Apple and Intel may be heading for a quiet reunion. A new research note suggests Intel could once again play a role in iPhone hardware, this time not as a designer, but as a manufacturing partner for Apple’s future chips.
According to GF Securities analyst Jeff Pu, Intel is now expected to secure a supply deal to fabricate “at least some” non-Pro iPhone chips starting in 2028. These processors would be built on Intel’s upcoming 14A process, potentially lining up with the Apple-designed A22 chip for models like a future “iPhone 20” or “iPhone 20e.”
The note doesn’t offer specifics beyond the timeline, but the key detail is that Apple would continue to design every part of the silicon itself. Intel’s role would be strictly fabrication, sitting alongside TSMC rather than replacing it. For Apple, that could mean broader manufacturing redundancy, more capacity, and a stronger foothold with a US-based chipmaker.
This isn’t happening in isolation, either. Last month, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Intel is on track to begin producing Apple’s lowest-end M-series chips for select Mac and iPad models as early as mid-2027, using the company’s 18A node—expected to be the earliest sub-2nm process available in North America. If both analysts are correct, Apple may be preparing a multi-stage shift that leans more heavily on Intel over the second half of the decade.
It would mark a very different collaboration from the Intel Mac era. Back then, Apple used Intel-designed x86 processors. This time, Apple’s Arm-based chips stay fully in-house, and Intel simply becomes another advanced foundry, something the company has been aggressively pushing with its IDM 2.0 strategy.
There’s also the broader supply-chain angle. Relying more on Intel would diversify Apple’s chip production beyond TSMC and support US-based semiconductor manufacturing. Considering how sensitive Apple’s timelines are to regional disruptions, it’s not hard to see why the company would want more than one cutting-edge foundry partner.
Intel, of course, has worked with Apple before, it supplied cellular modems for certain iPhone 7 through iPhone 11 models. But if this latest rumour pans out, the two companies could be stepping into a deeper and more strategically important partnership than anything they’ve done previously.
