Apple’s chip supply chain could be getting a new home address. SK Hynix, the South Korean company that supplies memory chips for the iPhone and Mac lineup, is now in early talks with Intel about manufacturing those chips inside the United States for the first time.
The discussions are still exploratory and nothing has been signed yet, as per a report from Reuters. People familiar with the talks say SK Hynix is weighing two different paths forward, and either one would be a first for a company that has never built memory chips on US soil.
One Option Would Have SK Hynix Renting Space in Intel’s Ohio Plant
The first option would see SK Hynix lease part of Intel’s planned manufacturing complex in Ohio. Intel has been building out that site for years, and handing unused capacity to a rival chipmaker would help Intel put the space to work faster.
The second option is bigger in scope. It would bring Intel, SK Hynix, and major cloud computing companies together in a joint venture built specifically to lock down memory supply, since cloud providers are burning through their own chip inventory to build out AI data centers.
Nothing has been finalized, and people close to the discussions say other arrangements remain on the table too.
Apple Is Already Paying More Because of the Memory Shortage
The shortage driving these talks is not new. AI infrastructure spending has been pulling memory production away from consumer devices for months, and Apple has already felt the impact directly.
In February, Apple reportedly agreed to pay Samsung twice as much for the memory chips going into iPhone 17 production. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said more recently that Apple was cutting its 2026 hardware shipment plans because of DRAM shortages.
- iPhone 17: Apple reportedly paid Samsung double for memory chips
- Mac Studio: shipment plans affected by the DRAM shortage
- Mac mini: same shortage cited by Kuo
- MacBook Air: also caught in the supply crunch
SK Hynix’s Current US Facility Only Packages Chips, It Doesn’t Make Them
SK Hynix isn’t starting from zero in the US. The company already has an advanced packaging facility under construction in West Lafayette, Indiana.
That plant takes DRAM wafers manufactured in South Korea and packages them into high bandwidth memory chips for AI processors. It does not fabricate memory wafers on US soil, which is exactly the gap a new Intel deal would need to fill.
