No that was wrong, I compared the prices of Lenovo Thinkpads they charge similar prices, ~$100/step for RAM upgrades both for ARM and Intel.
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Apple now beats Dell at RAM pricing
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My experience with HP hasn't been super good either, honestly. It's seems like if you got to go Windows, unless you really need a laptop, you're better off building your own computer. Otherwise, getting a Mac or installing Ubuntu/Kubuntu on a used computer might be the best option.
That's what I'm seeing too. Maybe Qualcomm is trying to clean up on RAM too and that it has nothing to do with Dell.
THIS 1000%
“Well gee, I could buy a MacBook, but this PC model looks kinda similar and it’s ✨ upgradeable ✨ oooooh!
I might want more memory later, so I simply must sacrifice the quality of life benefits and polish of a Mac for that possibility! Give me a creaky plastic machine with a lower quality uncalibrated display, mushy keyboard, erratic trackpad, barely functional power management, adware-filled operating system, slower SoC etc. I don’t care, all that matters is my precious SODIMM slots! 🤪 Bumping the memory later will absolutely, definitely, 100%, without a shadow of doubt make an ancient Ryzen chip feel brand new, no way will I want a new machine anyway, nuh-uh!”
(Sorry, it grinds my gears a bit 😂)
Saw this coming. I have new equipment to get me through till the economy gets better, hopefully.
I would agree that building your own Windows machine is better than purchasing a prebuilt on the desktop side. The main reason is that more often than not, the prebuilt machines from HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc. use proprietary parts (power supplies, cooling fans, etc.) or cutdown motherboards that lack features of their retail counterparts. This means that upgrade options are quite limited, and often require replacing multiple components just so the one thing you actually want to change can be upgraded. On the other hand, prebuilt systems from iBuyPower, CyberPower and MSI usually are using off the shelf components, which makes upgrades down the line easier. And with market pricing going insane right now, buying a prebuilt from Costco and cannibalizing it for my gaming rig might actually be less expensive than buying the components separately.
Insane how much DDR5 costs and it is deliberate to inflate the bank accounts of the top shareholders.
Nearly all the stuff generated by AI servers is junk output that serves nothing, no economic benefit at all, especially all those fake posts, spam images and spam videos. They could cut down on all that waste and reduce the size of these mega datacenters by upping the cost so that only serious users use generative AI.
This is just criminal collusion by the mega investor class and everyone pays for it even when we don’t want to.
Nearly all the stuff generated by AI servers is junk output that serves nothing, no economic benefit at all, especially all those fake posts, spam images and spam videos. They could cut down on all that waste and reduce the size of these mega datacenters by upping the cost so that only serious users use generative AI.
This is just criminal collusion by the mega investor class and everyone pays for it even when we don’t want to.
The question is will they use their contracts to keep prices low or raise prices like the other companies.
The more I think about it, and the more reasons I have to buy a mbp m5 right now. Thing is, I am on mba m1 16/512 and was really waiting for the redesigned mbp with thinner design because the current design is too high thick and sharp, and digs into my palms
A world leader just talking about tariffs (even if no tariffs had ever been implemented) causes vendors to hoard components critical to their businesses, leading to marketplace shortages, inefficiencies and increased prices.
I expect the machinations (tariff talk, denigration of allies, etc.) by the current USA administration to cause a significant financial downturn. Hopefully our current hardware is strong enough to not require upgrading for a few years.
I'm so glad this happened AFTER Apple raised the minimum Mac RAM allotment from 8 to 16 gig.
THIS. Endless circular "AI" "deals" and "agreements" that will never come to fruition announced solely to inflate share prices. Every so-called finance and tech "expert" with a platform pumping "AI".
All right, fess up. Which one of you here wished that Apple’s ram pricing would be more in line with other OEMs? 😏
Tbf, RAM pricing has been one of those things that has fluctuated a lot for years. Even going back to the 80s.
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SODIMM modules are not the issue, it's just the chips that go onto them.
Chips made by 3 companies that at the moment see more profit in providing for AI.
Apple buys their RAM chips from these companies and the questions are:
- for how long has Apple locked in current pricing with the suppliers?
- will Apple increase it's margins while the still buy at old prices or just pass on price increases later on?
The screenshot shows this is a Snapdragon Elite-powered Dell laptop which also uses LPDDR RAM. It's not a SODIMM Intel/AMD model (and even those can be soldered instead of using cards).
A more likely scenario is that Qualcomm ships the Snapdragon Elite with specific RAM configurations (since like Apple Silicon the RAM would be mounted to the actual SoC) and charges OEMs more for the higher RAM models than if the OEM were able to just slap the RAM into a card slot or solder it to the motherboard themselves.
Except Lenovo Thinkpad with same Qualcomm CPU only charge $90 for the same RAM upgrade Dell charge $550 https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/configurator/cto/index.html?bundleId=21N1CTO1WWUS1
It’s clear more of us may be hanging to our existing devices longer during this latest market convulsion - especially if Apple raises prices in 2026. And those of us who may really need to purchase new devices may be forced to seriously consider what we really need versus defaulting to what we want - or what we have always assumed is the case. Do we really need 128GB of RAM in that Mac Stduio… or more like 64 or even 32? Do we really need 64GB of RAM in that Mac Mini or MacBook Pro… or more like 32 - or even 24? Do we really need 32 or 24 GB of RAM in that MacBook Air… or will 16 still get the job done just fine?
I have a work HP (470 G10) laptop at home, its touchpad feels like loose junk compared to my magic trackpad v2.
Someday when I have the extra money, I'll get a refurb Macbook of some variety.
Yeah good idea. I think the extra we pay for macs vs windows machines is repaid tenfold in a better user experience and stability etc.
I got a Lenovo with 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD (that does 13000mb/s), 240fps 1ms latency OLED display with a RTX 5080 for only $2500.
Still cheaper than Apple (while having superior specs than a M4 Max 16” MBP)
Better buy now before the current stock get jacked up to the moon with AI data centers buying everything.
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Samsung has even refused selling RAM to its own smartphone division due to the AI bubble. At some point, Apple will face high prices too for sure after their “price lock in period” ends.
www.pcworld.com
Instead of AI killing humans like in the movie called “The Terminator”, AI is killing consumer computers.
RAM is so expensive, Samsung won't even sell it to Samsung
Due to rising prices from the "AI" bubble, Samsung Semiconductor reportedly refused a RAM order for new Galaxy phones from Samsung Electronics.
www.pcworld.com
Instead of AI killing humans like in the movie called “The Terminator”, AI is killing consumer computers.