Apple Opens Talks With Intel and Samsung to Break Its Decade-Long TSMC Dependency

Apple has opened discussions with Intel and Samsung Electronics about manufacturing the main processors for its devices inside the United States, per Bloomberg. This introduces the first meaningful alternative to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in Apple’s chip supply chain in over a decade.

Apple executives have visited Samsung’s advanced semiconductor facility under development in Taylor, Texas, while separate preliminary talks with Intel have explored using Intel Foundry Services to produce Apple Silicon.

Both discussions remain early-stage and may not lead to a formal agreement, but this signals a strategic shift in how Apple is approaching supply chain resilience.

Why TSMC Alone Is No Longer Enough

For more than a decade, Apple has designed its own systems-on-a-chip, from the A-series in iPhones to the M-series in Macs. 

It has been outsourcing every wafer to TSMC, whose facilities in Taiwan produce Apple’s chips on the most advanced fabrication nodes available anywhere in the world. The iPhone 17 family runs on TSMC’s 3-nanometre process, the same technology used for leading AI accelerators. 

As Bloomberg confirmed, that arrangement delivers consistent performance, but it concentrates Apple’s critical manufacturing in one geography amid rising tension between the United States and China over Taiwan.

The immediate trigger is supply, not geopolitics alone. As PhoneArena confirmed, Apple warned of ongoing chip constraints in its latest earnings, with Tim Cook stating: “We have less flexibility in the supply chain than we normally would.”

The constraint is structural; AI data centres are consuming TSMC’s advanced node capacity at a pace competing directly with Apple’s iPhone and Mac allocation, a pressure that did not exist at this scale two years ago.

Why Intel and Samsung Both Present Significant Challenges

The gap between Apple’s interest and its commitment is large for a precise reason. As Bloomberg confirmed, both Intel and Samsung face meaningful limitations that TSMC does not. 

Intel Foundry Services has been rebuilding its advanced manufacturing after years of process delays. While Intel reclaims its Irish Fab 34 to bolster its manufacturing independence, its most advanced node, 18A, has not yet demonstrated the yield at scale that Apple requires. 

Samsung has recently recorded high fold profit as NAND and DRAM demand surge, yet there is a setback. Samsung Foundry, despite its Taylor, Texas facility representing a significant investment in US-based capacity, has similarly struggled with yield issues on its most advanced nodes compared to TSMC.

Samsung Electronics has recently recorded strong profit growth as NAND and DRAM demand surge, but a key setback remains. 

Samsung Electronics Foundry, despite its Taylor, Texas facility representing a major US capacity investment, continues to face yield challenges on its most advanced nodes compared to TSMC.

Apple’s concern is not just capability but reliability, the output consistency TSMC has refined over decades, which neither Intel nor Samsung has matched at an equivalent scale.

The Hardware Reorganisation That Made This Possible

The timing of Bloomberg’s report coincides with a significant internal restructuring at Apple. 

Apple recently reorganised its hardware engineering division, combining hardware engineering and hardware technologies under a single organisation led by Johny Srouji, newly appointed as the company’s Chief Hardware Officer. 

Within that structure, the Silicon team is now overseen by Sri Santhanam, an 18-year Apple veteran. 

The consolidation of chip design and hardware engineering under one leadership structure helps Apple manage multiple foundry partners simultaneously. 

This shift is critical as competitors pivot toward specialized hardware; for instance, Intel introduces Core Series 2 processors specifically for industrial edge AI computing to capture a shifting market.

Whether Intel or Samsung Electronics ultimately receives Apple chip orders remains open. That Apple is actively evaluating both, for the first time in over a decade, is the story.

Source: Apple Explores Using Intel and Samsung to Build Main Device Chips