In a surprising change of stance, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger mentioned that his company will like to manufacturer Apple’s custom-designed M1 chipset at its two new facilities which will be built in Arizona as part of the company’s “Intel Foundry Services with plans to become a major provider of foundry capacity in the U.S. and Europe to serve customers globally.”
In late 2020, Apple launched its first-generation M1 Mac models which became an instant hit because of their new powerful processors, and with that Cupertino tech giant ended its years-long partnership with Intel which did not settle well with the manufacturer. Recently, Intel introduced an ad new campaign starring Justin Long, known as the Mac guy in Apple’s old Mac vs PC ads, to hit hard at M1 Macs. The defensive ads talked about the “benefits” of laptops that used Intel chips while promoting their form factor, touch screens, PC gaming, multi-monitor support, and more.
Intel wants to manufacture M1 chipsets for Apple at its new facilities in Arizona
While discussing future plans at the announcement of Intel’s “IDM 2.0’ Strategy for Manufacturing, Innovation and Product Leadership” plan, CEO Pat Gelsinger conveniently mentioned Apple as a potential customer. At the WWDC 2020 event, the Cupertino tech giant not only announced the transition from Intel processors to Apple Silicon in future Macs and M1 chip was the first of the series of chipsets designed by the company. That means, the Cupertino tech giant has alot more to offer and Intel wants to be a part of it.
Having said that, tech reviewers and speculators were quick to point out Intel’s hypocrisy in wanting to seek Apple as a customer after mocking the same technology that it wishes to produce.
Maybe he should ask the Marketing department to hold off on those anti-Apple ads, then.
— King Zaktar the Great (@zaktar) March 23, 2021
Uncoordinated marketing department.
— Sandy, Anakin’s Nemesis (@GoodSandyMan) March 23, 2021
This is not just an Intel vs. Apple battle, reviews and performance tests of the M1 chip reveal that the new Apple Silicon is much superior in performance, power efficiency, and battery life than the predecessor Mac processors. Therefore, a good business strategy, Intel wants to manufacture its own as well as third-party processors.
“M1 is here. Our first chip designed specifically for Mac, it delivers incredible performance, custom technologies, and revolutionary power efficiency. And it was designed from the very start to work with the most advanced desktop operating system in the world, macOS Big Sur. With a giant leap in performance per watt, every Mac with M1 is transformed into a completely different class of product. This isn’t an upgrade. It’s a breakthrough.” – Apple
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