Given the launch of the latest generation of Xeon processors, it looks like Intel has 10mm lithography working and large scale production finally in order. They are just focussing their resources on higher margin processors servers, and workstations, as well as trying to keep the mobile market. They are ceding desktops, while their heterogienous 3d chiplet processors role out, in 2 years? Of course, Zen 4 will be out by then. I’m sure Apple will have 8, 12, and 20+ core M2 processors by then.
When Apple jumped from the PPC to Intel, it was long in the making. In-house builds of OS revisions -- including during the Classic MacOS (pre-X) era -- were done on Intel architecture as well, kind of a magic mirror, who's the fairest approach. If Apple had stuck with the next iteration, which resulted (eventually) in the Cell microprocessor (PlayStation 3; Sony, a longtime foot-shooter, removed the option to install other operating system from the PS3 in one of their 'updates'; prior to that, YellowDog Linux was in some use on the PS3), they'd have continued to enjoy a lead, but the delays became interminable, particularly to Jobs, who wanted what he wanted when he wanted it.
Apple's headed for a period of increasing dominance in the mobile phone market, as their power-sipping chips take the lead in battery life but also beat all rivals in processing power. Apple invented the high-end mobile phone for the consumer market ("what about Blackberry, blah blah blah"), and as with the computer market in general, which started to shrink desktop boxes and laptops as the mobile phone tech became ubiquitous, margins have declined for most phone manufacturers. Apple's still raking it in. Their family of laptop (oops, sorry, notebook) and desktop computers have remained profitable (4500 years from now the Apple "Big O" HQ will have the drawing power as does the Great Pyramid is today) and as the cost falls for their butt-booting CPU/GPU technology, the stampede of the industry (other than Intel, for now) into ARM will be breathtaking.
Apple could very well buy Intel (on a dip), but it won't be allowed by our Chinese-owned-and-operated "watchdogs" in DC.