Intel wants to manufacture Apple Silicon

Posted:
in General Discussion edited March 2021
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.

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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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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 61
    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
    tmaykelemormac_dogdrdavidwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 61
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,255member
    Good!

    I have certainly been critical of intel because they deserved it. But I want them to succeed.
    gregoriusmJWSCwilliamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 61
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,328member
    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.
    robin huberBeatschasmwilliamlondonTomEkillroytechconcwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 61
    Isn’t Intel just made an ad to mock apple’s M1?

    is this how intel treat their customer?
    BeatsMacProRayz2016williamlondonlordjohnwhorfinkillroylkruppStrangeDaysjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 61
    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.  
    dee_deewatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 61
    Maybe not A or M series chips, but it seems that Apple will have a lot more different chips they want to get manufactured.


    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 61
    geekmeegeekmee Posts: 629member
    viclauyyc said:
    Isn’t Intel just made an ad to mock apple’s M1?

    is this how intel treat their customer?
    Yes. Which means...
    Their hair is ON FIRE!!!
    edited March 2021 killroywatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 61
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    lmasanti said:
    Do we remember the times in which Apple made the chips in Samsung's factories and Samsung copied the technology?
    They copied the ads… Why not the chips?
    (They copy so wrongly the ads that the future of their chip is in serious condition.)
    Samsung copied the iPhone, not Apple's chips.  Samsung semiconductor did get caught passing Apple's agreements to Samsung Mobile, given Samsung a heads-up on what Apple was planning next. 
    BeatsRayz2016chasmaderutterkillroyStrangeDaysjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 61
    I got this Tim...

    Intel, the short answer is "no."

    The long answer is, "Hellllllll No!"

    One of the problems with using your tiny little expensive space heaters was you couldn't keep on schedule. Your OWN schedule. Why should we trust you to stay on our schedule with our more advanced and efficient chips, especially when they're competing against your tiny little obsolete space heaters?

    No thanks.
    danoxMacProd_2Rayz2016chasmaderutterrundhvidkillroyjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 61
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,949member
    Perhaps Intel’s right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. At any rate, having insulted Apple they may have given Apple a leg up on negotiations to make their chips. Would rather a US company make them. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 61
    XedXed Posts: 2,519member
    While I don't want to see Intel go under, after that lame ad I also can't help but express...
    BeatschasmStrangeDayslotoneswatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 61
    Smart move trying to make fools of Apple over the M1 silicon. Give that marketing genius a bonus.
    BeatsRayz2016chasmlordjohnwhorfinjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 61
    qwerty52qwerty52 Posts: 367member
    Hey Intel, any new adds of yours,  about how bad Apple’s M1 chips are?
    Beatslordjohnwhorfinwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 61
    revenantrevenant Posts: 621member
    yes ... apple should use a slowly dying dinosaur and go back to the 7nm because ... 

    just for sport, apple should on one condition: just one more commercial with John Hodgman comparing intel computers to Macs without intel, or intel Macs compared to m1 Macs.
    Beatsjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 61
    danoxdanox Posts: 2,799member
    sflocal said:
    lmasanti said:
    Do we remember the times in which Apple made the chips in Samsung's factories and Samsung copied the technology?
    They copied the ads… Why not the chips?
    (They copy so wrongly the ads that the future of their chip is in serious condition.)
    Samsung copied the iPhone, not Apple's chips.  Samsung semiconductor did get caught passing Apple's agreements to Samsung Mobile, given Samsung a heads-up on what Apple was planning next. 

    And that is why Apple doesn’t need Intel anymore, Samsung did well for a while getting early info, notice they aren’t doing as well anymore....

    Intel had it’s chance like Motorola and IBM, Apple has moved on with Intel, AMD, and Nvidia in the rear mirror.
    Beatsd_2watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 61
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    If Intel can make it and be competitive with TSMC and Samsung, then absolutely Apple should engage with them.  No way they would do as some suggest and play hardball because of soreness over a couple of ads.  
    bonobob
  • Reply 17 of 61
    sevenfeetsevenfeet Posts: 465member
    If Intel could actually make chips according to Apple's specifications, I'm sure they would use them. Why?

    1. Apple isn't sentimental. It's business.
    2. Samsung has made Apple's supply chain parts for years and still do. They fight tooth and nail in the phone market but cooperate on things like OLED screens.
    3. Apple always wants a second source for everything in the supply chain, if possible. Having a single source vendor breeds in potential shortages to the process.

    Having said that, Apple would be wary of Intel having access to Apple's IP and reverse engineering it for their own chips. Intel recently bought a chip company just for the talent since that talent used to make Apple A-series chips....and Apple is suing. TSMC is just a foundry and doesn't have this competitive problem.
    revenantwatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 61
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,564member
    If Apple decides to use M1 chips made by Intel, will Apple have to put those big blue stickers on their Macs that say "Intel Inside"?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 61
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,905member
    Samsung makes phone/tablet/wearable/etc that compete with Apple's products. At the same time Samsung display/memory/chip units providing components for Apple iPhone/Macs/wearable. So, not unusual or uncommon if Intel wants to create an independent Chip fab unit inside Intel umbrella to offer 3rd party chip fab services to anyone including Apple than all good. Only question is can Intel offer the same level chip density at cost as TSMC ?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 61
    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
    Maybe they have already?  https://www.imore.com/lawmakers-propose-22-billion-tax-breaks-chip-production-us

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