Intel wants to manufacture Apple Silicon

Intel will soon be cut out of Apple's processor supply chain as the tech giant moves to in-house silicon designs for Mac, but the chipmaker is looking to claw its way back in as a third-party manufacturer.

Intel on Tuesday announced it will invest some $20 billion to build a pair of chip fabs in Ocotillo, Arizona, with plans to dedicate at least a portion of the output to a new foundry subsidiary, reports CNBC.

Called Intel Foundry Services, Intel's new chip manufacturing arm will produce the silicon based on the company's favored x86 architecture, as well as ARM designs like those used in Apple's A- and M-series SoCs. Intel senior vice president Randhir Thakur is in charge of the operation.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told press that IFS will be run as its own unit and is currently working with Amazon, Cisco, IBM and Microsoft on the initiative, according to Engadget. The company is also looking to gain Apple's interest.

Apple has long relied on one firm, TSMC, to build its modern chip designs. With foundries in the U.S. and abroad, the Taiwan-based company has both the capacity and cutting-edge fabrication technology necessary to handle Apple's exacting demands. Whether Intel can compete with TSMC's market lead is unknown.

While Apple and TSMC are fabricating wafers on a 5nm process — and moving toward more efficient and powerful 4nm and 3nm technology — Intel is still struggling to get its 7nm line up and running.

Gelsinger today said Intel's first 7nm chip, Meteor Lake, will see its design finalized in the second quarter. Still, the company will need manufacturing help from third parties including TSMC.

After years of delays and other chip-related troubles, Apple last year announced intent to transition Mac away from Intel processors in favor of its own ARM-based designs. The first chip, M1, debuted in the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini. Apple's shift to Apple Silicon is expected to take two years.

Intel hasn't taken the breakup well and is currently running an attack ad campaign targeting Mac.

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61 Comments

jumpingcoco 104 comments · 7 Years

About 3 years ago

jokes aside, US gov should either help TSMC build R&D centers and factories in the US, and/or companies like Apple should help save domestic chip manufacturing

blastdoor 3564 comments · 15 Years

Good!

I have certainly been critical of intel because they deserved it. But I want them to succeed.

dewme 5737 comments · 10 Years

The music has stopped and Intel is left standing without a chair. Now they want to sit on Apple's lap.

Seriously though, I do agree with the sentiment that the US chip making sector needs to make sure it doesn't find itself as a whole lacking a chair when it comes to owning foundry capabilities. Some of the closer to pure capitalistic decisions that have made in the name of maximizing ROI and ratios like IRR may leave us without the skills and competencies to be as self sufficient as we need to be, especially if we're not the only big fish in the pond.

viclauyyc 847 comments · 10 Years

Isn’t Intel just made an ad to mock apple’s M1?

is this how intel treat their customer?

mangakatten 98 comments · 10 Years

This is just speculation, but at one time many years ago there was some investigation that Apple and Google where too close due to some anti monopoly law, and the companies started half hearted campaigns attacking each other. Intel’s really bad attack on Apple makes me think that it maybe was a decoy? Could it be seen as some monopoly situation if intel started making all apple’s chips? I don’t remember the exact circumstances of Apple/Google, but this was sometime before Steve Jobs went thermonuclear war with Google.