Apple plans to use its own processors in Mac computers by 2021: Report

Apple Inc is working on its next-generation of Mac-series computers that might be powered by its own chips that are used in iPhones and iPads, according to a news report in Bloomberg.

The iPhone maker is working on three processors for its Mac-series computers. These chipsets will be based on company’s A14 processor, which will power the company’s next iPhone. These chipsets will allow Apple to power its Mac line-up with its own processors, and not the Intel processors that currently powers its computers.

Apple started using Intel's processors in 2006 and a year later all Mac computers featured its chips. Since then, Intel has made chips for Apple products such as modem chips for iPhones.

Apple has always relied on outside suppliers for its modem chips, a crucial part that connects devices like the iPhone to wireless data networks.

In a bid to make its own chips, Apple bought a majority of Intel's modem business last July for $1 billion and settled a legal battle with supplier Qualcomm Inc over the chipmaker's patent licensing practices.

Apple's Mac computers generated $7.16 billion in revenue in the last reported quarter while Intel's PC unit that includes modem chip sales recorded $10 billion in sales in the last quarter.

Apple was planning to use its own chips in Mac computers beginning as early as 2020, Bloomberg had reported in April 2018.

Apple using its own processors in Mac computers will have long term implications on Intel’s chip business. Intel on Friday announced slump in Q2 earnings due to on-going coronavirus crisis. The company said that Covid-19 pandemic has ripped through the semiconductor industry, disrupting operations as lockdown orders hit countries in the chip supply chain such as Malaysia, where chip operations were eventually allowed to resume but suffered disruptions.

Intel Chief Executive Bob Swan in an interview with Reuters said the company had to "temporarily pause" some projects due to local government restrictions at some sites, but said Intel's factories largely have been able to meet demand.

Intel's tepid forecast also weighed on shares of other chipmakers. Nvidia Corp, Micron Technology, Applied Materials, and Advanced Micro Devices fell between 1% and 2% after the bell.