If you’ve been eyeing a new laptop, desktop, or tablet, this week probably isn’t the time to buy. A perfect storm of component shortages and price hikes across the tech industry is making hardware noticeably more expensive — and relief doesn’t seem to be coming anytime soon.
Valve kicked off the bad news by finally revealing the price of its long-delayed Steam Machine: $1,049 for the base model with 512GB of storage. That’s nearly double the price of a six-year-old PS5, and it gives you a machine that performs roughly on par with Sony’s console. Not exactly a compelling value proposition.
But it’s not just Valve. Apple, Microsoft, and other manufacturers have all announced price increases tied to RAM and component shortages. The situation has been building for months, but the sheer number of simultaneous hikes is what’s caught consumers off guard.
The RAM shortage — dubbed “RAMaggeddon” by some in the industry — is hitting everything from budget laptops to high-end desktops. DDR5 prices have surged, and manufacturers are passing those costs directly to buyers. If you’re building a PC, expect to pay significantly more for memory than you would have a year ago.
The bottom line: if your current machine is still working fine, hold off. If you absolutely need something new, buy now before prices potentially climb higher. Things aren’t expected to stabilize until later this year at the earliest.
