Reports claim Job’s Mob wants a low-end M-series processor built on Chipzilla’s 18AP process, with shipments pencilled in for 2027. The silicon is expected to turn up in MacBook Air and iPad Pro machines, although it will not replace the bulk of orders Job’s Mob still funnels to TSMC. This is more of a toe dip than a factory switch.

The gossip follows last month’s chatter that Chipzilla had bagged 18A and 18AP orders from Microsoft. If true, it marks a rare moment where the company scores a major third-party contract while trying to prove it can be a serious foundry rather than the outfit that misplaced its process roadmap for a decade.

If the 18AP parts work, Apple may examine Chipzilla’s future 14A node for higher-end chips, although no one is betting the farm on that happening any time soon.

What might be going on behind Apple's change of heart is that the US government picked up a 10 per cent stake in Chipzilla earlier this year and has been pushing its dream of bringing more semiconductor manufacturing back to US soil.

TSMC can fiddle about in Arizona, but Chipzilla can fab chips entirely within the US using its own technology, which makes it politically convenient. That government nudge has made Chipzilla’s lithography tech more interesting to potential customers who fancy staying on the right side of Washington.

Any external order helps Intel gain experience as a foundry and gives it something to show investors beyond PowerPoint slides and hopeful grins. If the company keeps landing high-profile clients, it might finally give its foundry ambitions the credibility they have been missing for years.