Apple CEO calls memory chip constraints a crisis
John Ternus told TIME that Apple should consider all options, following reports of tests involving Chinese memory chips and warnings from Washington.
Apple CEO John Ternus described constraints on memory chips as a crisis in an interview with TIME, saying the company should keep all options open. His comments followed reports that Apple had tested chips made in China.
TIME cited a July Financial Times report that Apple had started testing memory from a Chinese company. Senators from both parties subsequently warned Apple in a letter that using those chips would endanger national security. The US government has also cautioned the company against Chinese memory chips.
The interview also covered the foldable iPhone Duo, priced from US$1,999, for which deliveries have slipped into 2027. According to TIME, the phone’s hinge contains more than 100 precision components beneath a custom polymer surface. Ternus was among six engineers who submitted a foldable-device patent application in 2011.
Ternus also defended Apple’s use of technology from rivals. The updated Siri, introduced in the US in September, runs on an Apple model drawing on Google’s Gemini technology. He said Apple does not seek to make every component itself, instead focusing on areas where it can differentiate its products.
Ternus became chief executive on 1 September. He told TIME he had met Trump administration officials, while former CEO Tim Cook, now executive chairman, continues to represent Apple internationally.
