{"slug": "apple-tests-chinese-memory-chips", "title": "Apple tests Chinese memory chips", "summary": "Apple Inc. is testing memory chips from China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) across its product lines, including iPhones and MacBooks, and is seeking White House approval to use them in products sold in China, The Wall Street Journal reported. The move comes amid an AI-induced memory shortage that led CEO Tim Cook to raise prices two months ago, but faces political hurdles after a bipartisan group of U.S. senators wrote in July to discourage Apple from using Chinese chips. CXMT, which debuted in July after a $9.8 billion IPO, remains two to three generations behind SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron, an analyst told CNBC.", "body_md": "Apple is testing memory chips from China’s CXMT across its product lines, including iPhones and MacBooks, The Wall Street Journal reported, as global tech reckons with an AI-induced memory shortage.\n\nThe firm is reportedly [seeking the White House’s approval](https://www.wsj.com/tech/apple-tests-chinese-memory-chips-as-supply-squeeze-bites-d292bb97) to use CXMT chips in products sold in China, two months after CEO Tim Cook [raised prices](https://abcnews.com/Business/tim-cook-prices-apple-devices-jump-amid-memory/story?id=133996174) due to chip costs.\n\nThe politics could prove insurmountable: A bipartisan group of US senators wrote in July [to discourage](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-29/senators-warn-apple-not-to-buy-memory-chips-from-chinese-firms) Apple from pursuing Chinese chips, as Washington [increased curbs on Beijing’s tech](https://www.reuters.com/world/fcc-chair-says-robot-import-restrictions-aim-boost-us-production-2026-08-06/) ahead of next month’s summit.\n\nOne of the most valuable [mainland-listed companies](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-26/china-memory-champion-cxmt-set-to-debut-after-9-8-billion-ipo) following its July IPO, CXMT remains “[two to three generations](https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/07/29/cxmt-will-not-catch-up-to-sk-hynix-samsung-and-micron-anytime-soon.html)” behind firms like SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron, an analyst told CNBC.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/apple-tests-chinese-memory-chips", "canonical_source": "https://www.semafor.com/article/08/09/2026/apple-tests-chinese-memory-chips", "published_at": "2026-08-16 06:28:21+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-16 06:40:25.419072+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-infrastructure", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Apple Inc.", "CXMT", "The Wall Street Journal", "Tim Cook", "SK Hynix", "Samsung", "Micron", "CNBC"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/apple-tests-chinese-memory-chips", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/apple-tests-chinese-memory-chips.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/apple-tests-chinese-memory-chips.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/apple-tests-chinese-memory-chips.jsonld"}}