Apple May Break a 10-Year Chip Strategy

[Zubba]

If that were the case, Intel would have plenty of customers lining up for their fab services. So would Samsung. Both of them have no customers for good reasons. Their processes aren't as good as TSMC's.

Of course fab processes are different. If anyone can just buy equipment and run it with the same results, Apple would have done so on day one.

They aren't as efficient as TSMC. For the lower end chips a lower yield rate won't be as significant as the very top end chips (that already have been reported to have some weird yield efficiency issues). If TSMC fab time becomes a bottleneck with rapidly rising prices you'll see more, and more orders go to Intel and other players... oh wait that's already what's literally happening right now.

 

[chiimaero]

As long as they go to different iPhone tiers, otherwise we’d see another situation like with the A9 chips and hoping you got the one you wanted, as minimal as the real-world differences would be 😆

Indeed, I wish the article title as accurate! I still have a trauma from getting a 6s Plus with the "bad" chip.
12-Year chip strategy? More like 11-Year chip strategy!

 

[Nyx1]

C'mon Apple make your own fab you have money

 

[kxc]

Good luck for Nvidia when China takes over Taiwan and it will, whatever anyone says. Sooner or later.

in your dreams

 

[yannxou]

Not gonna buy these. Intel Macs were the worst. Many probably don’t remember it but they were running hot af and battery life was ****

That's why these will be called iFans

 

[wanha]

Not gonna buy these. Intel Macs were the worst. Many probably don’t remember it but they were running hot af and battery life was ****

it sounds to me like your true beef has more to do with chip architecture and the priorities of the time and less with the name of one of the companies that made it

 

[leonremi]

Not gonna buy these. Intel Macs were the worst. Many probably don’t remember it but they were running hot af and battery life was ****

Huh? Intel will only be doing the manufacturing. Not the design.
These chips will be pretty much indistinguishable from whatever TSMC chips (assuming they are made on similar nodes, which appears likely.)

 

[whelmedjedi]

nvidia... father of the all devils.. what will you do when openai bankrupts you greedy disgusting company?

 

[Frantisekj]

China won't risks their entire global relationship just for invading Taiwan.

in your dreams

If you read between lines you see how they divide zones of power among USA, China and Russia the way it all looks like fight but it is an agreement....

 

[bluecoast]

People need to look up Intel Panther Lake (based on latest 18A fab process node) and realize this isn’t 2021 anymore where Intel had been stuck on 14nm for 7 years while TSMC had moved into 5nm process. Intel’s latest process node is competitive with TSMC 3nm used in Apple chips today, and is no longer years behind it.

Sure, TSMC may still be a bit better than Intel, but they’re charging an arm and a leg for it. Apple is smart to diversify suppliers.

And if The regular Ax (and maybe Mx?) chips were made by Intel and are not quite cutting edge, regular users have all of the power that they need to do regular user things with the regular chips.

Especially If Apple stop using graphics cycles for superfluous animations (ahem, Liquid Glass), regular users would have screamingly fast regular iPhones.

OK, we are at the dawn of the age of AI and AI can certainly chew up processing cycles. But the fancy assistant stuff is still likely to run in the cloud for the foreseeable future, with things like voice processing and video and photo edits being run locally, To the best of my knowledge, the current A class chips can cope with stuff like that.

It'll be interesting to see if an even wider gap opens up with the pro and pro max class chips if Apple goes down this route. I expect so and that's OK.

 

[el-John-o]

Imagine telling someone in 2010 that in the future, their Mac will have an Apple-designed, TSMC made chip; but their iPhone will have on from an Intel fab.

 

[Kottu]

Will Apple’s new devices really come with an “Intel Inside” sticker?

 

[klrobinson999]

They should just buy Intel. Apple can afford it.

 

[1d1otic]

Sadly, it's a bad idea unless they also stick with Samsung, not Intel.

 

[tenthousandthings]

The most telling aspect of Intel’s restructuring that created Intel Foundry in 2024 as an “independent subsidiary” with a separate board of directors is this: “it also gives us future flexibility to evaluate independent sources of funding”

Apple could buy into Intel Foundry.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Panther Lake (and 18A) are impressive. And from a business perspective it's better to have a diverse supply chain.

Though it's yet to be seen if Intel could keep up.

 

[Quicksilver867]

Wonder what IP transfer, IF ANY, will flow from TSMC to Intel to get their Apple chip production underway. I wonder if Apple has any say in the matter.

 

[boswald]

I really hope this AI rush doesn't create a John Henry Eden for us.

If you know, you know.

 

[ScanTheNavian]

Indeed, I wish the article title as accurate! I still have a trauma from getting a 6s Plus with the "bad" chip.
12-Year chip strategy? More like 11-Year chip strategy!

Sounds like...you have a chip on your shoulder.

 

[Ursadorable]

Once the AI bubble pops, which looks like is getting closer every day, it will go back to business as usual. nVidia is hogging the lion's share of TSMC's production capabilities right now.

 

[Ursadorable]

Good luck for Nvidia when China takes over Taiwan and it will, whatever anyone says. Sooner or later.

I got a multi-day ban for mentioning that same thing ("discussing politics outside of the political sub-forum").

 

[knappeduivel]

I got a multi-day ban for mentioning that same thing ("discussing politics outside of the political sub-forum").

If you have never been silenced by Macrumors you should start to worry

 

[TokyoKiller]

Not gonna buy these. Intel Macs were the worst. Many probably don’t remember it but they were running hot af and battery life was ****

My younger sister in high school recently asked me to look at her 2020 MBA with an Intel i3 processor, pretty sure I could have cooked an egg on the bottom case of that thing. I really did forget how bad Intel days were now that most of us are on Apple silicon lol.

 

[mrhick01]

This is just the start.

Yes. This current AI market is a bubble, but even after all of the circular transactions and scamming and hype collapses a number of companies and technologies, humanity will have a more accurate look of what the market really should be. There is a market for LLMs and digital assistants, but none of these companies know how to make real money with them.

Whether it was a conservative strategy, ineptitude, or some combination of both, Apple looks like one of the companies that will be stronger when we're on the other side of all of this "AI" carny-barking.

 

[sw1tcher]

If that were the case, Intel would have plenty of customers lining up for their fab services. So would Samsung.

You do realize that Samsung has their own foundry services, right? They operate the world’s
second largest foundry service. That's why they don't (at the moment) use Intel's. But that's expected to change in the future.

From August 2025: https://www.businesspost.co.kr/BP?command=article_view&num=409163

Lee Jae-yong As the chairman of Samsung Electronics visited the United States as an economic delegation to the Korea-U.S. summit, it is expected that he is actively pursuing a strategic alliance with Intel to strengthen the Samsung Electronics foundry (semiconductor consignment production) business.

Samsung Electronics is reportedly considering investing in the post-process packaging sector of the foundry, which Intel has relatively strong strengths, and is using Intel's packaging production line in the United States. Samsung is also reportedly considering how to use Intel's semiconductor glass substrate technology.

Samsung Electronics has been considering additional U.S. investments in $37bn to build a foundry plant in Taylor, Texas, and has been working with Intel to drive investment in packaging production lines.


Have you already forgotten about Microsoft and Amazon? I told you about them using Intel's foundry services a week back.

Intel also makes SoCs for Ericsson's 5G infrastructure equipment using Intel's 18A process.

MediaTek is another customer of Intel's.

Things don't change overnight. It will take time, but Intel is fixing the mess their foundry service was in.