Apple Reportedly Testing Controversial Chinese Chips as Memory Supply Crunch Intensifies

Politics Apple Reportedly Testing Controversial Chinese Chips as Memory Supply Crunch Intensifies Apple is allegedly testing chips from a chipmaker that the Trump Admin considers a Chinese military company. 10, 2026, pm ET Reading time 3 minutes Apple CEO Tim Cook and President Trump © BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Read Later Read Later Comments (5) Apple has begun testing memory chips from Chinese supplier CXMT, according to a new Wall Street Journal report citing people familiar with the matter. The two companies have reportedly held early talks about using the Chinese chips in some Apple products sold in China, including iPhones and MacBooks. But the fate of the plan would be entirely up to the U. S. government, which imposes strict rules on American tech companies that want to do business with Chinese companies, especially when it comes to chips. ChangXin Memory Technologies, also known as CXMT, specializes in DRAM memory chips and is not only considered China’s largest chipmaker but also the world’s fastest-growing supplier of memory chips. The chipmaker is also considered a national security risk by Washington. The Biden administration designated the chipmaker a Chinese military company, and the Trump administration considered adding it to a trade blacklist but decided against it earlier this summer, according to a Reuters report. Previous reports claim Apple has been lobbying the Trump administration for a green light regarding CXMT for some time now, an action that has struck a chord with some members of Congress, who fear the action will undercut U. S. chip manufacturers like Micron and expose Apple tech secrets to Chinese competitors. Prominent China hawk Representative John Moolenaar told the Financial Times back in June that any partnership between Apple and the Chinese chipmaker “would be a grave mistake” that would help Beijing “succeed in its plans to dominate critical supply chains.” A bipartisan group of senators led , asking the Cupertino giant to commit to not using CXMT-produced memory chips “in any Apple product sold anywhere in the world.” “As the most demanding component buyer in the world, a decision ’s own purchase orders. This validation would function as a signal that other buyers follow,” the senators wrote in the letter. “The limitation that CXMT memory would, for the moment, be confined to devices sold in China cannot be expected to hold, because once a part clears qualification for Apple production, extending it worldwide is a single procurement decision away.” Apple is joining a growing list of American laptop makers, including Acer, HP and Asus, that are reportedly resorting to business with the controversial Chinese chipmaker despite pushback from Congress, highlighting just how dire the memory supply crunch has become.