Apple Could Be Getting Intel To Build Chips Again
Apple and Intel might be linking up again, and yes, that sounds very 2006 — but the stakes in 2026 are completely different.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Apple has signed a preliminary agreement with Intel after more than a year of serious discussions. The deal would reportedly see Intel manufacture some chips used in Apple devices. For now, the actual size of the arrangement is still unclear.
That detail matters because Apple’s hardware scale is gila. The company ships more than 200 million iPhones a year, on top of iPads, Macs and other devices. Even a “small” Apple chip order can still mean millions of units.
Neither company is saying much publicly. Apple did not respond to Engadget’s request for comment, while Intel declined to comment.
Why this is a big deal
For older Mac fans, Apple and Intel being in the same sentence again hits a very specific nostalgia button. Intel powered the MacBook era that started in 2006, when Steve Jobs moved Apple laptops away from PowerPC. That Intel switch helped make MacBooks mainstream for a whole generation of students, designers and office warriors — including plenty here in Malaysia.
But Apple eventually moved on. In 2020, the company launched Apple Silicon for Mac, kicking off the M-series era. Since then, MacBooks have become known for strong battery life, cooler performance and very efficient chips. If you’ve compared an M1 or M2 MacBook Air against older Intel models, the difference is not subtle.
Apple’s chip independence actually started before that. The A4 chip arrived in 2010 and powered the first iPad and iPhone 4. Apple also bought most of Intel’s modem business in 2019 for US$1 billion, bringing over around 2,200 Intel staff plus related IP and equipment. That move eventually helped Apple build its own C1 modem.
Intel needs wins, and Apple is a monster win
Intel is not the untouchable giant it used to be. The company struggled to challenge Qualcomm and ARM in mobile, while AMD’s Ryzen CPUs took serious momentum in PCs. For gamers and PC builders in Malaysia, that Intel-versus-AMD shift has been obvious for years — Ryzen builds became the value king for many people shopping on Shopee, Lazada or Low Yat.
Recently though, Intel has been stacking major political and industry support. After Lip-Bu Tan became CEO in 2025, President Trump initially criticised him over past China ties, but Intel later landed a major White House boost, with the US government taking a 10 percent stake in the company. Intel also signed a US$5 billion deal with NVIDIA in September to build PC and data centre CPUs, and later agreed to support Elon Musk’s Terafab project involving Tesla, SpaceX and xAI.
The Journal also reports that Trump personally pushed Intel to Tim Cook during a White House meeting.
What it could mean for Malaysia buyers
Don’t expect your next iPhone or MacBook to suddenly become “Intel inside” in the old-school sense. This is reportedly about manufacturing some Apple chips, not Apple abandoning its own chip designs.
But if the deal becomes real, it could affect Apple’s supply chain stability. For Malaysian buyers, that matters because chip shortages and production bottlenecks can hit local pricing, launch timing and stock availability. Anyone who has waited for a specific MacBook colour or iPhone storage variant here knows the pain.
For SEA, this is also another sign that chip manufacturing is becoming more political and more diversified. Apple still needs massive, reliable production capacity. Intel badly wants to prove its foundry business can handle elite customers. If Apple trusts Intel with even part of its silicon pipeline, that is a major credibility boost.
For now, it is still preliminary. But if this moves forward, it could be one of the more interesting Apple supply chain twists in years.
Source: Engadget
