President Donald J. Trump took to his Truth Social media site after midnight Wednesday to say Apple and Intel will build chips in the United States together, having struck a design and manufacturing deal. The move sent Intel’s stock soaring and added new urgency to the American semiconductor push.
President Trump says Apple and Intel will build chips in US
President Trump’s statement came in a lengthy Truth Social post (see the full comment below). He framed the Apple-Intel arrangement as part of a broader, government-assisted revival of U.S. chip manufacturing. He also touched on Nvidia and Elon Musk’s planned “TerraFab” factory.
“Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and build its Chips in America,” he wrote.
What the deal may involve
Neither Apple nor Intel has officially commented. But what analysts and reporters know, based on earlier reporting, gives a clearer picture.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary manufacturing agreement. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo added that Intel had already begun test production of legacy chips for older iPhones, iPads and Macs. The arrangement mirrors how TSMC currently works with Apple. Intel would fabricate chips based on Apple’s own designs, not create chips itself.
The chips Intel manufactures for Apple will almost certainly cover lower-end or previous-generation products — think iPad models powered by older M-series chips, or non-Pro iPhones — rather than the cutting-edge silicon inside the iPhone 18 Pro or the latest MacBook Pro. Intel’s newest 18A-P process node has only recently entered limited-scale testing. That suggests full-volume Apple chip production probably won’t come before mid-2027 at the earliest.
Why Apple wants a second chip foundry
Photo: TSMC
Apple’s exclusive dependence on TSMC has become a vulnerability. The AI boom has made TSMC’s manufacturing capacity one of the hottest commodities in the tech industry, and Nvidia has displaced Apple as TSMC’s largest customer. On Apple’s most recent earnings call, CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that constrained A19 and A19 Pro chip supplies from TSMC had throttled iPhone 17 availability during the quarter.
Adding Intel as a second foundry gives Apple more production slots and greater leverage when negotiating with TSMC — a classic supply-chain diversification move for a company with Apple’s purchasing power.
There’s also the political dimension. Apple has faced sustained pressure from the Trump administration to root more of its manufacturing in the United States. The company has repeatedly announced large U.S. investment pledges, and this deal fits neatly into that narrative.
Intel’s remarkable turnaround
Just a year ago, Intel looked like a troubled giant. Since then, new CEO Lip-Bu Tan — who took over after the board ousted Pat Gelsinger — has pushed hard to revive the company’s flagging chip manufacturing business. The effort has paid off spectacularly in market terms. Intel’s stock has climbed roughly 464% over the past 12 months, pushing the company’s market cap past $600 billion.
The U.S. government also converted $8.9 billion in unpaid CHIPS Act grants into a 10% equity stake in Intel — the arrangement Trump highlighted in his post, below. That stake, worth around $60 billion at Intel’s current valuation, represents one of the more striking returns the federal government has generated from a technology investment.
A complicated history
Image: ChatGPT
Apple and Intel share complicated history. Apple relied on Intel processors for its Macs for about 15 years, a relationship defined by recurring chip delays that frustrated Apple’s product roadmap. When Apple finally unveiled its own Arm-based Apple Silicon chips in 2020, it completed a transition away from Intel within two years — a pace that surprised even industry insiders.
This time, Intel won’t design the chips. It will simply build them. That distinction matters enormously: Apple retains full architectural control, and Intel supplies the factories and manufacturing expertise.
What it means for you
If you own recent Apple devices, nothing changes in the short term. Chips powering this year’s iPhones and Macs will still come from TSMC. But over the next couple of years, some Apple devices — most likely iPads and entry-level Macs — could carry chips built on American soil by Intel.
Longer term, the deal could give Apple more production flexibility, potentially help cushion against future supply shortages, and — depending on how Intel’s manufacturing capabilities mature — eventually extend to more product lines.
The full Trump commentary:
The Technology the World relies on was invented in America. We all remember ‘Intel Inside.’ Stupid Presidents took our Economy for granted, and let Taiwan and others steal our Semiconductor Factories. They forgot to protect our Industries with TARIFFS. When I won my Second Term (Third, actually!), it was clear America needed its Semiconductor Industry to come back to the U.S.A. We design everything, but we need to BUILD it here, NOW! So I decided to help Intel because we need to design and build our Chips right here in America. First, we helped bring in Nvidia, and they agreed to build their first level Chips with Intel. Next, Elon agreed to build his TerraFab, the largest Chip Factory in the World, designed together with Intel’s Technology team. And, finally, Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and build its Chips in America. We decided to help Intel in exchange for 10% of their shares. Is that too much or, too little? They were worth around 100 Billion Dollars when we made our offer. Now they are worth over 600 BILLION DOLLARS! Nine months, and they’ve increased in value over HALF A TRILLION DOLLARS. America’s stake is now over 60 Billion Dollars. When was the last time a President made America money?? Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP
David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.
With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.
Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.
