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| Mid-range Dell laptop with 8GB DDR5 memory upgrade |
If you’ve been holding out for a new laptop deal, a sobering industry report suggests you might want to adjust your expectations—and your budget. A significant and sustained shortage of DDR5 memory is poised to reshape the laptop market for years, pushing manufacturers toward configurations that could disappoint performance-minded buyers.
According to a recent TrendForce report, the relentless demand for DDR5 from AI data centers is creating a supply squeeze that will hit consumer electronics hard. The most immediate and visible impact will be on laptops, where manufacturers are preparing to make a difficult compromise: offering more systems with only 8GB of RAM, even in mid-range price brackets.
A New Reality for Laptop Shoppers
The report paints a challenging picture for brands and consumers alike. Companies like Dell and Framework have already made on-the-spot memory upgrades more expensive, eroding the value of typical sales and discounts. To keep advertised prices from skyrocketing, many are likely to standardize lower memory configurations—a move that directly hurts the price-to-performance ratio shoppers have come to expect.
You can read the detailed market analysis in the original TrendForce report here.
This shift is expected to hit the heart of the market most acutely. Mid-range laptops, which have increasingly standardized 16GB of RAM as the sweet spot for handling multitasking and modern applications, may see a surprising resurgence of 8GB base models. For the average buyer, this could mean a noticeable performance compromise or the need to step up to a more expensive tier altogether.
📈 With memory prices rising in 1Q26, BOM pressure mounts for smartphone and laptop makers. As memory’s cost share grows, how will brands safeguard margins?💡More analysis from #TrendForce: https://t.co/TsS5h8Ni36 🔗
— TrendForce (@trendforce) December 11, 2025
The High-End Isn't Spared, and Budget Laptops Face a Crisis
The ripple effects will be felt across the spectrum. Premium business and gaming laptops equipped with 32GB or 64GB of DDR5 will see their manufacturer-suggested retail prices (MSRPs) inflate noticeably. Conversely, the situation is arguably more dire for budget notebooks. There’s little room to downgrade specs further without crippling the user experience, as 8GB is already the bare minimum for Windows 11 to run basic tasks smoothly.
Another layer of complexity is modern design itself. The industry's move toward thinner, lighter laptops has come with a trade-off: soldered RAM. For countless ultrathin models, the memory is permanently attached to the motherboard. To change the standard configuration, companies would need to undertake costly and time-consuming redesigns, leaving them with less flexibility to adapt.
The Call for Software Optimization Grows Louder
With hardware constraints tightening, there’s a growing chorus from users urging software optimization. The argument is that if laptops will have less memory, operating systems and pre-installed software must become leaner. The focus is particularly on Windows, as each successive version has historically demanded more RAM. Background processes and system "bloat" that were once minor annoyances are now becoming critical bottlenecks.
When Will Prices Actually Hit?
While the component crisis is here, the full brunt for consumers may be on a delay. TrendForce suggests that while some price adjustments are immediate, widespread laptop price hikes may not blanket the market until the second quarter of 2026. This timeline gives some vendors with larger component stockpiles a temporary buffer, while others may choose to absorb short-term losses hoping for a market correction.
The DDR5 shortage underscores a connected tech ecosystem. It’s not just laptops; smartphone makers are also predicted to revise their inventory and production plans in response to the same supply pressures. For consumers, the message is clear: the era of steadily improving specs for the same price is hitting a formidable roadblock. Your next computing purchase will require a more careful look under the hood.