Intel and Apple have been in discussions about how to work more closely together, reports Bloomberg. The talks started after Intel approached Apple about a potential investment, but they are in the early stages and might not result in an agreement.
Intel has been struggling to compete with other chipmakers, and earlier this year, the company announced that it was cutting 15 percent of its workforce and canceling factories that it planned to build in Europe. Back in August, the U.S. government purchased a 9.9 percent stake in Intel to speed up Intel's Ohio manufacturing plans.
Since then, Nvidia invested $5 billion in Intel for chips for PCs and data centers, and Japanese company SoftBank also invested $2 billion. Intel is said to be reaching out to several other companies about investments and possible partnerships.
Before transitioning to custom Apple silicon chips starting in 2020, Apple used chips designed by Intel for its Macs. Apple no longer relies on Intel's technology, and uses TSMC to manufacture chips that Apple designs.
Apple also worked with Intel on 5G modem chips when it was attempting to move away from Qualcomm technology. Intel was not able to manufacture modem chips that were up to Apple's standards, so the deal fell through. Intel ended up exiting the modem chip business, and selling its modem business to Apple.
There is no chance that Apple would switch back to Intel chips for its products, so it is not clear what kind of deal the two companies could establish. TSMC makes all of Apple's chips, but it is possible that Apple could transition to having some components manufactured by Intel.
