to deliver the required product, this deal is nullified and we’ll continue to use TSMC.” If this rumor is true, in about a year we’ll be reading about how Intel failed again.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Knowing Cook 🧑‍🍳 it’s to cut costs in the supply chain. 💻

More likely, Intel begged the US government to have Apple throw them a bone. Welp, bone tossed.

 

[bluecoast]

Like or loathe Intel, it's surely important for any country to have full control over a key piece of technology - and microprocessors certain are such a thing and Intel are the only game in town in the USA (that is US owned).

And hey, didn't the USA invent the modern microprocessor as well?

Take it from me, a citizen (subject!) of the UK, where we allow the selling off of key pieces of technology all the time.

Hello - or rather good bye - ARM, Deep Mind.

 

[twolf2919]

When reading the headline, I had a thought: wouldn't it be nice to have a small x86 coprocessor as an optional add-on for a MacBook Pro? I still have a need to occasionally run x86 VMs (Windows 10 and Ubuntu 24) to do builds for our product and, once a year, to run TurboTax for Business, which is only available as an x86 Windows app. I imagine others might be in a similar boat. At one point I had hopes that Parallels would step up and provide "good enough" emulation for x86. Although they did, eventually, it's god-awful slow. Anyway - I would pay a few hundred dollars to have an x86 coprocessor add-on in my next MBP.

 

[citysnaps]

An excellent move on Apple's part.

 

[huge_apple_fangirl]

I hope this is true. Intel, even more than they need a cash infusion, needs star customers like Apple and NVIDIA to use their fabs. I was hoping the Trump administration would pressure them to work with Intel. Apple made TSMC what they are by working with them and giving them consistent, huge orders for new nodes. The least they owe to this country is to help Intel. We can’t let Intel go the way of Lucent.

 

[loekf]

Does not make sense to me. It takes effort to port a chip to another PDK. It is costly. Last time Apple was doing this was with the A8 to actually compare Samsung and TSMC processes for that generation.

 

[H2SO4]

I know the chance of it happening is virtually zero but hoping we will be able to run Windows natively on a Mac again after hearing this.

 

[Siliconguy]

Not to worry. Intel, as they ALWAYS do, will miss performance and TDP goals. They can’t NOT do that, it’s in their DNA. I’m sure the contract contains “If you’re unable to deliver the required product, this deal is nullified and we’ll continue to use TSMC.” If this rumor is true, in about a year we’ll be reading about how Intel failed again.

That's unfair. they don't always miss performance goals. Once upon a time they actually met TDP goals too. But lately they have reverted back to 'all of Grand Coulee Dam to the One True CPU, and the rest of the Hydroelectric dams to cooling that mighty CPU' mindset.

To be fair AMD also has a CPU family in the 200 watts category. Intel also has the N100 running at 6 watts with twice the performance of the Haswell dual core in the 2014 Mac mini. It's the in-between that seems to be the problem.

Too much emphasis on 'gaming' seems to be the root cause.

 

[mcled53]

Taiwan will be Ukraine within 3 years. We need fabrication in North America.

 

[Siliconguy]

When reading the headline, I had a thought: wouldn't it be nice to have a small x86 coprocessor as an optional add-on for a MacBook Pro? I still have a need to occasionally run x86 VMs (Windows 10 and Ubuntu 24) to do builds for our product and, once a year, to run TurboTax for Business, which is only available as an x86 Windows app. I imagine others might be in a similar boat. At one point I had hopes that Parallels would step up and provide "good enough" emulation for x86. Although they did, eventually, it's god-awful slow. Anyway - I would pay a few hundred dollars to have an x86 coprocessor add-on in my next MBP.

For a few hundred dollars you can have a whole Windows laptop. Why settle for the lesser evil when you can have Cthulhu?

 

[t0rqx]

First: Intel cannot build any chip anymore. They all fail.

Second: There is a bigger story behind this. A lot of US government officials have bought loads of stocks of Intel during their all time low.

 

[TFrank2]

More likely, Intel begged the US government to have Apple throw them a bone. Welp, bone tossed.

Wouldn’t be surprised if that was partly the reason and diversifying production the other half (albeit at a small amount - maybe as a test to feel out longer term potential). Though, as others have mentioned, it’ll be interesting to see if this truly comes to fruition given all we know of Intel’s shortcomings.