Apple to Make Chips in US With Intel, Trump Says

[MacRumors]

Apple has agreed to work with Intel to manufacture some of its chips in the United States, U.S. president Trump said on Thursday.

Intel's stock rose 9 percent in premarket trading following Trump's comments, which appeared in a social media post. Apple was up 0.6 percent in premarket trading.

Neither Apple nor Intel have officially commented on the deal, but The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Apple and Intel had established a preliminary agreement that would see Intel manufacturing processors for Apple devices.

Intel would make chips based on Apple chip designs in the same way that TSMC currently does. Prior rumors on Intel's Apple talks have suggested Intel could make some of the lower-end processors used in Apple devices, including the lowest-end M-series chip used in select iPad and Mac models.

Before Apple adopted Apple silicon, it used Intel-designed chips for its Macs, but there were continual chip delays. Today, Apple designs its own Arm-based chips and has TSMC manufacture them, giving it the freedom to roll out updates on a more predictable schedule.

Apple hasn't looked to Intel as a supplier before, both because the chipmaker has trailed rivals like TSMC and Samsung and because of the rocky history between the two companies.

That picture may be shifting under Lip-Bu Tan, who took over as Intel CEO last year after the company ousted Pat Gelsinger, and has since pushed to turn around its struggling chip manufacturing arm. Tan's efforts appear to be having the desired impact – the company's stock has surged 464 percent in the past 12 months, with the company hitting a market cap of $608.7 billion. The U.S. government also took a 10 percent stake in Intel last year, converting $8.9 billion in unpaid Chips Act grants into equity.

Apple has been trying to broaden its supply chain, since TSMC – based in Taiwan – is its only Apple silicon manufacturer at the moment. On Apple's most recent earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said iPhone 17 supply had been constrained during the quarter because the company couldn't secure enough A19 and A19 Pro chips from TSMC.

With the AI boom driving massive demand for AI servers, TSMC has less capacity to spare for consumer-device chips. That's left Apple with a weaker hand when it comes to securing production slots.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple to Make Chips in US With Intel, Trump Says

 

[jsowers]

I welcome Intel chips in some iPhone models. It simplifies my decision making process by flagging which models not to buy.

 

[Kriss_De_Valnor]

Better to have an Intel made Apple chip than waiting months because of shortage caused by this AI sh*t.

 

[Taq'aix]

So Apple is working with Intel again because Trump is essentially holding the company hostage at gunpoint.

 

[zoozx]

Apple, look what you have become. !

 

[nickf]

I suppose the question is if a M4 chip fabbed by Intel is as performant and power efficient as that fabbed by TSMC.

 

[winxmac]

How will it affect the performance? Will intel-made chips perform the same as TSMC-made? Is this going to be like the Qualcomm vs intel modem reliability and performance?

 

[Corefile]

I thought the days of Intel Macs were gone. Intel Inside(tm).

 

[attila]

I do not trust a word Trump says, but, indeed, there has been rumours about this before.

 

[casjohnr]

Announcing the Intel m6 Core Duo Ultra Max MMX powered by AI

 

[rme]

Better to have an Intel made Apple chip than waiting months because of shortage caused by this AI sh*t.

The shortages will be worse. The US govt (Intel shareholder) will force other chip designers to move production to Intel too.

 

[Dirk Pieters]

I welcome Intel chips in some iPhone models. It simplifies my decision making process by flagging which models not to buy.

Do you really think that Apple is going to let Intel screw this up? That a powerhouse like Apple is going to ship devices with faulty chips? The same devices that make them billions? You are crazy.

A chip is a chip. It has a design and someone builds it.

I’ll tell you what: if anyone inside Intel thinks life will be gold and roses just because they got a contract from Apple … boy, they are in for a surprise.

Apple will be looking over Intel’s shoulders to absolutely guarantee that Intel does it right.

If anything, I’d say that Apple will be the most demanding customer Intel ever had.

 

[Dirk Pieters]

Announcing the Intel m6 Core Duo Ultra Max MMX powered by AI

We need a sticker on every MacBook as well. Maybe a sticker sort of 50/50 in blue and grey colors.

 

[sirozha]

This means that Trump has given Taiwan to China, and TSMC is no longer a reliable foundry partner for US companies. Relying on TSMC will become a supply-chain risk and a long-term national security risk. Even if TSMC builds a foundry in the US, the government wants to diversify the chip fab because of the national security risks.

Intel is a proven chip fab company. Their chip designs have been surpassed by those of Apple, but Apple is not a chip fab company and neither is NVIDIA.

Just like Trump has just admitted that he lost the conflict with Iran by signing an MOU with $300B guaranteed to Iran as reparations for the damage, Trump likely promised Xi that the US will not go to war with China when China moves against Taiwan to take it over. So, this is a strategic move for the US to diversify its own domestic chip fabrication. I wouldn’t be surprised if the federal government heavily subsidized Intel to build new foundries and catch up with TSMC.

 

[Rafagon]

Apple has agreed to work with Intel to manufacture some of its chips in the United States, U.S. president Trump said on Thursday.

Intel's stock rose 9 percent in premarket trading following Trump's comments, which appeared in a social media post. Apple was up 0.6 percent in premarket trading.

Neither Apple nor Intel have officially commented on the deal, but The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Apple and Intel had established a preliminary agreement that would see Intel manufacturing processors for Apple devices.

Intel would make chips based on Apple chip designs in the same way that TSMC currently does. Prior rumors on Intel's Apple talks have suggested Intel could make some of the lower-end processors used in Apple devices, including the lowest-end M-series chip used in select iPad and Mac models.

Before Apple adopted Apple silicon, it used Intel-designed chips for its Macs, but there were continual chip delays. Today, Apple designs its own Arm-based chips and has TSMC manufacture them, giving it the freedom to roll out updates on a more predictable schedule.

Apple hasn't looked to Intel as a supplier before, both because the chipmaker has trailed rivals like TSMC and Samsung and because of the rocky history between the two companies.

That picture may be shifting under Lip-Bu Tan, who took over as Intel CEO last year after the company ousted Pat Gelsinger, and has since pushed to turn around its struggling chip manufacturing arm. Tan's efforts appear to be having the desired impact – the company's stock has surged 464 percent in the past 12 months, with the company hitting a market cap of $608.7 billion. The U.S. government also took a 10 percent stake in Intel last year, converting $8.9 billion in unpaid Chips Act grants into equity.

Apple has been trying to broaden its supply chain, since TSMC – based in Taiwan – is its only Apple silicon manufacturer at the moment. On Apple's most recent earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said iPhone 17 supply had been constrained during the quarter because the company couldn't secure enough A19 and A19 Pro chips from TSMC.

With the AI boom driving massive demand for AI servers, TSMC has less capacity to spare for consumer-device chips. That's left Apple with a weaker hand when it comes to securing production slots.

Article Link: Apple to Make Chips in US With Intel, Trump Says

Strange that this is not tagged with the political post designation to limit comments by new accounts.

 

[GoodTimeNotALongTime]

I wonder how many more Intel shares TACO and his disgusting family bought just before the announcement?

 

[bluecoast]

I’d be ok with this. More manufacturing capacity for any sort of chip is good with processors, memory and SSD prices rising because of AI.

 

[jouster]

Thinking back to the PowerPC days it was impossible to imagine a scenario where Intel was a foundry for Apple chip designs. What a turnaround!

 

[huge_apple_fangirl]

I’m not sure I buy that Trump has inside information here that he is sharing, as opposed to just repeating things he saw in the news that may or may not be true. I mean, I think this is true, but I’m not taking Trump’s word as confirmation of it.

 

[MetalGod1390]

Apple, look what you have become. !

This isn't the same apple under Steve and that was a better apple but again had its problems

 

[t0rqx]

Everyone is missing the point. This is pure stock pumping, he and his friends bought a lot of stocks during the Intel crash.

 

[boppin]

Honestly, I would find it better if Apple built and operated its own factories.

 

[Ibookg6]

It appears that production was outsourced to Intel's Israeli division.

 

[one more]

“Some of its chips” - the question is which ones exactly will they be? To be used in HomePods, watches, iPhones, iPads, Macs or what?

 

[boswald]

Will there be some kind of way to identify where our chips will be made when we get a new device?