US senators demand Apple drop Chinese memory chip suppliers worldwide

A coalition of US senators, including Chuck Schumer, Jim Banks, Mike Crapo, James Risch, Pete Ricketts, Andy Kim and Jeanne Shaheen, has written to Apple chief Tim Cook demanding the firm cease any use of Chinese memory chip makers ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) across its entire product line. Both companies appear on the Pentagon’s 1260H list of entities tied to the Chinese military, having been reinstated after a brief removal earlier this year.

The senators ask for a written guarantee that no Apple device will contain chips from these suppliers and have set an August 21 deadline for a response, accompanied by seven probing questions about Apple’s disclosure of product roadmaps and access granted to Chinese engineers. Their push coincides with a worldwide DRAM shortage that has driven Apple to increase MacBook and iPad prices by roughly 20 percent, a move Cook explained on the Q3 2026 earnings call as a response to soaring memory costs.

The letter also recalls Apple’s 2022 attempt to qualify YMTC NAND for iPhones sold in China, which was halted after congressional opposition and an entity-list placement. Additionally, the senators highlight a Section 5949 provision of the FY2023 NDAA that will bar federal agencies from buying products containing CXMT or YMTC chips after December 2027, underscoring the broader national-security and economic stakes.