Apple reportedly testing RAM chips from US-blocked Chinese company

Apple has started testing memory chips made by Chinese manufacturer ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) for devices intended for sale in China, according to a report by the Financial Times. The testing comes as Apple continues to lobby the US government for permission to use CXMT's products more broadly.

CXMT appears on the Pentagon's 1260H list, which identifies companies the Defense Department believes are linked to the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The listing was first proposed in May 2025, when the Commerce Department moved to blacklist CXMT alongside subsidiaries of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp and Yangtze Memory Technologies as part of a broader effort to tighten export controls on advanced chip technology.

Reuters reported in mid-June that the US had briefly held off adding CXMT and other Chinese firms to avoid escalating trade tensions with Beijing, but the Defense Department's most recent published version of the list includes the company.

Apple is not barred from doing business with companies on the 1260H list, since the restriction applies to the Defense Department rather than private companies. The company approached the Commerce Department in June seeking clearance to buy DRAM from CXMT and has continued pressing Washington for approval since then.

The report also noted that CXMT was a relatively unknown company operating at a loss before a global memory shortage pushed demand for its chips. It is now the fourth largest DRAM producer in the world behind Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, and it is backed by 15 state-owned shareholders. The company is reportedly planning to raise $4.3 billion through an upcoming public listing.

Apple currently sources memory from Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix, all of which have faced pressure from AI data center demand pulling supply away from consumer electronics. Adding CXMT would give Apple a fourth supplier and reduce its exposure to a supply chain that has been tightening for months.

The push for a new supplier follows steep price increases Apple introduced across its Mac and iPad lines in June, with some models rising between 17 percent and 25 percent. Apple cited the global memory shortage as the reason for the increases. Memory prices have risen sharply over the past three quarters amid surging AI infrastructure demand.

The prospect of Apple sourcing chips from a blacklisted Chinese company has already drawn objections in Washington. US Representative John Moolenaar, who leads congressional efforts scrutinizing China's geopolitical influence, has called the potential partnership a grave mistake.

Apple has not commented publicly on the CXMT testing report. The US government has also not indicated whether it will approve Apple's request to formally source memory chips from the company.