Apple and Intel have reached a preliminary agreement for Intel to manufacture some of the chips that power Apple devices, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal published on May 8, 2026, marking one of the most consequential shifts in the global semiconductor supply chain in years. The companies were engaged in intensive talks for more than a year and hammered out a formal deal in recent months, though it remains unclear which Apple products Intel would make chips for, with both companies declining to comment publicly on the report.
The US government played a key role in facilitating the agreement, with President Trump personally advocating for Intel to Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook in a meeting at the White House. The deal would also help bolster Apple’s reputation with the US government, given that Intel is now partly owned by the United States and the Trump administration has been making sustained efforts to secure new commercial partnerships for the company. Apple currently relies heavily on TSMC to produce the chips for its iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, and more, and even before the Trump administration’s push to bring manufacturing back to the United States, Apple was aware of its need to diversify its supply chain as demand for artificial intelligence silicon continues to intensify.
Intel shares soared nearly 14 percent on Friday following the report, while Apple shares added 2 percent, reflecting the market’s assessment that the deal represents a significant vote of confidence in Intel’s once-struggling chip foundry business under Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan, who replaced Pat Gelsinger last year and has been leading a focused effort to revitalise Intel’s manufacturing operations around its most advanced process nodes. Industry analysts suggest Apple is most likely to wait to manufacture chips on Intel’s next node, called 18A-P, which could scale as soon as next year, with one analyst describing Intel’s current 18A node as having gone through its rough patch and now being considered a validated, credible second source for chip production at scale.
The Apple deal is not Intel’s only major foundry win of late. The company has also received a $5 billion investment from Nvidia, with the two partnering to develop an x86 RTX system-on-chip for personal computers, while Elon Musk’s TeraFab project has also tapped Intel’s 14A process to manufacture artificial intelligence chips. Together, these developments point to a meaningful recovery in Intel’s foundry credibility after years of manufacturing setbacks that allowed TSMC to establish near-total dominance over advanced chip production. For Apple, the arrangement offers the supply chain resilience it has long sought, reducing its dependence on a single manufacturer for the silicon that sits at the heart of every product it sells.
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