Analyst: Intel’s Foundry Unit Wins Some Apple Business
Intel’s foundry business is making some noticeable progress on several fronts
By Mark LaPedus
Intel’s foundry business is finally making some noticeable progress on several fronts.
As expected, Intel Foundry Services (IFS)—the company’s foundry unit--has won some foundry business from Apple, according to an analyst. In addition, IFS has made some yield improvements for its new 18A process. Foundry vendors (i.e. TSMC, Samsung, Intel, others) make chips for other companies in large facilities called fabs.
“Our checks indicate IFS has landed Apple as a customer on 18A for low-end M-series processors for MacBooks and iPads, which is expected go into production in 2027,” said John Vinh, an analyst with KeyBanc Capital Markets, in a new research note.
A boost for IFS
This represents a major boost for Intel and its foundry unit. Based in Santa Clara, Calif., Intel is the world’s largest supplier of x86-based processors for PCs and servers. AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm and others also compete in the overall processor market.
In 2021, Intel reentered the foundry business. At that time, IFS hoped to get a foothold in the leading-edge foundry business against the likes of TSMC and Samsung. Instead, IFS has struggled to garner any major foundry customers and it continues to lose money.
In fact, Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest foundry vendor, continues to dominate this segment. TSMC manufactures chips for AMD, Apple, Broadcom, Google, MediaTek, Nvidia, Qualcomm and many others. TSMC also makes chips for Intel.
For years, Apple has designed its own processor chips for the iPhone, iPad and Mac. And for years, TSMC has manufactured all of Apple’s processor chips.
Suddenly, Intel has won some foundry business from Apple. IFS will manufacture select processors for Apple. TSMC, however, will continue to manufacture the vast majority of Apple’s processors.
IFS, according to KeyBanc’s Vinh, has landed Apple as a foundry customer on its 18A process for low-end M-series processors for MacBooks and iPads. “Additionally, we believe INTC is in discussions with AAPL to use 14A to support low-end mobile A-series processors for iPhones in 2029,” Vinh said.
Last year, Intel unveiled its new 18A process. 18A is a 2nm-class technology. The process represents Intel’s first gate-all-around (GAA) transistor architecture with a backside power delivery technology. Intel’s 14A process is the company’s next-generation technology. Still in R&D, 14A also consists of a GAA transistor architecture with backside power delivery.
Meanwhile, Intel recently launched its Core Ultra Series 3 processor line, marking the debut of the company’s first chips built on its new 18A process technology. The processor line is codenamed Panther Lake.
Intel’s 18A process is optimized for the company’s own chips. Intel is also pushing 18A for the foundry market, but there’s just one problem: It has been struggling with the yields for this process. Yield is the percentage of usable chips produced from a wafer.
In July 2025, Intel’s 18A process yields were roughly 55%. Right now, Intel’s yields have improved to levels good enough to launch Panther Lake, but they still fall short of expectations, according to Vinh.
“We are seeing significant progress being made on foundry with 18A yields improving to over 60% and good enough to ramp Panther Lake. While not best in class, as TSMC was at 70-80% when it launched 2nm, with INTC’s aspirations of being the #2 foundry supplier, 60%+ yield is significantly better than SF2 at Samsung Foundry, which we believe is less than 40%,” Vinh said.
TSMC: More fabs in the U.S.?
Meanwhile, with little or no fanfare, TSMC released its 2nm process in the fourth quarter of 2025. In 2026, Apple, MediaTek and others are expected to release various chips based on TSMC’s 2nm process.
TSMC is also experiencing robust demand in several chip markets, especially the booming high-performance computing (HPC) segment. This segment involves AI chips, GPUs, processors and related products.
To meet demand, TSMC continues to expand its fab capacity in Taiwan, Japan and the United States. The U.S. and Taiwan are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15%, according to a new report from the New York Times. As part of the trade deal, TSMC is expected to build at least five more facilities in the U.S., according to report.