RE: When's day24 Sep 2025 22:28
Evi,
Intel’s future depends heavily on making 18A a success with competitive yields. While official numbers aren’t disclosed, several credible industry reports suggest yields may still be in the ~10% range, though Intel disputes this and insists improvements are underway. Like Apple, Intel could still monetize some of the underperforming dies through binning (e.g. chips with disabled cores sold at lower tiers), but high-yield volume remains the key to profitability.
There have also been reports that Apple is evaluating Intel’s upcoming 14A process for future Apple Silicon, contingent on Intel first proving 18A yields and ramping successfully. That said, any such partnership would likely be several years out, as Apple’s current M-series roadmap is already tied to TSMC.
Intel is effectively betting the company on making 18A (and then 14A) work — both to regain process leadership for its own products and to establish credibility as a global foundry alternative to TSMC.
[edited by chatgpt to make more sense]