Apple: according to WSJ, there is a preliminary agreement with Intel to produce next-generation chips

Apple and Intel have reportedly reached a preliminary agreement that could bring the Santa Clara giant back into the production chain of Apple devices. According to The Wall Street Journal, the two companies have been negotiating for over a year and in recent months have finalized a formal agreement to entrust Intel with the production of some of the chips destined for Apple-branded products.

At the moment, there are no official confirmations from the companies, and both the production volumes and the types of semiconductors involved in the agreement remain unknown. However, the news is particularly significant considering that Apple sells over 200 million iPhones annually, in addition to millions of iPads and Macs, with a silicon demand that continues to grow alongside the expansion of the company's hardware and AI ecosystem. The possibility of a productive collaboration with Intel would represent a significant change in the scenario.

Since 2020, Apple has gradually abandoned Intel's x86 CPUs in favor of its proprietary Apple Silicon SoCs, starting with the M1 chip. Since then, the production of Apple's chips has been almost exclusively entrusted to TSMC, a key partner for the A and M series.

According to rumors, Apple is looking to diversify its supply chain to reduce reliance on TSMC, especially in a context characterized by strong pressure on the global advanced semiconductor production capacity. The growing demand related to AI infrastructures and data centers has indeed saturated a good portion of the most advanced production lines of the Taiwanese foundry. Tim Cook himself recently acknowledged that limitations in chip availability have impacted sales of some products.

Sources close to the dossier also claim that Apple evaluated Intel's 18A production node as early as last year, particularly for potential M series chips destined for entry-level products. In the past, the relationship between the two companies has not been without tensions: according to some accounts, Cook openly criticized Intel's production capabilities, arguing that the company "did not know how to do the job of a foundry."

For Intel, Apple's entry as a client would represent a result of enormous strategic weight in the path to reviving Intel Foundry's division. After years marked by technological delays, production difficulties, and loss of market share to AMD and ARM manufacturers, the group led by Lip-Bu Tan is attempting to regain credibility as a third-party chip manufacturer.

In recent months, Intel has announced several significant partnerships, including a billion-dollar agreement with NVIDIA and involvement in the TeraFab project promoted by Elon Musk for the production of AI chips intended for Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI. At the same time, U.S. industrial policy has played an active role in the rapprochement between Apple and Intel. According to rumors, President Donald Trump personally encouraged Tim Cook to support Intel during a meeting at the White House.

However, the issue of production capacity remains open. Despite the announced progress, Intel continues to face availability issues and high demand even for its traditional CPUs. For this reason, any production for Apple could initially start on a limited scale, at least until the company is able to significantly expand its advanced production lines.