AIBRIEF
Apple is evaluating DRAM from ChangXin Memory Technologies, the Chinese supplier Congress has flagged, as a memory crunch pressures sourcing and any deployment depends on US government approval under China chip restrictions.
Apple is testing DRAM memory chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) in some iPhones and MacBooks sold in China, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The trial has put Apple at the center of a bipartisan fight in Washington.
CXMT is China's largest chipmaker and the world's fastest-growing memory supplier. The Biden administration designated it a Chinese military company, and the Trump administration considered adding it to a trade blacklist earlier this summer before deciding against it, per Reuters. Apple has been lobbying the Trump administration for a green light.
The qualifier "sold in China" is the political hinge. A bipartisan Senate group led by Chuck Schumer sent Apple an open letter in June asking the company to commit to not using CXMT memory in any Apple product globally, arguing that a qualified part is "a single procurement decision away" from crossing borders. Rep. John Moolenaar, one of Congress's most prominent China hawks, told the Financial Times in June that any Apple–CXMT partnership would be a "grave mistake" that helps Beijing "succeed in its plans to dominate critical supply chains."
Acer, HP, and Asus are already reportedly using CXMT memory. Apple has not committed to the supplier, and any deployment still needs US government approval.