Intel

In a surprising move, chipmaker Qualcomm has been considering a full takeover of Intel, known for its computer processors. A report in The Wall Street Journal on Friday revealed that although a deal is “far from certain,” the two companies have held talks on the subject.

Some 15,000 Intel job cuts have been announced by the company, as it implements a $10B cost-reduction program to try to resolve its financial difficulties.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told employees that revenues have not grown in the way the company hoped, with a belated acceptance that Apple’s Mac business is gone forever one likely factor in that reality-check …

A new supply-chain report suggests that Apple is seeking to be an early player in what some believe will be the next big thing in chip development: printed circuit boards (PCBs) made from glass substrates.

While that might not sound exciting, it offers the prospect of an entirely new way of mounting and packaging chips, which could offer much better thermal performance, allowing processors to run at maximum power for longer periods …

A few Windows laptops are already powered by ARM CPUs rather than Intel ones, but we can expect to see a lot more in the future.

A new report says that Microsoft is accelerating efforts to overcome the current limitations of these, so that more PC brands can follow Apple’s example in using ARM chips …

Thinking of upgrading from an Intel iMac? Or curious how much Apple’s all-in-one desktop has changed now that it’s powered by the third generation of its custom silicon? Follow along for a detailed look at the M3 iMac vs Intel iMac.

TSMC founder Morris Chang has said that Intel won’t catch up with its technological lead, and will remain in the “shadow” of the Taiwanese company.

Intel has acknowledged that Apple’s own Mac chip designs are more advanced than any PC chip the US company currently offers, but the company’s CEO has repeatedly suggested that it will eventually catch and then overtake TSMC …

Windows PCs powered by future Intel chips will rival the performance of Apple Silicon Macs, claims the company’s CEO, Pat Gelsinger.

No such claim was made for this year’s chip, Meteor Lake, which will debut on December 14 – but Gelsinger says things will change with Arrow Lake, Lunar Lake, and Panther Lake …

Intel’s planned acquisition of Tower Semiconductor has failed, after the US chipmaker was unable to get the necessary regulatory approval.

The abandonment of the $5.4B deal is a setback to Intel’s hopes of competing with Apple chipmaker TSMC …

After a very long wait, Apple finally announced a new version of the Mac Pro powered by the M2 Ultra chip. As a result, the transition to Apple Silicon is now complete, and the company no longer sells any Intel Macs. For users, this could mean that it won’t take long before macOS drops support for Intel Macs.

Yesterday highlighted CHIPS Act rivalry between Intel and TSMC in particular, as the US chipmaker voiced its view that American firms should get higher priority when it comes to financial assistance from the government.

However, the White House has effectively given Intel a slap, by stating that the goal of the fund is not to help out struggling companies – and hinted that Apple chipmaker TSMC is likely to be a higher priority …

Intel has argued that, as a US company, it should get higher CHIPS Act subsidies than US chip plants owned by foreign companies like Apple chipmaker TSMC – even if its own plants sit empty.

TSMC, which is in line to receive subsidies for its Arizona plant, has hit back at the argument, stating that allocating cash by company HQ location would not be an efficient use of the money…

As shown by various reports in recent months, the PC market is slowing down in 2022 compared to previous years. Besides the PC vendors themselves, one of the companies most affected by this decline is Intel, which is now reportedly cutting thousands of jobs to reduce losses in its revenue.

While we knew that around $50B was being made available to promote US chip fabrication, it’s only today that we’re learning the actual CHIPS Act details. The bill itself did not specify how the money would be split.

Specifically, we now know that a little over half the total will be made available to help produce advanced chips in the US, while the rest of the money is being divided between two further initiatives …

Intel last week provided an update on its 14th-generation Meteor Lake processors due to launch next year, but it seems that there may have been a crucial change to the company’s plans.

Intel has said as recently as last week that it would fabricate the chips itself, using a 7nm process, but a supply-chain report today claims that the company will instead outsource the work to TSMC, so it can benefit from the same 5nm process used for Apple’s M1 chips …

One of the catch-22s of the global component shortage is that chips for chipmaking machines are one of the items in short supply, say execs from Intel and Apple chipmaker TSMC.

Buying new chipmaking machines was never a speedy process, given their complexity and delicacy, but lead times before the pandemic were measured in months. Now, say chipmakers, that time can be as long as 2-3 years …

The global chip shortage doesn’t appear likely to end any time soon. The manufacturer of crucial chipmaking machines has warned that its kit will be in short supply for another two years.

That’s particularly bad news for Intel as it seeks to play catch-up with the capabilities of Apple’s M1 chips …

Apple on Tuesday introduced a brand new Mac desktop called Mac Studio, which comes as an alternative between the Mac mini and the Mac Pro aimed at professional users. However, as the company approaches its two-year deadline to complete the transition to Apple Silicon, it seems that the Intel Mac mini will be around for a bit longer.

It’s no secret that Intel has been desperately working to beat Apple Silicon chips since the transition to ARM architecture in Macs. While the company has already introduced powerful new chips, they are nowhere near as efficient as Apple’s. Now a leaked roadmap has revealed a new Intel chip designed to beat M1 in every aspect.

Intel claimed earlier this month that its new Alder Lake Core i9 benchmarks faster than Apple’s M1 Max. As with all manufacturer claims (including those made by Apple), it doesn’t mean much until independently tested.

These tests have now been done using a chunky MSI GE76 Raider laptop, and do show that Intel’s claim is technically true – but there are some pretty major caveats …