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Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

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Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone.

Intel-Inside-iPhone-Feature.jpg

In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028.

The non-pro iPhone chips would be manufactured with Intel's future 14A process, according to Pu.

The research note did not provide any other details about these potential plans, but based on the stated timeframe, Intel could start supplying Apple with the A22 chip for devices like the "iPhone 20" and "iPhone 20e" in around three years from now.

Importantly, there is no indication that Intel would play a role in designing the iPhone chips, with its involvement expected to be strictly limited to fabrication. Apple would continue to design iPhone chips, and Intel would start to handle a smaller percentage of manufacturing alongside Apple's primary chipmaker TSMC.

Last month, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said he expects Intel to begin shipping Apple's lowest-end M-series chip for select Mac and iPad models as early as mid-2027. For this, Kuo said Apple plans to utilize Intel's 18A process, which is the "earliest available sub-2nm advanced node manufactured in North America."

Intel supplying Apple-designed, Arm-based chips would differ from the era of Intel-based Macs, which used Intel-designed processors with x86 architecture.

Apple reaching a chip supply deal with Intel would boost its reliance on an American manufacturing company and help to diversify its supply chain.

Intel previously supplied Apple with cellular modems for some iPhone 7 to iPhone 11 models.

Article Link: Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/12/05/intel-iphone-chips-rumor/
The "A" and the "M" chips share a lot of the design, iP blocks and such. So starting to fabricate at 2 different foundries is a risky and costly path as the foundry processes are incompatible with each other, resulting in different designs and twice the effort for design validation, characterization and reliability testing.
On the other hand, being solely dependent on a single foundry carries its own risks...
Intel still has to prove they can be a dependable foundry, having Apple as a customer will be a huge win, but only time will tell
 
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When are they gonna get that cancer called Tim Cook out of that company!

Intel is the main reason they started making their own chips.

Why would you go back to the same worthless trash company that can’t adhere to thermal thresholds causing overheating repeatedly

That’s one of those companies that just should’ve been left to die

It’s been a good run Apple if this is what you end up doing because many of us are probably not gonna stick with your brand
 
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funkright said:
I wouldn't be overly surprised if Apple buys Intel in the foreseeable future :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Yes, just like they picked up the Intel modem project I could see them purchasing, not the entirety of Intel, but some or all of its Fab capacity. They don't want intel's designs, they might want their fabs.
 
18a was supposed to be available in 2024; and it’s still “right around the corner”.

But leapfrogging 16a, we are confident 14a will be available in 2027.
 
Get rid of all the executives, get rid of Apple silicon, just stop developing AI and outsource it... By the end of the month this will just be a fork of Android on my 17 Pro
 
Remember the famously dual-sourced A9 from both Samsung and TSMC? One of them clearly performed better.

Soon, people will want to check if their A22 came from Intel or TSMC.
 
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JPack said:
Remember the famously dual-sourced A9 from both Samsung and TSMC? One of them clearly performed better.

Soon, people will want to check if their A22 came from Intel or TSMC.
Click to expand...

If things keep going the way the are, the only chips coming from TSMC will be the ones the Chinese government approves.
 
JPack said:
Remember the famously dual-sourced A9 from both Samsung and TSMC? One of them clearly performed better.

Soon, people will want to check if their A22 came from Intel or TSMC.
Click to expand...
That was true when it was actually truly dual sourced, but, if the base A and M chips are fab'd at Intel and the Pro, Max etc chips are sourced at TSMC, it will be far less noticeable if at all. I don't know if that is really the strategy though but seems to be the most plausible one to avoid the A9 history
 
Small Rant: Every time one of these stories drops, headlines like “Apple’s Return to Intel” make me wince a little. Sure, the article eventually clarifies that Intel isn’t designing anything here, but the headline alone frames it as some dramatic reversal, like Apple suddenly bailed on Apple Silicon and went crawling back.

For people who actually follow this stuff, we know better. We read past the headline, we care about the architecture, the supply chain, the roadmap, all of it. But for everyone else, it sends the wrong signal.

When Apple used Intel chips before, they were genuinely dependent on Intel’s roadmap, stuck moving only as fast as Intel could innovate. That’s not remotely what’s happening now. This time, Intel is simply one of several manufacturers building Apple’s chips. Apple still owns the design, the direction, and the pace. The headline just doesn’t reflect that reality.
 
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Intel is desperate to be a part of Apple’s supply chain after short-sightedly taking Apple for granted during the late 2000s.
 
jz0309 said:
That was true when it was actually truly dual sourced, but, if the base A and M chips are fab'd at Intel and the Pro, Max etc chips are sourced at TSMC, it will be far less noticeable if at all. I don't know if that is really the strategy though but seems to be the most plausible one to avoid the A9 history
Click to expand...

Samsung vs. TSMC was voluntary competition. This Intel vs. TSMC is forced due to politics, meaning Apple has to accept Intel output regardless of the quality of the results.

It will certainly be more noticeable. Unless you mean Apple will quietly ramp down clocks or disable cores to accommodate Intel's lagging process tech.
 
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