Apple’s chip strategy might be heading for a serious shake-up. After years of relying on TSMC as its main manufacturing partner, Apple is reportedly looking at Intel and Samsung as possible additional chip suppliers.
For context, Apple’s modern silicon story has two big chapters. First, the company moved away from Intel chips in its Mac lineup and went all-in on Apple Silicon, giving us the M-series MacBooks and Macs that are now basically the default recommendation for creators, students and office users. Second, Apple’s relationship with TSMC goes all the way back to 2014, when TSMC produced the A8 chip. Since then, TSMC has remained Apple’s sole chip supplier.
Now, that single-supplier setup is becoming a risk Apple can’t ignore.
According to reports, Apple has been considering a more diversified chip supply chain for some time, but recent pressure in the semiconductor world has made the issue more urgent. AI data centres are eating up huge amounts of advanced chip capacity, and the broader chip supply chain is still sensitive after years of shortages and disruption. Apple has even acknowledged during its latest earnings call that depending only on TSMC could create problems in the future.
That explains why Apple is said to be in early discussions with both Intel and Samsung. Apple executives have reportedly visited Samsung’s Texas facility, which is expected to begin producing advanced chips relatively soon. If Samsung can prove its yields and scale are good enough, it could become part of Apple’s future chip manufacturing plan.
Intel is also an interesting name here, mostly because of the history. Apple and Intel were once deeply tied together through MacBooks, before Apple decided to use its own silicon instead. But this potential partnership would not be about Apple going back to Intel-designed chips. It would be about Intel manufacturing Apple-designed chips, assuming Intel’s foundry business can meet Apple’s standards.
For Malaysia and SEA buyers, this is not some boring supply-chain footnote. Chips directly affect how fast new iPhones, MacBooks and iPads can be produced, how stable launch stock is, and how painful pricing can get when supply is tight. We already live in a market where hot Apple products can have limited early availability, especially around launch season. If Apple can add more reliable manufacturing partners, future devices may be less exposed to one factory network getting overloaded.
Don’t expect this to mean cheaper MacBooks in RM overnight, though. Apple’s pricing is affected by plenty of things: exchange rates, import costs, positioning, storage upsells and regional strategy. But better supply diversity could help reduce the risk of stock shortages, long waits and sudden pressure on availability — the kind of stuff Malaysian buyers definitely feel when a new iPhone or MacBook becomes the hot item.
The timing also matches Apple’s internal reshuffle. The company recently merged its hardware engineering and hardware technologies teams under Johny Srouji, Apple’s Chief Hardware Officer. That kind of reorganisation suggests Apple is tightening control around hardware and silicon planning, which makes sense if it is preparing for a more complex manufacturing setup.
The big challenge is simple: Apple needs massive volume and consistently strong yields. TSMC has delivered that for years, which is why Apple has stuck with it. Intel and Samsung can’t just be “good enough” on paper — they need to prove they can produce advanced chips at Apple scale without quality or efficiency issues.
So for now, TSMC remains the benchmark. But Apple looking beyond one supplier is a big signal. In an AI-hungry chip market, even Apple doesn’t want to be caught with only one lane open.
Source: GSMArena