Apple using Intel to make some of its processors appears to have gone from rumor to reality at the speed of light. Following the announcement earlier this month that the two companies were in discussions, supply chain exporter Ming-Chi Kuo now announces that Apple has started testing for systems-on-a-chip based on Intel’s 18A-P process. The idea is to create “low-end/older processors for iPhone, iPad, and Mac,” according to Kuo’s X article.
Intel, of course, was Apple’s sole Mac processor supplier until 2020, when the company switched to its own M Silicon chips built primarily by Taiwanese company TSMC. Earlier this month, it was reported that Apple was uncomfortable relying so much on TSMC for its processors and wanted to diversify. The Trump administration is reportedly trying to convince Apple executives to also resume business with Intel, after the government took a 10% stake in the chip giant.
Intel would spend 2026 testing production of Apple processors, with 2027 as a target for production and shipments, then increase production through 2028 and 2029. Intel’s manufacturing plants in Oregon, Arizona and Ohio could be used to make the A18 Pro for older, lower-end iPhones and Macs using its all-new 18A-P process, an update to the 18A used to produce Panther Lake and other Intel chips. Intel 18A is roughly equivalent to TSMC’s N2 process in terms of performance and transistor density.
TSMC would still make 90% of Apple’s processors, “even if Intel’s initial shipments go smoothly,” Kuo wrote. About 80% of Intel’s production would be used for iPhone chips, in line with the company’s product lineup. Apple is also reportedly evaluating other advanced node technologies from Intel, including 14A (1.4nm), for future iPhone chips.