Intel did say that they were hoping to win Apple's business back (https://www.macrumors.com/2021/10/17/intel-hopes-to-win-back-apple/ https://www.macrumors.com/

Intel did say that they were hoping to win Apple's business back (https://www.macrumors.com/2021/10/17/intel-hopes-to-win-back-apple/ https://www.macrumors.com/2021/10/17/intel-hopes-to-win-back...). I doubt that Apple will go back to x64 architecture, but Intel is offering to work as a third-party foundry for others' chips and Apple is willing to pay a ton more than most companies (probably including Intel's own internal accounting) for the latest fabrication processes. If Apple is willing to pay such that the margin on Apple's business is better than the margin on Intel's own chips, I don't think Intel is going to be vindictive. In fact, Apple choosing Intel for their fabrication would probably be the best thing for Intel's fabrication business. Not only can Apple pay lots of money in advance, it would signal to the industry that Intel's fabrication process is something they should all be paying attention to. Apple tends to be very risk-averse with their supply chain and Apple is known as the company that pays for the best fabrication. If they move to Intel's fabrication, they've done a lot of due diligence in that process. Yes, Intel could offer a good deal to Apple to get them to move so some of it might be marketing - but that's exactly what Intel could use for its third-party fab business. I doubt that Intel will hold a grudge. It would be way more valuable to Intel to win Apple's business. Heck, TSMC is on the cutting edge today in part because Apple will commit so much money. If Intel can win Apple's business, they can remove a lot of the wind behind TSMC's sails. Yes, TSMC will still be a great company, but Apple's willingness to pay premium prices definitely helps TSMC. They know that investing in new, expensive processes will be paid back by Apple. If TSMC has to rely on Qualcomm and MediaTek (who want to wait for nodes to become cheaper), it's likely that they won't have the same purchasing for their latest nodes leading them to slow down their progress a bit. If TSMC's progress slows, that gives Intel so many benefits. All those ARM datacenter processors that people might move to? Not if TSMC's progress slows and Intel gains and keeps a sizable advantage on fabrication. If Intel can snag Apple away from TSMC, it will probably be the best thing Intel could do for itself.