Q: Based on the current state of memory chips, should I buy during the holidays or wait?
A: If you’ve been shopping for a new computer this year and felt a little sticker shock, you’re not imagining things. Prices on everyday PCs have crept upward during 2025, and it’s largely due to two parts most people never think about: memory (RAM) and storage (SSD).
Think of your computer like a kitchen. The processor is the cook, memory is the counter space, and storage is the refrigerator and pantry. You can have a talented cook, but without enough counter space or room to store ingredients, everything slows down.
The consumer squeeze
Right now, the tech industry is building massive “restaurants” in the form of artificial intelligence data centers. Those facilities use enormous amounts of memory and storage, and that demand is squeezing the supply available for regular consumer computers.
When supply tightens, prices rise — even for machines that don’t use any AI at all.
Another important shift this year is that Micron announced it is shutting down Crucial, its consumer memory business, which has long been one of the major suppliers of affordable RAM for everyday computers.
With one fewer manufacturer producing consumer-grade memory, competition goes down and pricing pressure goes up — especially in the budget and midrange categories that most home users shop in.
None of this caused a sudden overnight spike. Instead, prices have nudged upward gradually throughout the year.
A system that felt fairly priced in January may cost noticeably more now. At the budget end of the market, the definition of “entry-level” has shifted upward. What used to qualify as an affordable office PC now sits solidly in midrange territory.
So should you buy now or wait?
If you actually need a new computer for work, school or daily use, the holiday season is a reasonable time to buy. Retailers discount complete systems more aggressively than individual components, and buying a full system locks in today’s pricing before further supply constraints ripple through.
Waiting doesn’t offer a clear advantage. There’s no sign that memory or storage prices are about to drop, and with Crucial exiting the consumer RAM market and data center demand continuing to grow, many industry watchers expect pressure to continue into 2026 for both Windows and Mac computers.
Waiting may simply mean paying the same — or more — later.
Where people make mistakes during sales is grabbing the cheapest machine on the shelf without checking what’s inside. In today’s market, memory and storage matter more than flashy features.
For most users, 16 GB of memory is the new “comfortable minimum,” and a 1 TB solid-state drive provides breathing room for files, photos and updates. You don’t need a high-end processor unless you’re doing specialized work, but you do want enough memory and storage to keep the system from aging badly.
So is it too late to buy?
No — but it’s unrealistic to expect prices to return to what they were a few years ago.
If you find a holiday deal on a balanced system with solid memory and storage, it’s reasonable to buy. Just be careful, as the lowest-priced units often achieve that price by cutting corners, and those compromises may not be obvious to less tech-savvy consumers.