Intel Says 10nm Chip Development is On Track

intelResponding to claims earlier this morning that it had ended development on its 10nm "Cannon Lake" processors, Intel announced on Twitter that it is "making good progress" on its upcoming 10nm chips.

The announcement followed a claim from SemiAccurate suggesting Intel had killed off its 10nm process. Intel's 10nm chips were supposed to launch at some point in 2016, but have been delayed multiple times due to production difficulties.

According to Intel, yields on its 10nm process are improving "consistent with the timeline" shared during the last earnings report, which means sans additional delays, the chips will come out in 2019.


Apple uses Intel chips in its line of Mac desktops and notebooks, and Intel's delays have caused problems for the Cupertino-based company in recent years.

As a result, Apple is said to be planning to transition away from Intel chips to its own custom-designed chips as soon as 2020 or 2021, using supplier TSMC as a manufacturer.

With custom-designed Mac chips, Apple will no longer be forced to delay updates due to Intel's manufacturing issues, and custom chips will give the company more control over design, better profits, and a way to differentiate its products from competing PCs.

Apple has long used Apple-designed A-Series chips in its iOS devices, and the marriage between hardware and software often results in performance that is unmatched by competing products. Similar gains could come when Apple has more control over Mac chip design as well.

Apple won't be ready to transition to its own chips by 2019, and will likely adopt the 10nm Cannon Lake chips from Intel provided those chips make their launch date. Cannon Lake chips will bring performance improvements, reduced power consumption, and support for faster, more efficient LPDDR4 RAM.

Tag: Intel

Popular Stories

ipad 11 feature

Apple Unveils 11th-Gen iPad With A16 Chip and More Storage

Tuesday March 4, 2025 6:06 am PST by
Apple today announced the 11th-generation iPad, now featuring the A16 Bionic chip and more storage. The announcement came alongside the debut of the new iPad Air, which now features the M3 chip. From Apple's press release: The A16 chip provides a jump in performance for everyday tasks and experiences in iPadOS, while still providing all-day battery life. Compared to the previous...
M3 iPad Air

Apple Announces New iPad Air With M3 Chip, Updated Magic Keyboard

Tuesday March 4, 2025 6:04 am PST by
Apple today introduced new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air models with the M3 chip, along with an updated Magic Keyboard for the device. With the M3 chip, the new iPad Air should offer up to 20% faster performance compared to the previous-generation model with the M2 chip, which was released in May 2024. In addition, the M3 chip brings hardware-accelerated ray tracing to the iPad Air for the...
Apple MacBook Air hero

Apple Announces New MacBook Air With M4 and 'Sky Blue' Color Option

Wednesday March 5, 2025 6:02 am PST by
Apple today announced refreshed 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air models, now featuring the M4 chip, an upgraded camera, and a new "Sky Blue" color option. "Sky Blue" is an all-new blue finish that joins Midnight, Starlight, and Silver. Apple describes it as a "beautiful, metallic light blue that creates a dynamic gradient when light reflects off of its surface." Space Gray is no longer available. ...
macbook air blue image

New MacBook Air Coming This Week: What to Expect

Monday March 3, 2025 4:52 pm PST by
Apple CEO Tim Cook teased a new product announcement this week, sharing a short video that says "there's something in the Air." Based on the "Air" wording and the timing of the launch, it sounds like we're going to get new M4 MacBook Air models. Design Apple will continue to offer the MacBook Air in two sizes, including 13 inches and 15 inches. We are not expecting notable design updates,...
cook tweet air upscale

Tim Cook Teases New Apple Product Announcement This Week: 'There's Something in the Air'

Monday March 3, 2025 8:02 am PST by
Apple CEO Tim Cook today teased a new product announcement coming "this week." "There's something in the air," the teaser says. This teaser likely refers to a new MacBook Air with the M4 chip, which is already expected to be announced as early as this week. Apple used the same "there's something in the air" slogan before it announced the original MacBook Air in 2008. Cook shared a si...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 8 New Features

Tuesday March 4, 2025 3:15 pm PST by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. iPhone 17 Pro's alleged design via Front Page Tech Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Rumored to Include These New Features for Your iPhone

Saturday March 1, 2025 11:00 am PST by
iOS 19 is still around three months away from being unveiled, but there are plenty of rumors about the upcoming update. Below, we recap iOS 19 rumors so far. Redesigned Camera App A leak earlier this year allegedly revealed a redesigned Camera app coming with iOS 19. On his YouTube channel Front Page Tech in January, Jon Prosser shared a video showing what the new Camera app will...
ipad air magic keyboard

Apple Announces Redesigned Magic Keyboard for iPad Air

Tuesday March 4, 2025 6:36 am PST by
Apple today announced a completely redesigned Magic Keyboard accessory for the iPad Air. The new keyboard features a larger built-in trackpad, a 14-key function row, and a new aluminum hinge. From Apple's press release: The all-new Magic Keyboard for iPad Air expands what users can do at an even lower price. The larger built-in trackpad brings greater precision for detail-oriented...
iOS 18

Apple Says iOS 18.4 Will Be Released in April With These New Features

Wednesday February 26, 2025 7:15 am PST by
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April. From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...

Top Rated Comments

danielwsmithee Avatar
83 months ago
So Apple hasn't been updating their Macs at all because of intel?

* Mac Pro - Ships with Xeon E5 v2 - Intel has released v3, v4 and now SP lines to replace E5 with no update.
* Mac Mini - Ships with 4th gen core processors, Intel is currently shipping 9th gen.
* iMac - Currently shipping 7th gen, Intel is currently shipping 9th gen.
* MBA - Currently shipping a 5th gen, Intel is currently shipping 8th gen.

Intel certainly has their fair share of problems, but I really don't think they are the reason the Mac product line is stagnant. Given that almost the entire segment (outside of MBP) is shipping processors that are at least 3 generations old.
Score: 53 Votes (Like | Disagree)
brofkand Avatar
83 months ago
Intel's delays are not why Apple isn't updating Macs as much anymore.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bornee35 Avatar
83 months ago
Rumour has it they will be released alongside the Airpower
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StralyanPithecus Avatar
83 months ago
Intel is not gonna cry by loosing Apple, is a very small customer for them...as a former Intel eng. I know the hardship of building x64 architecture chips on anything smaller than 12 nm. We are talking about playing with single atoms almost...
[doublepost=1540230559][/doublepost]
Seriously Intel?
TSMC and Samsung already have 7nm chips in production and working in 5nm.
arm architecture, simpler than x64. That kind of architecture Intel is able to fit in 5 nm long time ago...It's not the same to build a car than a big commercial plane.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wallysb01 Avatar
83 months ago
Such negativity. ARM is one thing, full fledge desktop processors are another. I for one will not cheer the day Apple moves its computer line to ARM (if that actually ever happens).
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Andres Cantu Avatar
83 months ago
Consistent with the timeline, yeah, 10nm was supposed to be out two years ago. Don’t forget that, Intel.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)