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Microsoft pushed 16GB RAM as must-have for Windows 11 for years, now sells an 8GB Surface Laptop for $1,299
(www.windowslatest.com)
this post was submitted on 21 May 2026
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In the current environment? Apple shielded itself from price hikes by component suppliers by locking up capacity early. There's a reason why their CEO came up through the supply chain rather than software or design.
The memory Apple is putting in its devices today are largely priced at prices negotiated years ago. It got deals on CPUs and GPUs of their own design, fabricated by TSMC, packaged with Samsung-fabricated memory in System-in-a-Package form, at volumes that make them nearly impossible to say no to, under contracts that are probably bulletproof even as TSMC and Samsung have others clamoring for their capacity at higher prices.
The A18 Pro in the MacBook Neos is made on TSMC's N3E node, which started production in 2023 and was probably under contract by 2022. The AI boom largely started happening after, and the memory/storage chip crunch didn't seem like it would be a problem until 2024 or so.
In an environment like this where there are capacity shortages and companies bidding up the price to absurd levels, companies like Apple are exactly who you'd expect not to be thrown around by price hikes.
I see your point there, but Surface's have been priced higher than Mac's for many years now (and typically for more outdated hardware), before the AI bubble destroyed memory pricing