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Apple designs its custom silicon, but specialist suppliers manufacture and support chips used in Apple products. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the clearest publicly named maker of Apple’s advanced silicon; Apple also identifies partners for other chip types, wafer inputs, manufacturing equipment, and packaging and testing. The public announcements describe selected suppliers and milestones—not a complete map of who makes every chip in every Apple device.
What “makes Apple chips” means
Chipmaking spans several distinct stages. Apple’s engineers lead work on its custom silicon and collaborate with suppliers, while outside companies provide manufacturing and other supply-chain services. Apple has not publicly detailed design responsibility and manufacturing assignments for every semiconductor in its products.
- Design and engineering: Apple says its engineers work with suppliers on silicon. Apple is the product company and engineering lead for its custom silicon; partners perform manufacturing and supply-chain tasks. Apple’s August 2025 announcement describes this work.
- Wafer inputs: GlobalWafers America is producing advanced 300 mm wafers in Sherman, Texas. Apple says these wafers are intended for partners including TSMC and Texas Instruments.
- Fab equipment: Applied Materials is among the partners Apple names as supporting U.S. production of semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
- Wafer fabrication: A semiconductor foundry fabricates chips on wafers. Apple identifies TSMC’s Arizona facility as producing advanced chips for Apple, and names other U.S. partners in more specific component categories.
- Packaging and test: After fabrication, chips may be packaged and tested. Apple describes Amkor’s Arizona project as intended to handle those stages for Apple silicon made at the nearby TSMC fab.
These stages are not interchangeable. A company supplying wafers or equipment helps enable production but does not thereby fabricate Apple’s main processors; a packaging and test provider performs work after wafer fabrication.
Which companies does Apple name, and what do they do?
The companies below have different roles, so they should not be treated as a group of competing makers of Apple’s main processor. The locations and status reflect Apple’s public announcements; they do not establish a complete list of production sites or chip assignments.
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| Company | Contribution Apple identifies | Cited location or status |
|---|---|---|
| TSMC | Advanced Apple silicon fabrication | Apple identifies its Arizona facility as producing advanced chips for Apple. It is one named production location, not evidence that all Apple silicon is made there. |
| Texas Instruments | Apple names it in U.S. manufacturing collaborations; it is also among the intended users of GlobalWafers America’s U.S.-made wafers. | Apple names Texas Instruments facilities in U.S. collaborations; the announcement does not assign every Apple component to a specific facility. |
| Samsung | Apple names Samsung facilities in U.S. manufacturing collaborations. | Facility location and model-level chip assignments are not established in the cited announcements. |
| GlobalFoundries | Agreement involving wireless technologies and advanced power management; Apple also names it with Broadcom in work on additional U.S. cellular semiconductor components for 5G products. | Apple describes an agreement and development/manufacturing collaboration, not a claim that GlobalFoundries fabricates Apple’s main processor. |
| Broadcom | Working with Apple and GlobalFoundries on additional U.S. cellular semiconductor components for 5G products. | Apple describes a collaboration; the announcement does not identify these parts as Apple’s main processor. |
| GlobalWafers America | Advanced 300 mm wafer inputs for U.S. fabs, intended for partners including TSMC and Texas Instruments. | Production in Sherman, Texas. |
| Applied Materials | Semiconductor manufacturing equipment supporting U.S. production. | Apple identifies it as a partner; the announcement does not map a particular tool to a specific Apple chip. |
| Amkor | Planned packaging and testing for Apple silicon made at the nearby TSMC fab. | Arizona facility; Apple reported in February 2026 that Amkor had broken ground, so this is an in-progress project, not established high-volume production. |
Apple’s August 2025 announcement describes its U.S. partnerships and a forecast of more than 19 billion chips for Apple products in 2025. In February 2026, Apple said it had exceeded its prior target, reporting more than 20 billion U.S.-made chips sourced during 2025 from 24 factories across 12 states. Those figures cover chips made by partners for Apple, not just Apple-designed processors. The company also projected that TSMC’s Arizona facility would produce well over 100 million advanced chips in 2026; that was an outlook, not a verified year-end total. See Apple’s February 2026 announcement.
Is TSMC the company that makes Apple’s processors?
TSMC is the clearest named supplier for Apple’s advanced silicon in the cited current Apple announcements. Apple says its Arizona facility produces advanced chips for Apple, but that statement does not show that every Apple processor is made there—or that every Apple silicon generation uses the same site. The available public announcements do not provide a complete chip-by-chip allocation across fabs.
TSMC reported that it represented 34% of the “Foundry 2.0” industry in 2024. TSMC’s definition includes logic wafer manufacturing, packaging, testing, mask-making, and related activities, so this is a broad industry measure—not Apple’s share of TSMC capacity. TSMC’s annual reports explain its reporting and market definition.
How complete is Apple’s public supplier information?
Apple’s supplier list and announcements are useful for identifying relationships, but neither is a chip-by-chip bill of materials. The cited 2024 supplier-list edition reflects fiscal year 2023 and covers suppliers based on direct spend for materials, manufacturing, and assembly; it can include sites supporting manufacturing. Apple’s newer announcements highlight selected partnerships and U.S. milestones rather than every supplier and site. See Apple’s supplier responsibility materials and its 2024 supplier list.
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As a result, the public material does not establish a comprehensive supplier list for each chip, the exact fab and packaging location for every generation, or how production is allocated among sites. A supplier’s appearance on the list alone does not prove that it makes a particular Apple chip.
Why Apple relies on outside chipmakers—and what that means
Apple’s role in designing custom silicon does not mean it owns or operates every factory that makes chips for its products. It depends on outside firms across fabrication, materials, equipment, and packaging and testing. Apple’s 2025 Form 10-K warns that some components come from single or limited sources and that shortages, production ramps, and supplier constraints can affect product availability. Apple’s 2025 Form 10-K discusses these supply risks.
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- The laminated inductor is fabricated using multilayer printing technology and laminated production process, and its volume is smaller than that of the wire-wound chip inductor
- It possesses advantages such as excellent magnetic shielding properties, high sintering density, robust mechanical strength, and good heat dissipation
- The leather hardcover is accompanied by a resin label with standardized patterns and text, reflecting the professionalism of the product
- The pages are designed in a binder format, facilitating the addition or removal of inductance samples. The inner pages are annotated with parameters, making it easy to quickly find inductance specifications
- Specification types: Covering a wide range of inductance types, including different series such as 42 types, 54 types, 64 types, 60 types, and 42 types. The inductance range is broad, spanning from 0.021μH to 1206μH
That dependence is not unique to advanced processors: the publicly named chain includes foundational, wireless, power-management, and cellular components as well. A disruption at a supplier or a constraint during a production ramp can therefore matter even when Apple has designed the chip itself.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The practical answer
Apple designs its custom silicon and relies on specialist suppliers to manufacture and support it. TSMC is the clearest publicly named maker of Apple’s advanced silicon, with its Arizona facility identified as one production site. Other named partners support distinct parts of the chain, from wireless and power-management components to wafers, equipment, and packaging and testing. Public sources do not establish who makes every chip model or where each one is produced.
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- The laminated inductor is fabricated using multilayer printing technology and laminated production process, and its volume is smaller than that of the wire-wound chip inductor
- It possesses advantages such as excellent magnetic shielding properties, high sintering density, robust mechanical strength, and good heat dissipation
- The leather hardcover is accompanied by a resin label with standardized patterns and text, reflecting the professionalism of the product
- The pages are designed in a binder format, facilitating the addition or removal of inductance samples. The inner pages are annotated with parameters, making it easy to quickly find inductance specifications
- Specification types: Covering a wide range of inductance types, including different series such as 42 types, 54 types, 64 types, 60 types, and 42 types. The inductance range is broad, spanning from 0.021μH to 1206μH
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