MacBook Neo Exposes the Memory Shortage Squeezing Cheap Laptops

Apple’s MacBook Neo, the company’s first laptop to start at $599, ships with just 8GB of memory and no way to add more, because a global shortage of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM, the working memory inside every computer) has turned RAM into the priciest part of a cheap machine. The same squeeze is now shaping how Dell, Microsoft and Qualcomm price their answers.

Most of the coverage has read the budget-laptop scramble as a simple fight over Apple’s new price. The heavier force in the room is a memory shortage that research firms Gartner and IDC both expect to push computer prices up and thin out the bottom of the market well into 2027.

The Memory Crunch Behind the Cheap-Laptop Rush

Start with the supply side, since it sits underneath every product decision below. For roughly two years, the companies that make memory chips have been redirecting their factories toward the data center, and laptops have been left to fight over what is left.

Why HBM Is Eating the Supply

The cause is artificial intelligence. Training and running large models needs high-bandwidth memory (HBM, the stacked DRAM that sits beside an AI accelerator), and HBM is far more profitable to sell than the ordinary memory that goes into laptops. Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, the three firms that make almost all of the world’s DRAM, have shifted wafers toward HBM to feed orders from Microsoft, Google, Meta and Amazon.

Every wafer that becomes an HBM stack for a graphics processor is a wafer that does not become a laptop memory module. IDC expects DRAM supply to grow only 16% in 2026 and NAND flash (the storage chips inside a solid-state drive) to grow 17%, both below what the industry usually adds in a year. SK Hynix has told customers the tightness could run until 2028.

What It Does to Sticker Prices

Scarcity has a price. the February 2026 memory-cost forecast from Gartner put the combined jump in DRAM and SSD prices at 130% by the end of the year, enough to lift PC prices by about 17% and smartphone prices by 13% against 2025 levels.

That math falls hardest on cheap laptops, where memory and storage make up a large slice of the bill of materials (BOM, the parts cost of a finished device). IDC pegs memory at 15% to 20% of a mid-range phone’s BOM, and the picture is similar at the low end of the PC market. When the chips inside double in price, a builder either raises the sticker or cuts the spec.

• 130% the combined DRAM and SSD price surge Gartner projects by the end of 2026
• 17% how much higher Gartner expects PC prices to run than in 2025
• 2027 how far out IDC expects the squeeze to last, with SK Hynix warning it could reach 2028

Dell Copied the Recipe, Not Just the Price

Apple’s $599 move was never only about the number. It was about making a budget laptop feel expensive, and Dell clearly took the same notes.

The new Dell XPS 13, shown ahead of Computex and due in June, starts at $699, or $599 for students aged 16 and up. For that money you get a chassis machined from a single block of aluminum, 2.2 pounds, half an inch thick, and a 13.4-inch screen at 2560 by 1600 with 500 nits of brightness and a 30 to 120Hz refresh rate. Apple’s the MacBook Neo announcement reads almost identically on brightness and sharpness; Dell simply added a faster panel.

Underneath, Dell made the same trade Apple did. The base XPS 13 runs an Intel Core 5 320, part of Intel’s Panther Lake line and a step below the Core Ultra chips, paired with 8GB of memory and a 512GB drive. The difference is the ceiling. Where Apple solders the memory shut, Dell lets buyers climb to 32GB and a 1TB SSD once they move up to a Core Ultra 7 part.

Microsoft’s 8GB Misread

Then there is the company that read the same market and drew the opposite lesson.

Microsoft used its Surface Laptop for Business event last month to show two machines. The 13.8-inch version is a clean refresh built on Intel’s Core Ultra X7 368H, a Panther Lake chip, and it still starts at 16GB of memory. The 13-inch model is the one that raised eyebrows.

That smaller Surface starts at $1,200, and business machines always carry a markup, so the price itself is not the problem. The spec is. An 8GB configuration is set to arrive later this year alongside 16GB and 24GB versions, and unlike Dell, Microsoft is not wrapping the lower memory in a thinner body or a sharper screen. Buyers get less computing power inside the same design.

For comparison, last year’s consumer Surface Laptop 13 started at 16GB, and the 2024 Surface Laptop 7th Edition, still on shelves with 16GB for under $800, remains one of the better deals in the lineup. Selling a fresh 8GB machine in this climate is hard to picture without Apple having gone first.

Three Budget Laptops, Three Bets

Line the three up and the strategies separate cleanly. Apple caps the spec and leans on its brand. Dell matches the look and leaves an upgrade path. Microsoft charges more and ships less.

One number runs straight across the table. 8GB is the one spec all three share at the entry point, a level the industry had spent years leaving behind in favor of 16GB. The shortage has dragged the floor back down, and even Apple, which builds its own chips, could not steer around it.

Qualcomm Drops the Floor to $300

While Apple, Dell and Microsoft trade blows in the $600 to $1,200 band, Qualcomm just moved the floor much lower.

Days before Computex, the chipmaker announced the Snapdragon C platform, built for Windows laptops starting at $300. It leans on Kryo processor cores borrowed from Qualcomm’s phone chips rather than the custom Oryon cores in its pricier Snapdragon X line, and while it carries a neural processing unit (NPU, the on-chip block that handles AI tasks), it does not clear Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC bar.

The first machine is Acer’s Aspire Go 15, a 15.6-inch laptop with a 1080p screen, up to 8GB of memory and up to 512GB of storage, with HP and Lenovo lined up behind it for devices later this year. The pitch is modest on purpose: web browsing, video, office work and long battery life, nothing heavier. At $300, it undercuts the cheapest Mac by half and hands the shortage-hit market a genuine entry point.

The Cheap PC Is Being Squeezed Out

Step back from the launches and the same pattern shows up across every tier: the affordable computer is getting harder to build.

Gartner expects the shortage to concentrate demand on premium devices and to erase the new sub-$500 PC segment entirely by 2028. It also sees buyers holding on to what they own for longer, stretching PC lifespans by 15% for businesses and 20% for consumers. The 2026 PC market outlook from IDC points the same way, with worldwide shipments set to fall between 4.9% and 8.9% this year depending on how the supply plays out.

The knock-on effects are already visible:

• Shoppers keep older machines longer, slowing the upgrade cycle
• The brand-new sub-$500 laptop drifts toward extinction by 2028
• 8GB returns as a mainstream baseline after years of 16GB creep
• Premium feel, not raw specs, becomes the budget battleground

For buyers, the practical takeaway is unglamorous. Last year’s 16GB models, discounted to clear, often beat this year’s 8GB replacements on value, which is why a year-old 16GB ultrabook still gets recommended over a fresh entry machine.

Microsoft is expected to show its consumer Surface Laptop around the Build conference this month. If that machine lands at 8GB, the base-spec retreat Apple kicked off in March will have its clearest convert. If Microsoft holds at 16GB, the cheapest premium laptop on the market will keep being the one carrying the least memory to work with.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the MacBook Neo only have 8GB of RAM?

Apple capped the entry MacBook Neo at 8GB largely to hold the $599 price during a severe DRAM shortage that has made memory the most expensive component in a budget laptop. The memory is soldered to the board, so there is no upgrade path.

Will laptop prices keep rising in 2026?

Yes. Gartner projects a 130% combined surge in DRAM and SSD prices by the end of 2026, lifting PC prices roughly 17% versus 2025. IDC expects average PC selling prices to climb 4% to 6%, with the shortage lasting into 2027.

Is 8GB of RAM enough for a budget laptop?

For web browsing, video streaming, email and light office work, 8GB is workable. It struggles with heavy multitasking, many browser tabs, photo or video editing and demanding apps, where 16GB makes a clear difference.

Should I buy a laptop now or wait for prices to fall?

Analysts do not expect meaningful relief before 2027 or 2028, so waiting may not help. Discounted year-old models with 16GB, such as the 2024 Surface Laptop 7th Edition under $800, often beat new 8GB machines on value.

What is the cheapest Windows laptop coming in 2026?

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon C platform targets Windows laptops starting at $300. The first model is Acer’s Aspire Go 15, with HP and Lenovo devices expected later in the year, though these chips do not qualify for Copilot+ PC features.