Apple has agreed to work with Intel to manufacture some of its chips in the United States, U.S. president Trump said on Thursday.
Intel's stock rose 9 percent in premarket trading following Trump's comments, which appeared in a social media post. Apple was up 0.6 percent in premarket trading.
Neither Apple nor Intel have officially commented on the deal, but The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Apple and Intel had established a preliminary agreement that would see Intel manufacturing processors for Apple devices.
Intel would make chips based on Apple chip designs in the same way that TSMC currently does. Prior rumors on Intel's Apple talks have suggested Intel could make some of the lower-end processors used in Apple devices, including the lowest-end M-series chip used in select iPad and Mac models.
Before Apple adopted Apple silicon, it used Intel-designed chips for its Macs, but there were continual chip delays. Today, Apple designs its own Arm-based chips and has TSMC manufacture them, giving it the freedom to roll out updates on a more predictable schedule.
Apple hasn't looked to Intel as a supplier before, both because the chipmaker has trailed rivals like TSMC and Samsung and because of the rocky history between the two companies.
That picture may be shifting under Lip-Bu Tan, who took over as Intel CEO last year after the company ousted Pat Gelsinger, and has since pushed to turn around its struggling chip manufacturing arm. Tan's efforts appear to be having the desired impact – the company's stock has surged 464 percent in the past 12 months, with the company hitting a market cap of $608.7 billion. The U.S. government also took a 10 percent stake in Intel last year, converting $8.9 billion in unpaid Chips Act grants into equity.
Apple has been trying to broaden its supply chain, since TSMC – based in Taiwan – is its only Apple silicon manufacturer at the moment. On Apple's most recent earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said iPhone 17 supply had been constrained during the quarter because the company couldn't secure enough A19 and A19 Pro chips from TSMC.
With the AI boom driving massive demand for AI servers, TSMC has less capacity to spare for consumer-device chips. That's left Apple with a weaker hand when it comes to securing production slots.
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