Apple tests China's CXMT memory chips for iPhones and MacBooks amid AI-driven shortage

[Louise82]

Apple has been testing memory chips from Chinas ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, across multiple product lines including iPhones and MacBooks, according to a Wall Street Journal report, as the company looks to mitigate a genuine component shortage fueled by the ongoing AI boom

Apple reportedly held early talks with CXMT, which is now Chinas largest chipmaker by market value, about supplying memory components with the specific goal of using them in devices sold within China, Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report independently, and both Apple and CXMT declined to respond to requests for comment, this builds directly on earlier Reuters reporting that CXMT was separately considering building a second memory chip plant in Beijing specifically to boost its production capacity

CXMT has risen fast to become the worlds fourth biggest maker of memory chips, including the DRAM variety used across smartphones, laptops and servers, along with its flash memory counterpart Yangtze Memory Technologies, or YMTC, the company spent years relying on government funding and absorbing losses in what was historically a low margin business, but the global AI data center buildout has transformed memory chips into one of the most fiercely sought after components in tech, dramatically shifting the economics in CXMTs favor

Other major PC makers have already made this exact move, laptop manufacturers HP and Acer have started using CXMT memory chips in devices sold outside the United States specifically to ease their own supply shortages, suggesting Apple testing CXMT chips isnt some isolated experiment but part of a broader industry pattern of companies diversifying away from the traditional South Korean dominated memory supply chain of Samsung and SK Hynix as AI driven demand strains global capacity

This isnt actually the first time Apple has explored Chinese memory suppliers either, the company was previously reported testing NAND flash samples from YMTC years back after a contamination issue at a Kioxia facility exposed real risk in its existing supply chain, showing Apple has a longer running pattern of diversifying its component sourcing beyond its established South Korean and Japanese partners whenever supply disruptions or shortages create genuine pressure to do so

Apple Tests Chinas Cxmt Memory Chips Iphones Macbooks Wsj Reports 2026 08 09www.reuters.com

[Rhys]

HP and Acer already using CXMT chips outside the US shows this isnt some speculative one off test, theres already a real established pattern of PC makers turning to Chinese memory suppliers specifically to manage the current AI driven shortage

[NullVector]

The goal of using them in devices sold within China specifically is an important detail, this reads more like Apple pragmatically adapting its China market supply chain rather than a broader global shift away from Samsung and SK Hynix for all markets

[Orca]

CXMT going from a low margin loss making government subsidized business to the worlds fourth biggest memory chipmaker is a genuinely remarkable trajectory, shows how much the AI driven memory shortage has reshuffled the competitive landscape almost overnight

[Dragon36]

US China chip tensions make this genuinely complicated politically even if its purely a supply chain and cost decision on Apples end, any move toward a major Chinese chipmaker is going to draw scrutiny given the broader semiconductor rivalry between the two countries

[Midnight Aoife]

The DRAM shortage really is rippling into every corner of the tech industry at this point, from console prices to Windows 11 RAM recommendations to now potentially Apples own supply chain, this AI driven memory crunch is genuinely reshaping decisions across the entire industry

[Tundra]

This is a good example of how the AI boom is creating winners in unexpected corners of the supply chain, CXMT benefiting enormously from a shortage crisis that Apple and other device makers are scrambling to navigate around