RAM price hikes: the latest on the global memory shortage – The Verge

Even Microsoft couldn’t make Windows 11 work well on 8GB of RAM

2026-07-17T10:40:04-04:00

Memory anxiety. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Last year, Microsoft's 13-inch Surface Laptop quickly became one of my favorite thin-and-light Windows notebooks. At $900, it was easy to recommend to anyone wanting MacBook Air-like build quality and battery life on Windows - I even convinced my sister to buy one on sale.

But that was last year. This year, thanks to RAMageddon, that same laptop costs $950, and now that price gets you half as much RAM - just 8GB. It's the same great hardware on the outside, but it's not the same laptop on the inside.

It's been a long time since we tested a Windows laptop with so little RAM. We've been saying for years that 8GB isn't enough. But this is Mi …

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Nvidia’s biggest RAM supplier just had a trillion-dollar debut on Wall Street

2026-07-10T14:54:55-04:00

SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung. | Image: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

As the AI boom boosts demand for RAM, SK Hynix - one of the world's biggest suppliers of memory chips - launched on Wall Street Friday. The South Korean chipmaker opened at $170 per share and raised $26.5 billion, surpassing Alibaba's record as the largest debut of a foreign company, according to reports from The Associated Press and CNN.

After reaching a $1 trillion valuation in May, SK Hynix briefly overtook Samsung as South Korea's most valuable company. SK Hynix is one of three major companies benefitting from a surge in demand for DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM). These components have become essential for the widespread buildout o …

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Apple wants permission to buy memory from a blacklisted Chinese supplier

2026-06-27T13:28:18-04:00

Apple is looking to alleviate some of the pressure on its supply chain by seeking an exception from the Trump administration to buy RAM chips from CXMT, a company blacklisted by the Pentagon over ties to the People's Liberation Army, according to the Financial Times. The skyrocketing prices of RAM and storage have driven Apple to raise prices on almost all of its products this week, so it makes sense that it would seek alternative sources.

Legally, Apple isn't barred from buying chips from CXMT, but doing business with a company tied to the Chinese military would carry serious reputational risks. It's possible that CXMT could still find it …

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Why is Apple asking me to pay more for Big Tech’s AI obsession?

2026-06-27T13:18:22-04:00

Tim Cook recently said price increases were "unavoidable" and described the company's pricing as "unsustainable." The 16-inch MacBook Pro saw its price go up by $300. The 11-inch iPad Air went from $599 to $749. Even the HomePod Mini got a $30 bump to $129. Cook squarely placed the blame at the feet of the AI industry, which is not surprising. RAMageddon has already come for your desktop PCs and gaming consoles. The Xbox has seen its price climb nearly 25 percent depending on the model, and Nothing even canceled an entire phone launch. Apple is just the most recent to jack up prices and point the finger at AI.

The price hikes are "basic eco …

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It’s now the Arduino Uno Q’s turn to get a price hike

2026-06-26T11:35:31-04:00

Arduino's Raspberry Pi-like microcomputer the Uno Q is joining many other devices in getting a price hike this week. The 2GB version of the Uno Q, which is powered by a Qualcomm Dragonwing QRB2210 processor, will increase in price from $44 to $59, while the 4GB model is getting a slightly steeper increase from $59 to $79. If you've been eyeing the Uno Q as a cheaper alternative to Raspberry Pi's current lineup, you have a little over a week to grab either version at the current price as the increases won't take effect until July 6th.

In a letter shared through the official Arduino blog, the company's chief product officer Marcello Majonchi …

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It’s a bad time to want a new computer

2026-06-25T15:28:21-04:00

It's not exactly surprising that RAMaggeddon is making new tech hardware really expensive. But if you've been in the market for things like a new computer or tablet, this week has been filled with sticker shock. Given how many companies announced price hikes related to component shortages, it seems unlikely things will get cheaper any time soon.

Valve started the week off by finally revealing the price of the Steam Machine, its long-delayed, console-like PC that, in our tests, has performance on par with the PS5. It starts at $1,049, nearly double the price of the six-year-old PS5, and that's for the base configuration with 512GB of storage …

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Xbox prices spike another $100 or more

2026-06-25T14:29:25-04:00

Microsoft is increasing the prices of Xbox consoles again. Starting August 1st, 512GB models will be $100 more expensive, while 1TB models will be $150 more expensive. This means that the Xbox Series S will start at $499.99, the Xbox Series X without a disc drive will start at $749.99, and the Series X with a disc drive will start at $799.99. Microsoft also says it will be "sunsetting" its 2TB Xbox Series X.

Microsoft last raised prices in October by $20 to $70 and says it had hoped to avoid further hikes. "Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027," …

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Here are all of the Apple price hikes

2026-06-25T12:47:56-04:00

Following an interview with The Wall Street Journal earlier this month where Tim Cook hinted at upcoming price changes, Apple officially raised the prices on many of its hardware offerings today. They include iPads, Macs, smart speakers, and even the affordable MacBook Neo. While Cook said the company has tried to "shield" customers from price increases as the cost of memory and storage has recently surged thanks to AI companies stockpiling RAM and SSDs for data centers, Apple has finally joined companies like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft with price hikes.

Here's a breakdown of what Apple hardware has been affected today and the range of p …

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Samsung’s new budget phone costs $50 more despite downgrades

2026-06-25T09:39:04-04:00

The US only gets it in black, but blue and pink models are launching elsewhere. | Image: Samsung

The Galaxy A27 has been announced, and at $349.99 it's $50 more than last year's A26. That's understandable in the current economic climate, but a harder sell given that Samsung has also downgraded a few key specs.

Compared to last year's phone, the A27 has lower resolution 12-megapixel selfie and 5-megapixel ultrawide cameras, worse IP64 waterproofing, and is very slightly thicker at 7.8mm. Other specs are simply unchanged, like the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, 5,000mAh battery, 6.7-inch 120Hz display, and 50-megapixel rear camera. There's only one real upgrade to the phone, but it is a welcome one: a move from the Exynos 1380 to Qualcomm's …

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Apple raises prices on Macs, iPads, and more by hundreds of dollars

2026-06-27T11:24:09-04:00

Apple is hiking the prices of its MacBooks, iPads, and other devices by hundreds of dollars in response to the ongoing memory and storage shortages. The new MacBook Neo will now start at $699 instead of $599, while the M3 Ultra Mac Studio is getting a $1,300 increase to $5,299, up from $3,999. The price hikes were reported earlier by Bloomberg and MacRumors.

Here's a list of the increases impacting the starting prices of Apple's other devices:

14-inch MacBook Pro: $1,999 from $1,699
16-inch MacBook Pro: $2,999 from $2,699
MacBook Air: $1,299 from $1,099
iPad: $449 from $349
iPad Air: $749 from $599
iPad Mini: $599 from $499

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