Since 2016, TSMC has been the exclusive foundry for Apple's A-series and M-series chips. This cooperation means that Apple's decade long single foundry pattern is about to loosen.

Apple's decision to restart cooperation with Intel is aimed at further reducing chip foundry costs, enhancing supply chain stability and resilience through a dual supplier strategy, while also aligning with the policy direction of the US government to promote the development of local manufacturing industry and obtaining more policy support.

It is worth noting that this cooperation is completely different from the previous model of Apple Mac using Intel's self-developed x86 architecture processor a. Intel is only responsible for the chip manufacturing process and does not participate in any chip design work. All chips are still independently developed by Apple.

Guo Mingchi also stated that Intel's chip production capacity will gradually increase from 2027 to 2028, but in the short term, TSMC will still account for over 90% of Apple's chip supply and remain a core partner in Apple's chip manufacturing.