The Apple-Intel chip deal that everyone said would never happen is apparently happening. And with some important caveats that the breathless headlines have largely glossed over. Ming Chi Kuo suggests Apple has kicked off production of processors for lower-end iPhones, iPads, and Macs at Intel, running on its 18A-P process node with Foveros packaging. These are not the A-series chips powering the iPhone Pro or the M-series silicon inside a MacBook Pro . This is the legacy and mid-range stuff — the workhorses that ship in enormous volume but carry less prestige. The order mix is roughly 80% iPhone, which closely matches Apple’s device sales breakdown. That detail matters more than it might first appear. This is really about TSMC What Apple is doing here isn’t really about Intel. It’s about TSMC. For years, TSMC has been the single pipe through which virtually all of Apple’s silicon flows, and that pipe is getting increasingly crowded.…