RAM Costs Are Loopy Excessive, But Do Not Settle For An 8GB Laptop computer
The additional 8GB prices $200 on the XPS 13, which is less expensive than changing the laptop computer.
If you have been fortunate sufficient to have fallen asleep round this time in 2019 and had simply woken up this week, you may suppose that not a lot has modified within the laptop computer house. You’ll nonetheless see Dell’s XPS 13 with 8GB of RAM (although not 4GB, but), with Apple’s most cost-effective MacGuide providing the identical quantity. But when you see the value, you’d quickly work out that one thing went incorrect.
Dell launched its XPS 13 with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage at $699 this 12 months, a value that has since gone up by $100 for a similar specs. The $699 beginning value continues to be accessible, however limits you to only 256GB of storage. Meanwhile, Apple’s MacBook Neo went from $599 to $699, together with a slew of different value improve in June.
TrendForce reckons that CPU, reminiscence and storage now make up 68 % of a mainstream laptop computer’s invoice of supplies, and expects that producers will minimize reminiscence to protect their margins subsequent 12 months. So you possibly can count on extra 8GB machines, not fewer. But do not be tempted into shopping for one.
How 16GB grew to become the baseline
8GB of RAM was the unofficial baseline for laptops till 2024. That May, Microsoft launched the Copilot+ PC program and issued a diktat that 16GB was now the minimal for any laptop computer offered beneath the label. That October, Apple doubled the bottom MacGuide Air’s RAM from 8GB to 16GB with out growing its $999 price ticket. Every new Mac from then on began at 16GB.
Then 2026 rolled round, and a quite gloomy TrendForce forecast estimated that the costs PC makers pay reminiscence suppliers would improve by a rare 90 to 95 % within the first quarter alone. Apple released its MacBook Neo in March as the one present Mac with lower than 16GB, and Dell’s 2026 XPS 13 was introduced again (after a brief naming-related hiatus) with an 8GB base mannequin.
Since 4GB is the naked minimal required for operating Windows 11, the lowest-end Dell XPS 13 mannequin technically has twice what it wants. But after we examined the bottom mannequin in our Dell XPS 13 (2026) review, we discovered that 80 % of its reminiscence was already dedicated to invisible processes proper after Windows booted. Launching a browser and filling it with tabs pushed that utilization to 95 %, which means that scrolling, switching home windows and nearly all common use had minor hiccups. Further testing discovered that the midrange Dell XPS 13 is the one you’ll actually want: with 16GB of RAM, it scored about 30 % increased in PCMark 10 and lasted an hour and 44 minutes longer in the identical battery check.
The XPS 13’s Core 5 320 is a part of Intel’s price range Wildcat Lake line, which has a single reminiscence channel quite than the 2 on Intel’s pricier Panther Lake chips. Thus, the processor and built-in graphics share one slim path to that 8GB.
Why laptop computer makers are chopping RAM
Normally, reminiscence and storage account for roughly 15 % of what it prices to construct a laptop computer, according to TrendForce, which projected that share would move 30 % in the beginning of 2026. An analyst at market tracker OpenBrand advised Consumer Reports late final 12 months that producers would “slide in” lower-spec fashions to carry onto acquainted value factors like $599 and $799, which is kind of what’s occurred.
Samsung estimated its third-quarter working revenue at 107.4 trillion received, or about $80 billion, its fourth document quarter in a row. Analysts cited by The Korea Times put round 110 trillion received of that all the way down to reminiscence alone, implying the remainder of Samsung misplaced cash. Meanwhile, Micron wound down Crucial, its client RAM and SSD model, in February to redirect provide to “bigger, strategic prospects” as AI information middle demand took off. Those information facilities are the principle cause why RAM prices are so high right now.
Is the 16GB improve value it?
Dell fees $200 to take the XPS 13 from 8GB to 16GB, bringing it to $899 for those who stick to the bottom 256GB of storage. That’s loads for an additional 8GB of reminiscence, however you solely get to resolve as soon as, and our evaluate decided that everybody however probably the most informal customers ought to pay for it. Apple’s Neo would not provide you with that alternative. The most cost-effective Mac laptop computer with 16GB is now the $1,299 M5 MacGuide Air, which is $300 greater than the 16GB M2 Air price in late 2024. However, the M5 Air comes with twice the baseline storage in comparison with the M2.
MSI launched its Katana 15 HX C14 gaming laptop computer in August with an choice for older DDR4 reminiscence, whereas Framework now encourages DIY Edition patrons to deliver their very own RAM after elevating its DDR5 costs by 50 %. Laptops with reminiscence slots allow you to begin small and add extra as soon as costs fall. Last 12 months’s 16GB fashions are value a glance whereas inventory lasts, too.
Acer chairman and CEO Jason Chen expects PC costs to rise one other 5 to twenty % earlier than the tip of the 12 months and peak within the first half of 2027, based on TechSpot. He accused reminiscence makers of exaggerating how lengthy the scarcity goes to final to protect margins, whereas TrendForce expects manufacturers to battle to carry onto costs, specs and income all of sudden subsequent 12 months. Even the extra optimistic forecasts have laptops getting costlier earlier than they get cheaper once more; an 8GB laptop computer purchased at this time will nonetheless have 8GB after they do.
