Apple is going back to Intel chips, but not in the way you think

Rumour claims the two firms are reuniting after a lengthy break

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When Apple switched from Intel processors to its own chips in 2020, the difference was night and day. Apple silicon provides far more performance and does so with much lower power consumption, noise and heat levels.

So it might sound odd to hear that Apple is considering switching back to Intel chips, but that's the claim from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Yet things aren't quite what they seem.

According to Kuo, Intel is "expected to begin shipping Apple's lowest-end M processor as early as 2027," with shipments potentially taking place in the second or third quarter of that year. The tech analyst cites “industry surveys” to claim that Intel is poised to become an “advanced-node supplier" for Apple's Mac future chip releases.

Specifically, Apple will apparently use Intel's 18A process, which Intel describes as the “earliest available sub-2nm advanced node manufactured in North America.” However, the chips would still be designed by Apple and use its Arm architecture, rather than Intel's x86 architecture. Intel would simply handle the chip production side of things.

As Kuo noted, this would supposedly only impact Apple's entry-level M-series chips. The 2027 date suggests that that might begin with the M6 or M7. Looking at where Apple's base-level M chips are currently used, the M6 and M7 could end up in a range of devices, including the iPad Air, iPad Pro, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac mini.