Apple and Intel reach agreement to produce future chips: report

Reports are growing about a potential partnership between Apple and Intel to produce future chips, and according to The Wall Street Journalan agreement was officially reached.

Future Apple silicon could be produced, in part, by Intel

Robbie Whelan and Rolfe Winkler write to The Wall Street Journal:

Apple and Intel have reached a preliminary agreement for Intel to manufacture some of the chips that power Apple devices, according to people familiar with the matter.

Intensive negotiations between the two companies have been ongoing for more than a year and they reached a formal agreement in recent months, these sources said. Bloomberg News first reported the discussions on Tuesday.

It remains unclear which Apple products Intel would make chips for, these people said. Apple ships more than 200 million iPhones a year as well as millions of iPads and Mac computers.

Ming-Chi Kuo first reported last fall that Apple and Intel were exploring a partnership on future M-class chips for Macs and iPads. At the time, Kuo said Intel could start producing chips as early as 2027.

Analyst Jeff Pu added in December that the potential partnership could also extend to the production of iPhone chips. But that won’t happen before 2028.

Then earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Apple is exploring partnerships with Intel and Samsung to diversify its chip production pipeline. Currently, Apple relies heavily on TSMC for new chips.

Besides the obvious competitive advantages of diversifying chip production, a deal with Intel could also help boost Apple’s reputation with the US government. Intel is now partly owned by the United States, and the Trump administration has reportedly made efforts to secure new deals for the company.

According to the WSJ report, the US government played a key role in the Apple deal. “President Trump personally advocated for Intel Cooke during a White House meeting, according to people familiar with the matter.”

If Apple intends to use Intel for 2027 chips, we’ll likely know more about the details of the deal before long.

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