Apple lobbies White House for CXMT DRAM approval as memory costs hit 20% MacBook, iPad price hikes

Apple is lobbying the Trump administration for approval to source DRAM from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), China's largest DRAM manufacturer, despite the Pentagon designating the company as a military-linked entity on its 1260H list. According to the Financial Times, Apple approached the Commerce Department more than a month ago seeking assurances that CXMT will not be added to the Entity List, which would impose strict export control licensing. Apple has not been formally barred from buying CXMT chips—the Entity List listing is what creates the legal barrier—but the company is seeking political cover for what could become a reputational flashpoint.

Apple's move follows price increases of roughly 20% on MacBook and iPad models announced last week, with the company citing 'unsustainable' memory costs. DRAM contract prices have surged 58–63% quarter-over-quarter in Q2 2026 driven by hyperscaler AI infrastructure demand, while Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have redirected production capacity toward higher-margin HBM for data centers. CXMT reportedly offers memory contracts up to 30% cheaper than Western suppliers. The company itself is preparing a $4.33 billion Shanghai IPO as it ramps production to 300,000 wafers per month, with FY2025 revenue forecast at $8.6 billion (+156% YoY).

This is the first confirmed case of a major U.S. tech company formally petitioning for access to a Pentagon-designated Chinese military supplier. Approval would signal Washington's tolerance for supply-chain pragmatism over national security restrictions, and could open a precedent for other U.S. consumer electronics OEMs under margin pressure from AI-driven memory scarcity. Denial would force Apple (and others) to continue absorbing costs, passing them to consumers, or finding alternative suppliers—a scenario that reinforces the structural tightness in commodity DRAM through at least 2027.