The DRAM crisis is expected to hit laptops hard, and market analysts expect mid- and high-end laptops to revert to 8 and 16 GB of RAM, respectively.
For decades, the consumer PC market operated under a fundamental assumption: computers would get more powerful every year, and costs would continue to fall relative to processing power. Until now, that assumption has mostly held true. Laptops are faster and more powerful than ever, with better displays, and this is true at every price point and across every major brand. But 2026 is shaping up to be the year things fall apart, promising to bring more expensive laptops with downgraded specifications.
The final few months of 2025 have seen AI making common PC upgrades painfully expensive, with RAM — specifically DRAM, which is most commonly found in consumer electronics — skyrocketing in price and SSDs likely next in line for similar hikes. As of December 2025, the situation has only grown more dire, with Micron announcing that it was shutting down Crucial, its consumer-facing brand, to focus on selling its memory stock to the AI industry.
In 2026, we can expect to see more expensive laptops with worse specs than in 2025. Amid shrinking DRAM inventories for consumer goods, laptop manufacturers will be paying a hefty premium for memory. Left with a choice between cutting into their margins or raising prices, reports indicate companies will choose the latter. But they will also be cutting back on the amount of RAM included with new models. Here’s what we know right now about how laptop manufacturers are responding to the AI-driven memory squeeze.
