The Death of the Cheap Laptop Is Coming

A green line drawing of a circuit board with blue accents. The pattern includes rising arrows, dollar signs, and numerous blocks or chips containing the text

I built a PC for a colleague in January of 2025. At the time, the cost for the three main components — the motherboard, the processor, and the DDR5 memory — was about $800. A few weeks ago, I had to buy the same components, more or less, for another coworker’s PC build. The bill: $1,200.

And it’s all thanks to AI.

Whether you use AI or not, it’s probably going to impact your life this year — and I’m not just talking about search results or slop. The land war to build AI data centers is driving up the price of the computers and other devices you may try to buy this year, and the best values are likely to be the first casualties.



from Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World https://ift.tt/TM6UIu8
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