While recent market chatter has focused on a potential shift by Apple between longtime foundry partner TSMC and Intel, the Economic Daily News, citing industry sources, reports that the Cupertino-based company remains heavily dependent on the Taiwanese foundry giant, as it plans to place its entire in-house 5G modem orders with TSMC, leveraging its 2nm process technology.
The report suggests that Apple’s self-developed 5G modem chips are expected to power future iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch devices, replacing modems from Qualcomm. The volume used across its product lineup is projected to reach hundreds of millions of units, the report adds.
Notably, Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup is expected to be the last to ship with Qualcomm Incorporated’s 5G modems, as the company moves toward a full transition to its in-house C2 baseband chip across all iPhone 18 models, according to Wccftech.
The C2 development builds on Apple’s earlier in-house modem effort. Apple’s C1, first introduced in early 2025 with the iPhone 16e, marked its most complex chip system to date, integrating a 4nm baseband modem and a 7nm transceiver, according to earlier reporting from Reuters. The Economic Daily News further reports that Apple Inc.’s in-house C2 5G modem is expected to add full mmWave support—addressing the Sub-6 GHz limitation of its predecessor—while also incorporating satellite connectivity.
Supply chain sources cited in the Economic Daily News report say TSMC has already secured foundry orders for Apple’s modem chips. Its back-end testing partner is also reportedly preparing for higher demand, with around 600 test systems being procured, as capacity is set to ramp from 2027.
Though claims of an Apple order shift to Intel remain unconfirmed, and any such move would not signal a departure from TSMC, cooperation between Apple and Intel appears to be warming. According to The Wall Street Journal, the two companies have reportedly reached a preliminary agreement for Intel to manufacture some of the chips powering Apple devices.
The two sides have been engaged in intensive talks for more than a year, with a formal deal said to have been hammered out in recent months, the report adds.
In parallel, Commercial Times reported earlier that Apple is evaluating Intel’s 18A-P process for its M-series chips. Looking further ahead, The New 7 reports that the first Intel-manufactured low-end M-series chips could emerge as early as mid-2027 under contract production, likely targeting entry-level Macs or iPads.
As highlighted by The Wall Street Journal, Apple’s reported outreach to Intel may reflect growing supply chain pressures, as the Cupertino firm—long TSMC’s top customer—faces tightening access to advanced manufacturing capacity amid surging demand from NVIDIA and other AI chip designers.
Intel previously played a central role in powering Apple’s Mac lineup, before Apple transitioned in 2020 to its own Arm-based custom chips, the report points out.
