{"id":2741,"date":"2026-06-26T04:46:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T04:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=2741"},"modified":"2026-06-26T04:46:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T04:46:42","slug":"ram-crisis-component-shortage-prices-computer-apple-microsoft-valve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=2741","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a bad time to want a new computer"},"content":{"rendered":"


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It\u2019s not exactly surprising that RAMaggeddon is making new tech hardware really expensive. But if you\u2019ve been in the market for things like a new computer or tablet, this week has been filled with sticker shock. Given how many companies announced price hikes related to component shortages, it seems unlikely things will get cheaper any time soon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Valve started the week off by finally revealing the price of the Steam Machine, its long-delayed, console-like PC that, in our tests, has performance on par with the PS5<\/a>. It starts<\/em> at $1,049<\/a>, nearly double the price of the six-year-old PS5, and that\u2019s for the base configuration with 512GB of storage and without a controller. A bundled controller adds an extra $79, and if you want the 2TB model, you\u2019ll have to tack on another $300. (If you still wanted one soon at that price, well, I hope you entered the lottery<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This high-end Steam Machine with a bundled controller costs $1,428.<\/em><\/figcaption>Photo: Kelsey McClellan \/ The Verge<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ahead of launch, Valve had warned<\/a> that the component crisis had forced it to revise its pricing plans. When asked in a recent interview by PC Gamer<\/em><\/a> the one thing he would change about the Steam Machine, Valve engineer Yazan Aldehayyat said: \u201cMake it cheaper.\u201d While the company hasn\u2019t spelled out its initial planned price, it seems like if you shave off $250 or $300 from the current Steam Machine prices, you\u2019ll land in the ballpark<\/a> of where Valve was originally thinking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Microsoft introduced some new, cheaper options for its Surface devices this week, though they\u2019re still expensive. The company\u2019s lineup now includes<\/a> a 12-inch Surface Pro at $849 and a 13-inch Surface Laptop at $949, but they come with a major drawback: Microsoft cut the amount of included RAM in half, dropping it from 16GB to 8GB. Still, they are more affordable than the previous base model versions of those devices, which recently jumped up to $1,049 and $1,199 as part of a batch of Surface price hikes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And just today, two<\/em> major companies announced price increases. Apple introduced sweeping price hikes<\/a> of its own affecting MacBooks, iPads, and even devices like the HomePod and Apple TV. The MacBook Neo, which was a steal<\/a> at its original $599 price, now starts at $699, for example. (We\u2019ve got a list of all of the new prices right here<\/a>, and they\u2019re not pretty.) Apple gave Bloomberg<\/em><\/a> a statement on the price hikes, saying they were due to component cost increases at a scale the company has \u201cnever seen\u201d because of the data center boom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The MacBook Neo isn\u2019t quite as good of a deal as it used to be.<\/em><\/figcaption>Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales \/ The Verge<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Xbox announced higher console prices of $100 or more<\/a>, meaning the six-year-old Xbox Series S now starts at $499.99 with the price tags only going up from there. In a blog post<\/a>, Microsoft blamed the component shortage, saying that \u201cconsole storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If you\u2019re looking for a new computer or computing device, whether it\u2019s for gaming, or for school, or whatever you might need it for, the memory and storage shortage means that hardware just costs more now. And with RAM<\/a> and SSDs<\/a> still in very short supply \u2014 a situation that will likely be the case for a very long time \u2014 these higher prices probably aren\u2019t a temporary thing but are instead our new reality. If even Apple, known for its supply chain mastery, has been forced to raise prices, is anyone immune?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The big AI data center buildout is largely to blame. If an individual making a PC at home or a tech company looking for parts for their next product needs components like memory or storage, they\u2019re competing with an AI company or a hyperscaler who might be willing to pay far more for what\u2019s becoming increasingly limited inventory. Valve said as much in an interview published this week<\/a>; if the company doesn\u2019t take prices as offered, then the suppliers \u201cnever talk to us again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The competition for parts for data centers is all based on a bet that AI will be a foundational part of how people will use computers and interact with tech in the future. The hyperscalers are racing to build out infrastructure to train their AI models and offer AI-based services for people and businesses. But the lack of supply for components means that buying computers is increasingly more miserable for everyday consumers. Today, everything in tech is more expensive than it was yesterday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There\u2019s no end in sight: hyperscalers are spending eye-watering amounts of money<\/a> to build compute capacity so they can shove AI into everything we do. That\u2019s making computers more costly, and it could just be the beginning of what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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