Wasn't Intel saber-rattling about patent lawsuits when Microsoft announced that Windows for ARM would run some x86 apps via emulation? [1]
While I don't know what became of that, I can see Microsoft working out a deal with Intel because Windows is still huge on x86 and wasn't going anywhere.
On the other hand, if Apple is planning to completely drop Intel in favor of ARM and wants to implement x86 emulation, I can't see Intel letting OSX ARM emulate x86 without some form of resistance.
But what IP would be violated for x86 emulation? It's clear that Intel only threaten chipmaker who tried to add x86-emulation-acceleration ISA to the silicon. x86 ISA is complete 17 years ago, which mean a lot of patents has been expired today.
While I don't know what became of that, I can see Microsoft working out a deal with Intel because Windows is still huge on x86 and wasn't going anywhere.
On the other hand, if Apple is planning to completely drop Intel in favor of ARM and wants to implement x86 emulation, I can't see Intel letting OSX ARM emulate x86 without some form of resistance.
[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/tiriasresearch/2017/06/16/intel... (sorry about the link being Forbes, it was the first search result for the keywords I used)