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

Apple raises the Mac Mini’s starting price

2026-05-01T17:52:21-04:00

Apple's Mac Mini now starts at $799 after the company pulled the $599 option with 256GB of storage from its online store, as spotted earlier by MacRumors. The model's discontinuation comes just one day after Apple CEO Tim Cook said during an earnings call that a chip shortage will impact its Mac products in the coming months.

"If you look forward to June, the majority of our supply constraints will be on several Mac models," Cook said. "We think looking forward that the Mac Mini and the Mac Studio may take several months to reach supply-demand balance." He added that both devices saw "higher-than-expected demand" as well, with many people b …

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Samsung says the RAM shortage could get even worse next year

2026-04-30T10:41:10-04:00

There may be a long wait before the end of the RAM shortage that's driving up prices on everything from phones to gaming handhelds. During an earnings call on Thursday, Samsung predicted that the severe memory shortage, driven by demand from AI data centers, will not only continue next year, but likely get worse, as reported by Reuters.

As Samsung memory chip business executive Kim Jaejune stated during the earnings call:

"Our supply falls far short of customer demand. Based solely on the demand currently received for 2027, the supply-to-demand gap for 2027 is set to widen even further than ⁠in 2026."

Samsung's prediction follows repor …

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The RAM shortage could get even worse if Samsung labor protests cut production

2026-04-24T13:17:02-04:00

Samsung employees in South Korea are protesting for more competitive wages. | Photo: Seong Joon Cho / Bloomberg via Getty Images

The RAM shortage caused by demand from AI datacenters is already driving up prices on phones, PS5s, and Raspberry Pis, but it could be about to get even worse. Samsung is facing employee protests over demands for wages that are more competitive with rival chip manufacturer SK Hynix, including removing Samsung's cap on bonus pay, allocating more money for bonuses, and raising base salaries. According to AP News, an estimated 40,000 union members attended a rally on Thursday outside Samsung's Pyeongtaek, South Korea chip manufacturing facility.

If the union and management can't come to an agreement, the union is planning an 18-day strike begi …

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The Lenovo Legion Go S is RAMageddon’s latest victim

2026-04-20T19:17:42-04:00

You can still find the Asus Xbox Ally X and the MSI Claw 8 AI Plus for $999 and $1,049 respectively, but Lenovo's Legion Go S has seemingly given up the fight. The best version of Lenovo's 8-inch handheld now costs nearly double what it did at launch - originally $829.99 last summer, the SteamOS version with Z1 Extreme chip now costs a staggering $1,579.99 at Best Buy.

That's an even bigger price hike than with Lenovo's flagship Legion Go 2, which saw up to a $650 price hike early this month.

Not every Legion Go S model costs nearly double what it did before, but none are anywhere near what they originally cost. The Windows Z1 Extreme mo …

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The RAM shortage could last years

2026-04-20T05:28:13-04:00

According to Nikkei Asia, even as suppliers ramp up DRAM production, manufacturers are only expected to meet 60 percent of demand by the end of 2027. SK Group chairman has even said that shortages could last until 2030.

The world's largest memory makers - Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron - are all working to add new fabrication capacity, but almost none of it will be online until at least 2027, if not 2028. SK opened a fab in Cheongju in February, but that is the only increase in production among the three for 2026.

Nikkei says that production would need to increase by 12 percent a year in 2026 and 2027 to meet demand. But according to Counte …

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Meta blames RAM shortage for $100 Quest 3 price hike

2026-04-15T18:19:21-04:00

Meta is the next tech company to hike up hardware prices due to the global memory shortage.

Beginning April 19th, Meta's 128GB Quest 3S VR headset will cost $349.99, the 256GB Quest 3S will cost $449.99, and the Quest 3 will cost $599.99. Those are increases of $50 for both Quest 3S models and $100 for the Quest 3.

Refurbished units will be getting a price hike, too. The refurbished 128GB and 256GB Quest 3S models are similarly getting a $50 bump to $319.99 and $409.99, while a refurbished Quest 3 will cost $549.99, a $170 increase. Accessories will keep their current prices.

"We're making this change because the cost of building high-p …

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Samsung is hiking the prices of its Galaxy phones and tablets

2026-04-14T09:34:06-04:00

Samsung is raising prices across Galaxy Z Flip 7, Galaxy S25 FE, and Galaxy S25 Edge phones, as spotted earlier by Phone Arena. Though the base model of each phone is staying at the same price, devices with higher storage are now up to $80 more expensive:

Galaxy Z Flip 7 (512GB): $1,219.99 to $1,299.99
Galaxy S25 FE (256GB): $709.99 to $749.99
Galaxy S25 Edge (512GB) $1,219.99 to $1,299.99

Last week, Samsung also increased the price of the Galaxy Z Fold 7, bringing its 1TB model from $2,419 to $2,499, while the 512GB version jumped from $2,119 to $2,199. Samsung's price hikes don't just end with its phones, however, as Phone Aren …

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RAMageddon has come for Microsoft’s Surface Pro and Surface Laptop

2026-04-13T16:45:41-04:00

Microsoft just raised the prices across its line of Surface devices amid the global RAM shortage. Now, the 13-inch Surface Pro 11 and the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop 7 cost $500 more than their original starting price, going from $999 to $1,499, as reported earlier by Windows Central.

Last year, Microsoft stopped selling the $999 versions of the Surface Pro 11 and the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop 7 in favor of the $1,199 models with more storage. At the time, it seemed like Microsoft was trying to make room for the cheaper 12-inch Surface Pro and 13-inch Surface Laptop that launched last May. However, these newer devices aren't safe from the pric …

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The AI RAM shortage is also driving up SSD prices

2026-04-08T15:32:49-04:00

I thought the WD Black SN850X 2TB SSD in my gaming PC was pricey when I bought it for $173 in 2024, but now that same SSD costs $649, more than what I paid for most of the parts in my PC combined. The price on my WD Black drive nearly quadrupled since November 2025, and consumer SSDs across the board are seeing similar increases, much like with RAM:

The 4TB version of the popular Samsung 990 Pro SSD previously cost $320, but will now run you nearly $1,000.
External SanDisk SSDs saw a 200 percent price hike at the Apple Store in March.
Sony has announced that it's suspending orders for its SD and CFexpress cards.
Modular PC brand …

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Lenovo Legion Go 2 suddenly costs $650 more as RAMageddon lays waste to gaming hardware

2026-04-03T16:36:15-04:00

The Legion Go 2’s mouse mode, unique among Windows handhelds. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Remember when we thought the Legion Go 2 was expensive at $1,099 and up? Those were the days - Best Buy is now listing Lenovo's handheld for $1,499 with a Ryzen Z2 or $1,999 with a Z2 Extreme. The latter originally cost $1,349, so that's a $650 jump in just six months.

And yes, that means Lenovo's flagship may now cost twice as much as a $999 Microsoft/Asus Xbox Ally X with the same AMD chip, as much as a far more powerful GPD Win 5 with AMD Strix Halo cost last year. But the way things are going, it's probably only a matter of time till Microsoft hikes its handheld Xbox price too. (For now, Asus rep Anthony Spence tells me there's "no pric …

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