Apple-Intel chip deal makes strategic sense but production is years away

Apple turning to Intel for chips, as Washington announced last week, has the neat logic of necessity meeting ambition. But it is not that simple, as analysts say any advanced Intel chip will take two to three years to make and even longer to translate into gains due to the long and exacting production process.

A deal – which neither company has formally announced – would pair Intel’s effort to rebuild its credibility as a contract chipmaker with Apple’s search ‌for more manufacturing capacity, as ⁠its ⁠supplier TSMC struggles to meet surging AI chip demand from the likes of Nvidia.