Apple is considering partnering with Chinese semiconductor companies CXMT and YMTC to provide memory and storage chips for the upcoming iPhone 18 series and other products including MacBooks and desktop Macs.
Currently, Apple mainly relies on storage and memory suppliers including Kioxia, Samsung and SK Hynix. However, in the context of tight industry supply and sharp price increases, these manufacturers have raised prices, putting Apple under pressure to squeeze profits while maintaining the official product pricing (MSRP). In order to spread supply risks and alleviate cost pressure, Apple is said to be evaluating the inclusion of Changxin's DRAM and Yangtze Memory's NAND flash memory into the supply system to reduce dependence on Japanese and Korean manufacturers.
This development is closely related to the latest changes in the U.S. regulatory environment: the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) recently reportedly removed Changxin Storage and Yangtze Storage from the list of restricted Chinese companies, clearing important policy obstacles for Apple to adopt the products of these two companies. For Apple, this means it has the opportunity to more flexibly introduce storage and memory products from local Chinese semiconductor manufacturers into the global supply chain without violating U.S. export control regulations.
In terms of memory, Changxin Memory has mass-produced a variety of products including LPDDR5X and DDR5, and its specifications are highly consistent with Apple's existing product lines. Apple's iPhone series and Macs equipped with self-developed M series SoC currently mainly use LPDDR5X as system memory. Therefore, the 12 Gb and 16 Gb capacity LPDDR5X chips provided by Changxin are expected to cover the mainstream capacity needs of Apple Intelligence mobile phone and computer product lines. This provides a realistic and feasible technical basis for Apple to introduce Chinese DRAM suppliers in the next generation of mobile devices and PCs.
In terms of storage, Yangtze Memory is expected to become an important incremental force in Apple's flash memory supply chain. According to TechInsights’ disassembly analysis, Yangtze Memory has mass-produced fifth-generation 3D NAND flash memory chips, with a total number of stacked layers reaching 294, of which 232 are effective storage layers. With a bit density approaching 19.8 Gb per square millimeter, this generation’s area efficiency is approaching the levels currently achieved by the world’s leading NAND manufacturers. This means that without sacrificing storage density and performance, Yangtze Memory's chips can be relatively smoothly integrated into the existing high-end terminal supply chain without significant "downgrades" in indicators.
If Apple ultimately adopts both Changxin Memory’s DRAM and Yangtze Memory’s NAND, the storage and memory landscape of the global high-end consumer electronics market may undergo a certain degree of reorganization. For Apple, this will not only help alleviate the current cost pressure caused by the global shortage of memory and flash memory, but also gain greater room for maneuver in terms of supply security, bargaining space and geopolitical risk dispersion. For existing Japanese, Korean and some American storage manufacturers, this means that their future market dominance in high-end smartphones and PCs may face more direct competition from Chinese manufacturers.