Here’s another reason why Apple may consider making its own chips: as noted by MIT Technology Review, Intel has disclosed in a regulatory filing last month that it’s slowing the pace with which it launches new chip-making technology, potentially abandoning its “tick-tock” model.

The gap between successive generations of chips with new, smaller transistors will widen. With the transistors in Intel’s latest chips already as small as 14 nanometers, it is becoming more difficult to shrink them further in a way that's cost-effective for production.

Following the tick-tock model, Intel committed to continued innovations in manufacturing process technology and processor microarchitecture in alternating “tick” and “tock” cycles. With every "tick" cycle, the goal was to advance manufacturing process technology and continue to deliver the expected benefits of Moore’s Law to users.

Moore’s Law says overall processing power for computers will double every two years — which has pretty much held true for years. In alternating “tock” cycles, Intel used the previous “tick” cycle’s manufacturing process technologies to introduce the next big innovation in processor microarchitecture.

In the regulatory filing, Intel said there’s now more to be had from adding new capabilities into its chips and expanding their possible use cases than from fighting against the laws of physics in an attempt to extend the life of Moore's Law.