Apple’s decision to source chips from Intel was shaped in part by White House pressure during tariff negotiations last summer, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The arrangement, which Trump announced publicly in June, had its roots in meetings between Tim Cook and administration officials who were pushing Apple to use Intel’s domestic fabrication plants as a condition of tariff relief.
At the center of those discussions was a proposed 100 percent tariff on semiconductor imports that would have driven up costs across Apple’s entire product lineup, from iPhones to Macs.
Last year, Cook went to Washington to lobby against the measure. Apple eventually secured an exemption after committing to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S., though the Journal notes that many of those investments had already been in the works before the talks began.
What Apple Actually Agreed To
According to a person familiar with the negotiations, Apple plans to have Intel manufacture chips for both Mac laptops and iPhones.
The report does not specify which chips, which product generations, or what share of Apple’s total chip volume Intel would handle. TSMC is expected to remain Apple’s primary supplier for the custom silicon that powers its devices.
That distinction matters for consumers trying to gauge what any of this means for their next iPhone or MacBook. Intel would be manufacturing chips to Apple’s own designs, not supplying processors of Intel’s own architecture.
Apple has controlled its chip designs since the transition away from Intel processors in 2020, and nothing in the current reporting suggests that changes.
Intel’s Foundry Business Has Struggled
Intel’s manufacturing division recorded $10.4 billion in operating losses over its last four fiscal quarters.
Outside customers have questioned in recent years whether the company can produce chips at the volume and reliability that a client like Apple would require.
No timeline has been given for when Intel-made chips might appear in shipping Apple products, and Apple has not commented publicly on the arrangement.
The U.S. government converted $9 billion in federal grants into a 10 percent equity stake in Intel last year, making it the chipmaker’s largest shareholder.
The Journal’s reporting frames Apple’s agreement as part of a broader administration effort to steer business toward Intel’s foundry operations.
Nvidia and SpaceX have also signed manufacturing deals with Intel in recent months, with similar pressure reportedly applied in those cases.
Why This Came as a Surprise
Apple and Intel have a complicated history. Apple spent years relying on Intel processors before replacing them with its own Apple Silicon chips, a transition that was partly driven by dissatisfaction with Intel’s performance roadmap.
The idea that Apple would now turn to Intel’s factories, even just for manufacturing rather than chip design, represents a shift from a relationship the two companies had largely moved past.
When Trump posted about the deal on Truth Social in June, Intel’s stock climbed to record highs.
The connection between that announcement and the tariff negotiations from the previous summer had not been reported before the Journal’s story.
Apple has yet to confirm any details about what products might be affected or when consumers would see any changes.
