December 4, 2025
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The RAM Shortage Comes for Us All
PC builders are crying, Raspberry Pi gets pricier, and Apple’s RAM looks… normal
TLDR: RAM prices are jumping across the board as makers prioritize AI data centers, with effects hitting PC parts and even Raspberry Pi. Commenters are split between blaming AI-fueled corporate greed and urging developers to slim down software, while some note the irony that Apple’s pricey upgrades suddenly don’t look outrageous.
A $209, 64GB RAM kit now costs $650, and the comment sections are on fire. Builders posted PCPartPicker price charts like crime-scene photos, while others asked if it’s every kind of memory—short answer: pretty much everything is spiking, from old DDR4 to newer DDR5. Small brands say it’s brutal: Libre Computer claims a single 4GB mobile chip now costs $35, more than the rest of their tiny computer, and Raspberry Pi raised prices. There’s even a report that Samsung can’t buy enough of its own RAM. Drama level: max.
Who’s the villain? The crowd mostly points to AI datacenters gobbling up supply while companies shift production away from consumers—Micron is axing Crucial, and some think it’s all about selling to deep-pocketed AI labs. Conspiracy corner: one commenter claims OpenAI’s chip-wafter deals “lock” rivals out, turning hardware into a chokepoint. The counter-take? “Stop whining and write leaner code.” One old-school purist even says 32GB is plenty—16GB if you “ditch the bloat” and keep your browser tabs in check.
Meanwhile, the wildest twist: people are saying Apple’s famously pricey memory upgrades now look… reasonable. The crowd is split between “optimize your apps,” “big-tech hoarding,” and “welp, guess I’m not upgrading in 2025.” The memes write themselves: “I renamed my PC to ‘OpenAI Donor’.”
Key Points
- •RAM prices have risen sharply, with examples showing a 64GB DDR5 kit increasing from $209 to $650.
- •PCPartPicker data indicates DDR4 kits increased from about $30 to $120 and 64GB DDR5 kits from roughly $150 to $500.
- •Raspberry Pi raised SBC prices and introduced a 1 GB Pi 5 due to memory cost pressures.
- •Micron is exiting the Crucial consumer business, reducing the number of consumer memory brands.
- •The article attributes the surge to AI datacenter demand; reports also note Nvidia’s board partners must source VRAM independently and Samsung faces internal memory constraints.