Going to be interesting though, the higher tier Apple silicon machines will probably be shipping before any of these i3 chips so intel will likely be playing catch-up for years at least.
I'm guessing M1 ain't cheap
When you compare similarly spec'd machines from other manufacturers then yeah they're usually in the same ballpark numbers. I don't know I'd say Apple is always more expensive or always cheaper when looking at only the high-end price range.
[0] https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/dont-be-so-cheap-fiv...
Apple's cost in manufacturing has always been rooted in quality components and Software Engineering. They just don't build low end models and likely never will. The fact that you can buy a $300 iPad is actually kinda weird for Apple.
My guess is they are taking a relatively simple product to learn how to properly port their more complex products to TSMC's processes.
There are also some high-end Windows laptops using i3s like the $999 Dell XPS 13.
Intel sells chips like this on a sliding scale from i3 to i9.
If Intel made an i3 that compares favorably to the M1, it would be faster and cooler than any other CPU Intel makes, ruining i7 and i9 sales. It would pretty rapidly piss-off their vendors who seek to upsell expensive skus.
I could see a TSMC i3 core in a different name possibly, like Intel Evo Next or something like that and then them selling it as a premium chip for a high profit.