Following aninjection of cash from the US government and a recent leadership overhaul, Intel has not been shy about asking others to invest in it. The latest company to get such a request Apple delivers a certain irony to the equation.Two decades ago, Apple surprised most the tech world by announcing it wouldadopt Intel processors across its Mac lineup its only major product line at the time. (This was shortly before the iPhone launched.) At the time, Intel was running high, thanks to massive market share for Windows PCs, particularly in business. Apple at the time still seemed like a scrappy upstart and, after years of Intel processors touting higher clock speeds, the move seemed to show Apple finally understood how the PC market worked.(Clock speeds isnt really a true metric of overall performance, but thats another story.)A lot has changed since then. First came the iPhone, then Android, then the broadermobile revolution that made players like BlackBerry and Windows Mobile obsolete.In 2010, Apple announced it needed better from the processors in the iPhone and iPad than it could get by letting other companies design the chips. So, it built its own processor based on Arm and an Intel chip design. A few years later, Google followed suit. In no time, other players like Qualcomm were ready with chips like the Snapdragon to supply other Android device manufacturers.Intel was largely AWOL from this mobile arms race, doggedly churning out chips for PCs, Macs, and servers and blind to what was coming. Even as Apple began to flex its chip-design muscles with things like the Apple Watch SOC processor and custom silicon for its AirPods, Intel remained wedded to a market it seemed to own: computer processors for traditional computers.Then Apple did something as shocking as its earlier embrace of Intel. It launched its M-series chips as replacements for Intel processors in Macs. The resulting surge in performance and efficiency in these also Arm-based designs took even long-time Apple users by surprise, especially laptop buyers. The aggressive timeline and the relative ease of the transition to Apple Silicon were almost as astonishing though to be fair, Apple had several such transitions (including the one to Intel) already under its belt by then.Its hard to believe that when Apple was in talks with Intel 10 or 15 years ago, it didnt discuss its plans for the iPhone even obliquely or under extensive NDA. Yet, Intel seems to have missed the mobile wave completely. (Oh, to have been a fly on the wall for those discussions.)It wasnt just Apple who bet on Arm over Intel; Microsoft unveiled a version of Windows 8 that ran on Arm instead of Intel chips. It never seemed to take off and being tied to the UI controversy involving Windows 8 didnt help. But that didnt stop Microsoft from keeping the concept around and reworking it over several years.More recently, the AI boom has given Arm-based PCs a chance to shine, encroaching on Intels turf with a truly functional version of Windows (without the Windows 8 baggage) and an embrace of Microsofts Copilot approach to generative AI. For Intel, the damage is done: a Windows PC no longer requires Intel inside.When you add the increased competition Windows faces from mobile platforms, Apple hardware, and alternatives like Chromebooks as well as the effects of employee-choice programs and BYOD its clear the old days of hardware procurement that gave Intel a major advantage in the market are over.The question becomes: what does Intel do now?The company has flirted with closing plants and renting out its fabrication facilities. (The latter represents the simplest way for Intel to remain relevant, and perhaps learn new tricks or poach needed talent.) Given President Donald J. Trumps push to reshore manufacturing to the US, the second option seems ideal. But its a rocky road, given the lack of skilled US workers, limited access to raw materials and rare earths, and the difficulties getting facilities ready and convincing others to make their chips in Intels fab plants on US soil.Having other high-profile tech companies like Apple as part of the plan would lend a degree of credibility to Intels efforts to rebound. An investment isnt just about money. Ultimately, its about perception in many ways placing Apple in the role Intel once played for it years ago.