Apple may go back to Intel for Mac and iPad chips, just not how you think
Apple is reportedly planning to enlist Intel to help build M-Series processors. It's five-years since Apple ditched Intel for its own Apple Silicon.
Years after Apple ditched Intel Core chips as the muscle behind the Mac in favour its own M-Series Apple Silicon, the two companies may be on path for a reunion within the company’s laptops and tablets.
According to new reports, Apple may go back to its old partner. Not as a replacement for the current flagship M5, sitting within the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro, but to help Apple build its successors.
The information comes from the analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who thinks Apple may enlist Intel to help carry the load. Currently, Apple primarily uses TSMC to build the M-Series chips that power the Mac and iPad models.
The reliable Kuo reckons Apple may ask Intel to build the “lowest-end M processor” which 9to5Mac assuages is the standard M-Series chip, rather than the Pro, Ultra or Max. The reasons for Apple to go back to Intel? Apple is keen to bring more of its manufacturing back to the United States and this is a surefire way to achieve that.
The company is currently under pressure from the US government and there’s an ever-present threat of tariffs when sourcing components that might push prices up for consumers.
Kuo writes on X: “For Apple: In addition to showing strong support for the Trump administration’s strongly promoted “Made in USA” policy, Apple, while clearly expected to remain highly dependent on TSMC’s advanced nodes for the foreseeable future, still needs to secure a second source to meet supply-chain management requirements.”
For Intel, securing some business with Apple would be a port in stormy waters as the company struggles to keep pace with the likes of Qualcomm and Nvidia.
Chris Smith
