• A Reddit user's RTX 5090 has partially melted a PCIe riser cable
• Some of the riser cable's material is stuck on the RTX 5090's backplate
• It's not as serious a concern as connector melting issues, but it's worth being cautious about riser cable and GPU spacing henceforth

Building a new gaming PC in 2026 and beyond is a tough ask for any gamer amid the RAM crisis, and that's why this case of caution around hardware components is vital.

As reported by TweakTown, a Reddit user has reported a partially melted Lian Li PCIe riser cable due to heat from direct contact with the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 5090 backplate. The material chipped away from the riser cable is evident on the GPU's backplate, but fortunately it isn't a substantial amount.

Riser cables are an ideal solution for any PC builder aiming for a small case that can fit larger GPUs by placing them in a vertical position. In this case, the user specifically notes that the riser cable was stuck against the GPU's backplate during a routine PC cleanup, suggesting that the GPU's heat melted the riser cable's insulation.

It shouldn't come as a huge surprise that the RTX 5090 is involved in a case of components melting (even if it's very minimal). In case you've missed them, there have been several cases of GPU power cables melting with RTX 5090 GPUs, which stems from the high power draw (575 W).

It's important to note, though, that this can happen with other GPUs across AMD's Radeon and Nvidia's RTX cards, especially those that can get quite toasty under heavy load. However, Team Green's flagship is likely more prone to melting complications, made worse when using cheap riser cables or GPU power connectors.

Rtx 5090 melted riser cable from r/pcmasterrace

Fellow Redditors argue that this isn't a melting issue, as it appears the riser cable has been chipped away instead. Regardless of the exact cause, it's best to use this as an example to proceed with caution when mounting a new GPU.

If using a riser cable is required due to space limitations, users must provide enough clearance for both the GPU and the riser cable to avoid direct contact. It's a great thing that this user caught on to the matter before any real issue arose.

We've reached out to Nvidia to see if it has any comment on this particular case, but haven't received a response yet — but I'm sure the same warning of caution will be shared.

We've seen rare but far worse cases of GPUs melting, and given how expensive it would be to buy new PC hardware, I'd go so far as to suggest users be overly cautious.

• AMD is reportedly preparing a 10% price hike on graphics memory kits for Radeon GPUs
• This means retailers could increase prices of Radeon GPUs from the likes of Sapphire or Asus
• This case is yet another example of just how hard the RAM crisis is hitting the PC market

Gaming is becoming an expensive hobby for both console and PC gamers, and it's all because of the ongoing RAM crisis. Unfortunately, another manufacturer's GPU components may be the next victim of price hikes.

As reported by VideoCardz, AMD is planning a 10% price increase on graphics memory kits for its Radeon GPUs this July, according to a new post on a Board Channels forum. This means that AMD's AIB partners, such as Sapphire and Asus, will pay more for components, which might result in higher retail prices for Radeon GPUs.

The Board Channels post states that these price hikes are a result of 'tight global supply of graphics memory chips,' including the noticeable trend of 'continuously rising market prices'.

Of course, there's no confirmation from AMD on the matter just yet, but if true, it doesn't help AMD's position in the GPU market up against its fierce rival, Nvidia. Frankly, both are in a tough spot due to higher memory costs across the board, which is well established for effectively every PC manufacturer at this stage in 2026.

While most of Team Green's RTX GPUs are fairly expensive for consumers, the advantage of better upscaling technologies and raw performance when using ray tracing in games makes them more appealing, in comparison to newer Radeon GPUs.

While we await confirmation from AMD, consumers should start buying new hardware now. Both AMD and Nvidia GPUs are still expensive across several retailers, and it's a tough spot for any gamer to be in when searching for an upgrade.

However, if you don't own a gaming PC at all, it's worth keeping an eye out for several deals — and fortunately, Best Buy's 4th of July sale is already underway, and this iBuyPower Slate Intel Arc B570 gaming PC is only $899.99 on sale.

It also comes with 16GB of DDR5 RAM (which would be expensive to buy separately), and most importantly, it's using a GPU that's perfectly capable of great gaming performance at 1080p and 1440p resolutions.

When acknowledging the messy state of the PC hardware market and the prospect of more price hikes, it's hard to ignore a deal such as this, especially when Intel's XeSS upscaling has improved over the last few years — so if it were me, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase.

• Nvidia's RTX 3060 has returned to retailers, amid the ongoing RAM crisis
• MSI, Gigabyte, and Asus models reportedly started at $339.99, but have seemingly increased
• It's a sign that the current state of the PC hardware market is in complete disarray in terms of shortages and pricing

The PC and console hardware market is in the worst place its arguably ever been, with the RAM crisis leading to high prices on components utilizing memory. That's why the return of a popular GPU is one that doesn't come as a huge surprise.

As reported by Tom's Hardware, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card has returned to retailers, notably on Newegg, with numerous Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte models available.

While Tom's Hardware highlights that prices for these returning GPU models were seen at $339.99 (which is $10 above the MSRP when launched), listings range from at least $416. It's already a big ask at $339 for an old graphics card that doesn't have the same advantages of the current-gen RTX 5060, so the increase won't do it much favors.

It's worth noting that the RTX 3060 has been the most popular GPU on PC, according to Steam's Hardware & Software Survey results, consistently ranking at number one each month for several years. The same trend is evident in May's results, and likely the same for June.

The 12GB GPU is still very much capable of providing solid performance in games at 1080p or 1440p, especially when using DLSS upscaling, and that explains why it's still so popular among Steam users.

However, it's not exactly being received well among consumers. My colleague and PC enthusiast, Matthew Hanson, views the return of the RTX 3060 "like a s**t Frankenstein", and frankly, it's a reasonable observation and one that highlights just how messy the PC hardware market is.

Users on Reddit haven't been shy about highlighting why the GPU's return doesn't make much sense, with one stating: "Even Nvidia enthusiasts would be hard-pressed to get this for $339.99. At that point, just get an RTX 5060.

"The only real benefit to this card is the VRAM, so we all know who this is really for - The AI crowd."

It's not that the RTX 3060 is a bad graphics card, because that's far from the case. However, at the current price the models from MSI and others are available at, it makes little to no sense, since the RTX 5060 is within the same price region, and it has the advantage of Multi-Frame Generation over the RTX 3060.

Regardless, one more option on the market doesn't hurt, especially since it doesn't seem as though its unstable condition will change anytime soon.

• Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has added to the prevailing pessimism around the RAM crisis
• Of RAM destined for consumer electronics in 2026, an "estimated 15 – 20% is expected to shift to data centers in 2027, and that share could grow"
• Apple is trying to maneuver to use a big Chinese chip maker to shore up its RAM supply lines, we're told

Another negative sentiment has been aired about the RAM crisis, as a prominent leaker and analyst has underlined that data centers will consume even more consumer memory supply next year – and that Apple may look to China for help shoring up its RAM stocks.

Wccftech flagged that Ming-Chi Kuo posted on X, noting: "Of the memory capacity allocated to consumer electronics in 2026, an estimated 15 – 20% is expected to shift to data centers in 2027, and that share could grow."

This is part of a picture that Kuo paints, where Apple is not just worried about the cost of memory but, more specifically, the lack of memory supply, with LPDDR5 (low-power RAM for mobiles and laptops) dwindling substantially.

Kuo notes that this is the "real reason Apple is lobbying the White House to keep CXMT off the Entity List", meaning that in order to keep enough supply flowing, Tim Cook is trying to persuade the US government to allow Apple to use RAM made by the Chinese chip manufacturing giant CXMT.

In short, this isn't about pricing as such, but about "managing DRAM supply risk" in light of whatever future shipment targets Apple has for its products, whether Macs, iPhones, iPads, or anything else.

Analysis: calling the cavalry?

At the very start of the year, we were hearing about how much RAM supply data centers (and AI therein) are set to gobble up in 2026, and things aren't going to get any better for the consumer in 2027. Not if Kuo is right and something like 20% (or more) of the memory supply for consumer electronics is redirected to data centers next year. It's a worrying thought indeed, and represents an unwelcome notion of ever-increasing prices for anything that has memory inside it, from phones to PCs.

Apple is apparently trying to act to fend off the worst of the impact on its products, following its recent price hikes, and interestingly Kuo thinks that Tim Cook is very much the CEO for the job, and that this isn't a task that John Ternus, who will take the reins of Apple later this year, should be charged with.

Kuo observes: "Tim Cook is one of the few tech leaders who can still navigate both Washington and Beijing, so this is better handled before he steps down as CEO. Even if the effort goes nowhere, the media coverage can still leave the market with the impression that Apple tried but was constrained by U.S. policy. That may help ease frustration over price hikes and longer delivery times."

As for Apple's would-be Chinese chip-making savior, others have cautioned against relying on RAM from China to ease the current memory crisis. While Kuo points out that "CXMT states in its IPO prospectus that its capacity is far below domestic demand", meaning there's available supply to pipe through to the likes of Apple or other Western tech giants, that may not be the case in the future.

And as the VP of a firm that makes SSD controllers recently made clear, the Chinese government has a considerable amount of leverage over CXMT and other major memory chip makers in the country – and if the RAM crisis worsens, there may not be so much supply to be sold abroad (even if that'd be more profitable for the companies involved).

It's a complicated situation to navigate, of course, but as Kuo also touches on, this could be about Apple wanting to be seen to do something. Cook may fully realize that CXMT may not be the knight in shining armor coming to Apple's rescue, but even if it isn't, at least he's been seen making efforts to call for the cavalry.

Ultimately, with all the bleak predictions around of late – including Lenovo's assertion that RAM prices are 'never' coming back down and we're in a world of a 'new normal' for memory costs – it's difficult to believe that Apple has much room to maneuver in keeping a firm lid on the MSRPs of its Macs or other products going forward.

• A new type of pixel is capable of both controlling and analyzing light
• It's based on the Fourier mathematical tool
• We'll have to wait some time to get this in our gadget screens

Screens that double up as cameras could be packed into future gadgets, as researchers from ETH Zurich in Switzerland have developed a new type of pixel that can analyze and create images simultaneously.

These bidirectional pixels are able to both control and read the intensity, oscillation, phase, and polarization of light, and they're based on the fundamental physics of interfering light waves. The pixels are carefully sculpted at the nanometer level to direct light as it hits the surface and gets scattered.

At the same time as the light is traveling across the pixel and being scattered back out to the viewer, creating the required images and patterns, an analysis of the incoming light can be carried out as well — all on the same pixel.

The approach "establishes a scalable, universal architecture for vectorially programmable pixels with applications in adaptive optics, holographic displays, optical communication, and quantum information processing," write the researchers in their paper on the new pixel, which is published in Nature.

Scaling up

The pixel is termed a Fourier pixel after the mathematical tool that the component is based on. It's essentially a way of breaking down a complex output signal into a series of waves that can be controlled more easily — like the light fields here.

It's still early days for the research, and there will be challenges scaling this up. Right now the pixels need laser light as a source, and are fixed in what they can display — this isn't like a TV screen that can show anything, although there are several potential routes through which the tech could be developed in that direction.

The reactions on Reddit are perhaps a sign of our current technology times, as people have instantly latched on to the surveillance potential. "Screens that are also cameras, what could go wrong?" reads one poster, while another says that "I ain't ever buying a device with that technology". Fans of dystopian sci-fi have also been inspired to quote sections from 1984 about 'telescreens', which were two-way televisions and security cameras used to monitor citizens.

Interesting related piece of tech history of the day: the term 'pixel', originally 'picture element', was used in print for the first time in 1927, so next year marks a century since the words (now word) were originally introduced.

• Lenovo has said that RAM prices will likely "never" fall back to pre-crisis levels
• The company also predicted a "new normal" for memory pricing from 2030 onwards
• Microsoft expects the cost of memory to double in just over a year

If you were hoping we might get to the weekend without any more bad news on the RAM front, that hope is about to be crushed courtesy of Lenovo and Microsoft — and there's a side serving of blame for Apple, too.

First off, as German tech site ComputerBase reports (via Wccftech), over at ISC 2026 — the high-performance computing, AI, and quantum conference in Germany — Lenovo said that RAM prices will likely "never" fall back to the pre-crisis levels of a year ago, even after the bolstering of chip production output that's coming (from 2028 onwards).

Lenovo seemingly said "never," accompanied by some on-stage laughter, according to ComputerBase, and the tech site (bearing in mind translation nuances) clarifies that this is really referring to the next five years (or maybe a bit more) for the RAM industry, and not an 'absolute' future.

However, the report then goes on to mention that Lenovo sees a "new normal" from 2030 onwards with significantly higher prices than pre-crisis levels — even given increased production.

On top of that, Microsoft just announced hefty price increases for Xbox consoles driven by the RAM crisis. The firm stated, "Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x, and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027."

Ouch. Microsoft underlined that the memory price hikes are especially painful for console makers, as these devices are typically sold at a (slight) loss, as the revenue is made up in game sales (and subscriptions).

Lastly, Wccftech also spotted that Micron has fired some flak at Apple, although the memory chip maker didn't name Tim Cook's firm specifically, but it's clear enough where the shot was aimed. As Rolfe Winkler, who reports for the Wall Street Journal, explains in a post on X: "Tim Cook says the memory guys are at fault for Apple raising prices. A Micron executive I interviewed last night pointed the finger right back."

Sumit Sadana, who is Chief Business Officer at Micron, informed Winkler, "We told a couple of the customers who were being very aggressive with pricing at that time that this is not constructive." The argument here might be that partners (presumably Apple) pressing Micron on the price of their RAM hurt Micron's bottom line and ability to invest in more production capacity.

Analysis: double, double toil and trouble

Although it's difficult to weigh up the exact meaning of Lenovo's comments on the RAM crisis at ISC, it's clear enough that the PC giant believes the future looks very rocky. At best, pricing looks like it's in trouble until the early 2030s, and there's likely to be a 'new normal' coming into play here for that next decade.

While there appears to be some joking around prices "never" coming back down to the levels they were before the crisis, I think there's a fair chance that they actually won't. When the cost of a product goes up to such an extent as we've seen with RAM (and storage), it's feasible that it won't ever quite normalize. Okay, so maybe we'll see some curveballs that throw things out of whack — like the AI bubble bursting, or at least deflating a good deal — but I'm increasingly doubtful about the prospect of any relief.

Microsoft predicting a further doubling of memory pricing in not much more than a year is a painful prediction to hear, too.

I'm not going to dive full-tilt into the gloom here, though, because as I've said before, at least in the consumer space, RAM prices can only go so high before a ceiling is hit, which means most people will simply refuse to pay the asking prices. And thankfully, there have also been a couple of glimmers of hope this week: Asus predicted that its products won't be hiked by as much in the second half of 2026 (but they'll still go up), and there was a rumor aired that memory chip giant SK Hynix may switch production away from AI-targeted RAM (HBM) to conventional RAM sticks, at least to an extent.

I wouldn't get swept away with any optimism just yet, though, because for now, as these latest developments in the memory crisis underline, the pervading sentiment around the future remains largely negative.

• Price hikes on Asus products will be much reduced in the second half of 2026
• This is over in Taiwan, but should be reflected to an extent globally
• There's also a report that SK Hynix, a big memory chip maker, is set to slow AI memory production in favor of conventional RAM

There's been a pretty relentless string of bad news with the RAM crisis of late, but we're now hearing some more positive nuggets for a change (though temper your optimism, as this is all relative).

Firstly, VideoCardz spotted that the Economic Daily News in Taiwan published a report in which the general manager of Asus, Liao Yi-hsiang, noted that as of May 2026, the price hikes on some Asus products in that country amounted to nearly 30% (compared to Q4 of 2025).

The executive then confirmed that Asus would be raising prices further in the second half of 2026 due to the component crisis, but that the increase should only be a single-digit affair. Under 10% is quite a drop compared to knocking on the door of 30%, of course.

Liao said that price rises would be milder because the cost of memory and storage had recently decreased, and also that consumers are increasingly unlikely to buy if more large hikes are heaped onto Asus products. Especially given that there was quite a lot of buying activity early in 2026, as consumers in Taiwan acted earlier than they would have otherwise, with a view to securing purchases before heftier price increases made themselves felt.

The other nugget of positivity is that, as Trading View informs us, there have been some interesting rumblings about SK Hynix, one of the big three memory chip makers (alongside Micron and Samsung).

There are reports that "SK Hynix may slow the expansion of AI memory-chip production and increase its focus on conventional DRAM products."

This apparent shift away from making HBM (the mentioned AI memory) to conventional RAM modules (the ones in consumer electronics) unsettled investors, and led to shares in SK Hynix tumbling over 12%. (Samsung followed suit with a 12% drop, and a wider tech share slide was witnessed, particularly for companies linked to the world of AI.)

What's bad news for investors is good news for consumers though; if this report is on the money, SK Hynix reallocating assembly lines to produce more DDR5 RAM could be the beginning of the end of the memory crisis.

Analysis: is the AI bubble ready to pop? I doubt it…

You could leap to some big conclusions here, and the rumor around SK Hynix is a potential move that could have a significant impact for consumers. With some folks talking about the end of the 'AI bubble' in recent times — which feels like hopeful chatter indeed — it could be read as another indicator in that respect, too. However, it's way too early to make that kind of call (and I don't personally think we're seeing that by any means).

What we don't know is the extent of the apparent shift away from HBM, and anyway, the move could partly be about DRAM being so pricey now that it represents a tempting enough diversification in terms of SK Hynix's overall memory strategy (a theory raised in some quarters).

We should also remember that the chairman of SK Group (the parent company of SK Hynix), Chey Tae-won, has previously predicted that the RAM shortage may not be over until 2030 (a forecast more recently echoed by Nvidia's CEO). So, as noted, temper any optimism, but this is at least a positive sign from the big chip maker, as is the price prediction from Asus.

Regarding Asus, again there's a caveat — namely that it's an analysis for the Taiwanese market only. But if price rises in H2 2026 are only (roughly) a third of what they effectively were in the first half of the year, that'll surely be reflected to some extent globally. Also, it's very true that consumers everywhere will refuse to buy if pricing goes higher too quickly, which is something I've pointed out a few times before. This isn't something unique to Taiwan.

Finally, it's also worth noting that earlier this month, we heard some more positive news on the RAM crisis from David McAfee, AMD's VP and general manager of Ryzen CPU and Radeon GPUs.

As PC Gamer reported, McAfee said: "There is an enormous amount of capacity that is being built by the memory manufacturers to bring more production online, and that more production online is going to focus on DDR, LPDDR, HBM, like the newer memory technologies."

He added: "I don't expect a lot of DDR4 production to come back into the world, but those newer memory technologies, a significant amount of capacity is coming online. I think we'll start to see by the end of next year and into 2028 that that ramp really starts to take hold, and then it's just a factor of the forces of supply and demand, and how that affects memory prices."

OK, so this is really just a reminder of what we've already been told, but it's still worth bearing in mind that the expectation for some remains a considerable easing of the crisis by 2028.

• A memory expert has predicted big RAM price hikes this year
• They say we could see hikes of 40% to 50% in Q3, and further 30% to 40% rises in Q4
• They predict that 2027 is also going to be painful, with a 40% to 45% increase year-on-year

There's more fuel to the fire for the theory that the RAM crisis is going to get worse, and a lot worse going by this latest forecast — though I'd take it with some seasoning.

Wccftech spotted that Jukan on X highlighted a report from Jefferies, an investment banking firm that has been talking to an analyst in the world of memory who made these bleak predictions.

They include the expectation that memory pricing will increase in a big way as 2026 rolls onwards — we're talking a 40% to 50% hike in Q3 (compared to this quarter) and a further 30% to 40% rise in the last quarter of 2026.

Price hikes are "likely" to continue through 2027, the expert believes, with potentially a 40% to 45% increase year-on-year, which would leave RAM prices at a staggering level come the close of next year.

Only then will we get an easing of pricing in 2028, with memory prices potentially falling by up to 20% due to a combination of slowing demand and more production capacity coming online (with investment in the latter that's underway now finally coming to fruition).

Elsewhere on X, P Equity Research shares more of the Jefferies report, which underlines how cloud giants are apparently locking down 50% of total memory production (potentially rising to 70%), signing long-term contracts requiring massive (40%) prepayments. Due to this, consumer electronics makers are facing "severe pressure" and even leaner memory supply going into next year.

Analysis: running the doom gauntlet

This is the most doom-laden RAM industry prediction I've seen in some time, and there have been a few of those recently. In the order of 40% and then 30% price increases (at minimum) over the next two quarters would be a shocker — bordering on unthinkable.

Other forecasts are calling price rises, too, but not to this extent. As Wccftech points out, another investment research firm, Aletheia Capital, predicts rises of 30% and perhaps up to 15% in Q3 and Q4 respectively, and Jukan on X points to a current consensus of 20% then 30% hikes respectively.

Granted, that doesn't look good either, but the view of the expert that Jefferies spoke to feels rather alarmist in comparison. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: in the consumer world, there's only so much price hiking that people will stand for before they just close their wallets and buying activity starts drying up to a large extent (save for absolutely essential purchases). How much higher can RAM prices go, frankly, before we see those kinds of hardened consumer attitudes coming into play? Not a lot higher, I'd argue.

Although granted, it seems like the talk of price hikes easing off sooner rather than later is now being completely drowned out by the RAM pessimists. The expert who spoke to Jefferies also observes that Chinese memory chip makers won't come to the rescue to help correct RAM supply outside of Asia in the foreseeable future (meaning this year or next) either, a view we've heard echoed elsewhere, and one that (sadly) makes sense.

Meanwhile, following fallbacks to DDR3 memory in the past, we're also seeing that even ancient DDR2 RAM is having a resurgence in popularity in some scenarios, with prices for that memory shooting up as a result according to TrendForce.

As The Verge reports, Valve also just underlined how hard it is to buy RAM at anything approaching a reasonable price – with no room for negotiation whatsoever with memory suppliers, which impacted the cost of the Steam Machine (as predicted).

So yes, everything seems to be backing up the recent cloud of gloom cast on the PC industry by Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, who observed that the RAM crisis will be around for "quite a few years", hinting that it's a demon we'll have to live with for the rest of the decade, pretty much.

Yet I still think this latest report goes a step too far with the doom mongering, and that consumers will simply vote not to open their wallets at all (in the main) at some point in the not-so-far-off future. It is, however, clear enough that more misery is coming in some form as 2026 rolls on, so we'll have to batten down the hatches for now and see how bad the storm gets.

Meantime, if you are in the market for certain components — certainly a new laptop or MacBook — I'd suggest you make a move before too long, as I discussed at length last weekend.

• Nelson Duann is a VP at Silicon Motion, a maker of SSD controllers
• In an interview, Duann made it clear that the strategy of Chinese memory chip makers is different to foreign suppliers
• They are obliged by the government to support the local market, and that could be bad news for theories about these chip makers helping to ease the RAM crisis globally

Chinese memory chip makers have been theorized by some as riding to the rescue in the global battle against the RAM crisis, but a new report puts that idea in a more doubtful light.

Tom's Hardware interviewed a VP at Silicon Motion, a maker of SSD controllers, and Nelson Duann told them that: "China has domestic NAND and DRAM makers, and their strategy is not the same as that of foreign memory suppliers. Because they receive government support, they also have a responsibility to help maintain the health of the local market."

In other words, the major memory chip producers in China — the likes of CXMT (the one we hear about most often) and YMTC — can't just sell to the highest bidder, as the government (local or national) puts pressure on them to support domestic manufacturers of system RAM and SSDs, or indeed phones and PCs.

Meaning while they may want to sell to the likes of data centers and grab those fatter profits therein, they can't.

Duann notes: "Foreign suppliers generally follow the highest-return opportunities and can allocate most of their supply to data centers. Chinese suppliers cannot do that in the same way because the government can provide guidance and encourage them to support certain local industries."

Duann also recently shared a pessimistic line of thinking on SSDs, and how the consumer retail market for these products has almost disappeared entirely.

Analysis: domestic protection

The upshot is that Chinese consumers may not face the same RAM crisis-related pricing woes as the western world given this governmental stance. There's a level of domestic protection built into the system here, putting people above profits in basic terms. (And also protecting jobs in the manufacturing companies that make products which need those memory chips, from RAM sticks to laptops).

What's interesting to consider here is the theory, which has been raised for a while now, that memory chips made in China could be used to serve consumers across the globe, given that production is being seriously ramped up over in the country to cope with the memory shortage.

We have even seen some evidence of this happening. These are mere hints (in terms of Corsair possibly experimenting with using chips made by CXMT), but Duann's comments raise a potentially serious stumbling block.

If the RAM crisis continues to get worse (many predict it will, and that this misery might last through to the end of the decade, a view that Nvidia's CEO subscribes to) there's every chance that China is going to ensure that production is directed to solve the problems on its own doorstep. No matter what profitable temptations might be waved in the face of the big Chinese memory chip makers.

All this is just theorizing, but it makes this possible escape route to some relief from the RAM crisis for those outside of China seem a bit less likely to happen. And it's not like there wasn't already considerable skepticism along those lines already.

On the brighter side, we heard this week that we're going to see Apple wading in and emptying some of its vast coffers in an effort towards relieving the memory shortage in some way, although exactly how that might pan out isn't at all clear yet.

• Apple's CEO has warned that "price increases are unavoidable" for its products
• That means more expensive Macs, iPhones and iPads for starters
• Price hikes will likely be substantial, and there are concerns that product lines could be adjusted as seen recently with the Mac mini – is the entry-level MacBook Neo to suffer the same fate?

CEO Tim Cook has warned that Apple is going to substantially hike prices on its products due to the RAM crisis.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal (as spotted by Wccftech), Cook said: "Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable. We're doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we've been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable."

The spiralling costs of both memory and storage (SSDs) means that Apple needs to put up prices, and the hikes will be "substantial" the report suggests (as did Cook's previous comments whereby the CEO said that from June, Apple will be facing "significant" cost increases for memory and this will "drive an increasing impact" on Apple's products).

So, this wasn't unexpected, but now it's crystal clear that these price increases are coming due to the "unsustainable" situation around memory chip supply (which is being eaten by AI and data centers to the detriment of consumer products).

What we don't know is the magnitude of these price increases, or what products they might apply to, as Cook didn't furnish us with any specific info along those lines.

It's a safe enough bet that Apple's core products are going to get pricier, though, meaning the iPhone, iPad and Macs. The WSJ even theorizes that the iPhone Pro 18 might cost from $1,299 in the US based on some rough maths.

Analysis: time to buy a Mac?

How soon these price hikes might happen is another key question, of course, but given Cook's previous comments about June, Mac rises could be imminent, as the WSJ indicates – particularly given that we've already seen the Mac mini get pricier at its baseline level. If you recall, Apple discontinued the most affordable entry-level model with 256GB of storage, effectively making the cheapest Mac mini a third more expensive.

The upshot is that if you're thinking of buying a Mac, now seems to be the time to pull the trigger, before these devices get pricier. Any deals that pop up on MacBooks for Prime Day could well be worth pouncing on, and there's already been a discount applied to the MacBook Neo (in the UK).

Grabbing that deal might be a particularly smart move to make, actually, because if the Mac mini is anything to go by, the current base version of the MacBook Neo may not survive the coming quarter. As one of a few such comments on this Reddit thread puts it: "The $599 MacBook Neo was fun while it lasted."

As to what all this means more broadly for Apple pricing moving forward, another interesting point that Cook brings up in the interview with the WSJ is that he says Apple is willing to use its "balance sheet to help be a part of the solution."

By that, the CEO doesn't mean Apple is about to fund the building of its own chip production facilities, and Cook explicitly states that. What it indicates is that the company is going to invest in this side of the tech industry, but exactly how is up for debate.

Some (like Jukan on X) theorize that what Cook is referring to is Apple prepaying to secure more memory supply – and that'll require a serious amount of upfront cash to compete with the major AI players. Others believe this could mean that Apple might help fund expansion plans for memory chip makers as part of some kind of deal to lock in more favorable longer-term pricing for iPhone, iPad and Mac memory supply.

Meanwhile, Jukan also highlighted a message from President Trump on Truth Social which states that "Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and build its chips in America", as has been previously rumored as a way of diversifying away from Apple's reliance on TSMC.

Tim Cook said before that Apple is exploring a "range of options" in terms of dealing with the RAM crisis, and it seems there's a lot going on behind the scenes right now. Hopefully we'll learn more about the details soon enough, but for now, I'm nervously watching what happens with the MacBook Neo and other Apple laptops.

• The first HDMI 2.2 products are likely to arrive in 2027
• Massively increased bitrates with 4K 480Hz support, or 10K resolution
• Great for PC gaming, but won't make much difference to TV viewers

HDMI 2.2 is coming, and it could be a very big deal for gamers. That's because it delivers double the bandwidth of HDMI 2.1: up to 96Gbps.

That means HDMI 2.2 is capable of delivering uncompressed 4K at up to 240Hz (current HDMI can only do this using Display Stream Compression, aka DSC) or uncompressed 4K at 480Hz with 4:2:0 chroma subsampling, and it can also deliver uncompressed RGB 8K at 60Hz. And using DSC, it's capable of delivering 1440p at rates exceeding 1,000Hz.

There is an important qualifier, though: devices can be HDMI 2.2 certified without delivering the very fastest data speeds, so you'll need to study the spec sheets of any potential purchases.

As FlatpanelsHD reports, the HDMI organization expects the first HDMI 2.2 devices to go on sale in 2027; testing and certification are already taking place.

According to Rob Tobias, CEO and president of the HDMI Licensing Administrator, "We're hearing chip manufacturers will start to sample their FRL2 [Fixed Rate Link, the signalling technology used by HDMI] chips this year. And so we should start to see some 96 or up to 96 gigabit HDMI 2.2 products next year."

Will HDMI 2.2 be a big deal?

The specifications are impressive, though it'll be available in three flavors, all of which are faster than HDMI 2.1: 64Gbps, 80Gbps and 96Gbps.

The performance for gaming is particularly impressive, but we already have DisplayPort 2.1 at up to 80Gbps in many of the best gaming monitors so there isn't a hugely pressing need to upgrade. And HDMI requires licensing fees that are likely to be higher than for DisplayPort.

Chances are if you're into high-end gaming hardware you've already gone down the DisplayPort route, especially if you have a multi-monitor setup, but HDMI 2.2 should mean more choice among premium displays.

HDMI has more benefits in living rooms, thanks to features such as ARC (Audio Return Channel), CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) and ALLM (Auto Low-Latency Mode), so it's conceivable that the PlayStation 6 could embrace the higher bitrates of HDMI 2.2 — although games only rarely achieve the 4K 120Hz that's already achievable over HDMI 2.1, and we're not sure that's going to really change with the PS6.

But some 4K 240Hz games might be possible, and the best gaming TVs might offer the refresh rate to support it, so there may be some benefit for the most hardcore. For most living room uses, though, HDMI 2.1 is probably overkill — it's really best for PC connectivity when it comes to the pure data rate.

However, there's another benefit to HDMI 2.2: LIP, which stands for Latency Indication Protocol. LIP improves sound syncing on home theater setups, such as soundbars or AV receivers — this can be a pretty common problem with even the best soundbars, so we'll be keeping an eye on how well this works.

For most of us, I think HDMI 2.2 is generally something to keep an eye on rather than something to demand as soon as it debuts. HDMI 2.2 has been made with 10K resolution in mind, but the vast majority of commercial and streaming video tops out at 4K.

It's something to think about when buying new AV hardware in the future (there's good chance we'll need to wait for 2028's CES for widespread adoption in TVs), but initially at least, it'll be more about marketing than real-world benefits for most of us.

And bear in mind that HDMI adoption is really driven by the companies that provide the connection hardware.

Even today, not all high-end TVs have four HDMI 2.1 ports, because the most powerful processing chips used by many manufacturers don't support this. Some lower-tier TVs from the same makers do, because those chips have more up-to-date HDMI control elements — it's a bit of a mess. I suspect HDMI 2.2 will have the same kind of slightly chaotic support.

On PCs, we'll be relying on GPUs to support the tech, and new models aren't expected until late 2027 or after that — so there's a good chance of seeing HDMI 2.2 on them. But like HDMI 2.1, it'll probably launch on the highest-end models first.

Thinking of buying a new TV?

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• PUBG's Ally Duo mode is now in testing on Steam
• Nvidia's ACE tech is powering the AI teammates in this mode
• You can play with an AI teammate against other human + AI duos until the end of June

PUBG Battlegrounds now offers the option to play with an AI teammate — powered by Nvidia — in a new mode which is available to try in beta for the next two weeks.

As VideoCardz noticed, the Ally Duo Mode is now available through PUBG Arcade, and represents Krafton and Nvidia teaming up to use Team Green's ACE technology — as aired back at the start of the year — to create an AI teammate called Ella.

PUBG Ally was in testing early in 2026 and has now reached the point where it's ready for public consumption — at least as a beta, where the mode will be playable through to the end of June on Steam.

This is an opportunity to "collect invaluable real-world player feedback, to guide the future of AI agents in games," Nvidia tells us.

How does Ella work exactly? The best way to find out is to watch the demo in the YouTube video below.

As you can see, the idea is that you have an AI teammate you can talk to, and more to the point, give orders, or ask for help, using natural spoken language (or typed text if you prefer), with responses from the AI designed to be suitably 'human' in feeling and tone.

At least that's the idea here, but watching the brief demo leaves me with a lot of doubts about what "represents a new generation of AI game characters designed for deeper immersion" according to Nvidia.

Analysis: reaping what was sown a long time ago

It should be no surprise that Nvidia is dressing this up in a lot of fancy talk. Last year when it introduced the concept, Team Green talked about revolutionary Co-Playable Characters or CPCs, as opposed to boring old NPCs. Of course, as my colleague on TechRadar Christian Guyton noted at the time, these are just glorified bots – and we've had bots for ages (PUBG has, too).

In fact, I was deathmatching bots some 30 years ago in Quake, when the Reaper Bot mod arrived. (The Reaper was a horrifically accurate CPU-controlled creation — positively lethal if it got hold of the lightning gun – but overall it had the strategic skills and gaming savvy of a house brick, and was easily trounced by a reasonably good player, but hey, these were very early days here.)

So, this isn't a revolutionary idea, or the next step on from NPCs, or whatever accolades relating to gaming greatness that Nvidia might want to heap on PUBG Ally. However, there is more to Ella than this, in fairness to Team Green. One half of Ella is the bot intelligence to actually play the shooter well enough (hopefully), but the other side is the AI models — the Nvidia ACE trimmings.

These are small language models (SLMs requiring an Nvidia GPU with at least 8GB of video RAM) driving the AI companion's "realistic" decision-making processes, and facilitating communication via speech models. Ella is "equipped with the ability to understand and respond to game situations in a human-like manner" over and above your typical game bot, but I'm not convinced from the demo.

Ella feels painfully artificial — not human — and borderline sycophantic in the game footage shared by Nvidia. OK, so this is still early testing, but I'm not getting any real 'revolutionary' vibes about the gaming skills or chat on show here.

Maybe we'll get selectable personalities eventually — and even true-to-life gaming types. For realism there definitely needs to be an occasional AI teammate who throws a massive hissy fit about how rubbish you are before abruptly quitting, surely?

The general reaction to the emergence of PUBG Ally has been as you might expect: some gamers are curious, while others are mystified or even scathing, and there are more in the latter camp. Some are convinced this will be highly amusing: "I look forward to the comedy that this feature will produce." While others on the same Reddit thread are already trash-talking the AI's ability to play.

I'm not surprised at the feedback thus far given the way Ella has been realized by Nvidia, and the AI being overly chatty hasn't gone down well either. Players engaged in a competitive game don't want flowery chat putting them off their flow, and maybe obscuring important sound effects that are clues as to where the enemy might be and so forth.

The whole thing leaves me rather cold at this stage, frankly, but among more casual gamers — or those who don't have friends to play with at the time, and don't want to hang around in lobbies, or be exposed to toxicity in pick-ups — Nvidia's AI teammate may yet find a place.

As long as the gamer in question owns a decently beefy Nvidia graphics card, that is, and another concern of mine is how much of the GPU's resources are these AI models demanding? Presumably not a lot —they are 'small' by nature — but gamers are notoriously unhappy about anything running interference with their FPS, no matter how slight.

• Nelson Duann, an exec in the SSD supply chain, has said: "The retail SSD market has almost disappeared"
• DDR5 RAM prices refuse to drop, although older memory modules are easing in price, but only very slightly
• System memory remains massively overpriced, and the same is true with many SSDs – and even hard drives are becoming more costly now

There's more news about the PC component crisis, in terms of SSDs – and how the retail market for drives is seemingly disappearing – and RAM pricing too, which is showing signs of easing a little in some respects, the notable catch being that this isn't the case with DDR5.

Tom's Hardware interviewed Nelson Duann, who is a VP at Silicon Motion, one of the major forces in terms of SSD controller manufacturers, with the exec observing that: "The retail SSD market has almost disappeared."

Duann elaborated: "The controllers we sell to module makers are now largely ending up in SSDs that are shipped to PC OEMs. The reason is that OEMs cannot obtain enough NAND directly from memory manufacturers, so they are increasingly sourcing SSDs from module makers instead."

What Duann is saying is that with such a great demand from data centers these days, the retail market – meaning SSDs in boxes on shelves (virtual or physical) – is shrinking to the point of vanishing. Drives are going to data centers or PC makers, so the selection available to consumers is very much dwindling.

On the RAM front, Notebookcheck.net highlighted a report from 3D Center which examines component prices in the German retail market for June, including memory and SSDs.

The price of DDR5 RAM sticks remained essentially level compared to June (they were up 1%, so next to nothing). With DDR4 and DDR3, prices actually dropped a bit – to the tune of just under 7%. With SSDs, pricing pretty much stayed level, with a slight increase of just over 1%.

Analysis: harsh realities

In the German market, memory pricing does appear to have held pretty much stable over the last few months. Or, to look at it another way, system memory has stayed exorbitantly priced throughout this year, still sitting at a level which is 400% more expensive than before the RAM crisis kicked in.

SSD prices have been stable for the last few months too, the difference being they went up in the first quarter of 2026, whereas RAM pricing actually fell (from a peak of 440%, believe it or not).

As ever, bear in mind that this is the German market – and just one source of stats – but it's at least not terrible news in that some folks have been predicting RAM could actually get pricier again as this year progresses. That could still happen, of course, but it doesn't appear to be doing so yet.

Based on the comments from Duann at Silicon Motion, mind you, we might expect SSD prices to start edging upwards again. If a prominent executive within the supply chain is talking about the retail SSD market 'disappearing', that must be a concern. It's worth noting that hard drive prices are now creeping up, too, based on 3D Center's stats – they are 58% pricier than they were a year ago, compared to 34% last month (and just a 14% increase back at the start of 2026).

For now, we'll keep watching these price tags and accepting the reality that there isn't much we can do about the situation – except refusing to pay massively inflated mark-ups. There is, of course, a line where consumers will do exactly that (in the main) which should theoretically keep a hard ceiling on RAM and SSD price hikes.

Meanwhile, given all this, if you can find a good deal on storage in the Prime Day sales next week, it might well be worth jumping on (especially in the case of larger SSDs, or external hard drives).

• Rumor has it that Intel's CPU with integrated Nvidia RTX GPU is planned to debut early in 2028
• We could see an announcement at CES 2028
• This will be a powerful mobile chip that could be a huge step forward for gaming laptops and handheld devices

Intel processors with integrated Nvidia RTX graphics are coming, we know that, but we now have a rumor of a rough timeframe, namely early 2028.

VideoCardz reports that according to YouTube tech reporter Erdi Ozuag on X, Intel's silicon roadmap currently has its processors featuring built-in Nvidia GPUs as launching in the first quarter of 2028.

In theory, then – assuming this is true, and the planned timeline doesn't slip – we could be looking at a CES 2028 launch for these chips which are codenamed Serpent Lake.

Also regarding the timeline, it aligns with the expectations for the release of Nvidia's next-gen of GeForce RTX GPUs, which is currently forecast to debut in 2028.

Ozuag adds that the prospect of Intel producing Apple silicon continues to advance, and the final quarter of 2027 is apparently the target for Team Blue to be making chips for MacBooks or iPhones (probably lower-end models, the rumor mill has previously suggested). This (theoretically) represents Apple diversifying somewhat away from TSMC for chip production duties.

Analysis: a lot of potential – but some questions too

An Intel processor with Nvidia RTX chiplet on-board to provide graphics muscle should be a huge move for the PC world. Granted, we know very little about the chip as it stands, but packing next-gen RTX graphics is likely to mean this could usher in SoCs which are revolutionary for the performance of thin-and-light gaming laptops. Indeed, these Intel processors should prove excellent for elevating gaming handhelds too.

If this rumor is true, it means these Intel chips are potentially only a year and a half away. Or at least that's when we could first see the silicon announced, although the notebooks packing the chips themselves may take a fair bit longer to arrive on shelves.

Of course, a lot of how this timeline plays out may be heavily dependent on what happens with the current RAM and component crisis, and its impact on the world of laptops in general. (Which could get substantially nastier as time rolls on – as I've discussed elsewhere recently, I think now could be a smart time to buy a laptop based on the indicators we're hearing from various key players in the PC sphere – and indeed phones for that matter).

Other questions remain, such as: where does this leave Intel's own Arc graphics plans? And how will this partnership play out given that Nvidia is now spearheading a fresh thrust to make Arm devices more relevant in the realm of Windows 11 laptops with its RTX Spark chip – a prospect that'll surely worry Intel (despite the brave face in public)?

There are a few unknowns as to how all this will unfold, let's put it that way, but this Intel and Nvidia collaboration still remains an exciting prospect.

• AMD has a new marketing campaign criticizing the MacBook Neo
• The main thrust of the argument is that the Neo fails as a gaming laptop
• That's a highly confusing angle to take, seeing as this isn't what MacBooks are about – and especially not the budget-friendly Neo

AMD appears to be getting defensive about its Windows 11 laptops and the threat posed by Apple's MacBook Neo.

Tom's Hardware noticed that AMD has a new marketing campaign that intends to take the Neo down a notch or two, promoting the benefits of Ryzen AI CPUs instead.

AMD insists that: "The competition made compromises. You don't have to." It then adds that: "Everything MacBook Neo leaves out, built in with AMD Ryzen AI processors."

The main thrust of the compromise messaging is that the MacBook Neo isn't up to scratch for gaming. AMD notes that 15 of the top 20 PC games don't run natively on a MacBook Neo, and that you need 'workarounds' (emulation) to play them. The games are picked by Team Red itself, although it's a fair enough selection of esports classics and more modern efforts such as Cyberpunk 2077, Battlefield 6, and Black Ops 7.

It's not just about games, of course, but that's the lead item here. AMD also points out that Windows 11 laptops with its Ryzen AI CPUs can have touchscreens (which the MacBook Neo doesn't), and a better port selection than the MacBook Neo's two USB-C connectors.

AMD then highlights benchmarks of the Ryzen 5 220 against Apple's A18 processor as seen in the Neo, where both laptops have 8GB of RAM, but the Ryzen is up to 57% faster for multitasking, and 38% faster for content creation as measured in Blender and Cinebench, among others.

Analysis: confusion over compromises

This is an odd one, really, because what plenty of confused people on Reddit have been saying – echoing my own first thought – is: "I didn't buy a Mac to play games. That's not really what they're for."

Someone else on that thread agrees: "Ok, but no one is buying a MacBook for gaming, right?"

And a further Redditor observes: "Imagine if 'Macs don't game' is the best you've got, lol. I'd fire my marketing team."

These folks are, of course, quite right. You don't buy a MacBook for gaming, and moreover, you especially don't buy a MacBook Neo for PC games. This isn't just an Apple laptop, but a low-end one with a mobile chip designed entirely around being affordable (for students, mainly) and able to cope with daily computing workloads – and that's all.

Okay, so you might want to do a spot of casual gaming, but the MacBook Neo can cope with that just fine. What you aren't going to be looking to do on a Neo is play the top PC games, not unless you're very misguided, and okay, probably a few people out there do fall into this category.

So why AMD has led with this gaming angle in its Ryzen AI laptop marketing, versus MacBook Neo marketing, really is a head-scratcher. It isn't like the kind of Windows 11 laptops AMD is using as comparisons to the Neo, in a similar price bracket, can run those top PC games all that well, anyway.

Of course, AMD has chosen its 'top games' very carefully, which goes without saying. But still, the Radeon 760M integrated graphics (used in the comparative benchmarking) can't come close to running some of these games with any kind of fluidity, even with low details (at the Full HD resolution in which the testing was conducted).

The same cherry-picking applies to the productivity and creativity benchmarks, and the thing about the MacBook Neo is that, as we've seen at TechRadar, despite only having 8GB of RAM, it runs smoothly and responsively in everyday tasks. That's not something you can always say about a Windows 11 laptop with 8GB of RAM in the same price bracket.

Granted, Microsoft is busy working on making Windows 11 better with lower RAM loadouts, but Apple isn't standing still either, providing quite a performance boost with the recently launched beta of macOS 27.

AMD should've thought more about the positioning of this marketing piece, especially seeing as it's the Neo the company is going after. The truth is that, as far as gaming is concerned, you shouldn't expect much out of any budget-friendly laptop – even if what you get from a Windows 11 machine is obviously a better deal, thanks to the mentioned game compatibility with no need for emulation tricks.

• AMD's RX 9070 XT GPU is finally in the Steam hardware survey
• As of May 2026, it's suddenly the most popular AMD GPU
• It has a 1.33% market share, but Nvidia is still way ahead of AMD overall

While Nvidia's current focus certainly isn't on its gaming graphics cards, it still has the desktop GPU market firmly in its grasp — although things might be looking up for rival AMD.

As reported by TweakTown, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is suddenly the most popular AMD GPU, according to Valve's latest Steam Hardware Survey. As of May 2026, the 9070 XT has leapt to 1.33% of Steam's market share, placing it above the likes of Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (whereas previously the AMD card failed to register at all in the survey).

As always, it's worth noting that Valve's Steam surveys are only a limited perspective on the whole market. Not everyone runs Steam, of course, and the survey is limited to a relatively small slice of gamers on the platform. That said, Valve's survey results are an interesting glimpse into the state of hardware and software popularity.

The RX 9070 XT's popularity shouldn't come as a huge surprise, considering its raw performance capabilities, with the additional benefit of FSR 4 (FSR Redstone) providing solid image quality and performance when upscaling.

What's more surprising is why this GPU wasn't present in Steam's GPU rankings at all before now. TweakTown theorizes that the sudden appearance of the 9070 XT could be down to recent updates to the survey regarding how GPUs are classified, which is one possibility.

Still a one-sided battle

Since the GPU market is still in disarray due to the RAM crisis and its impact on video RAM, both the Radeon RX 9070 XT and 9060 XT (which is also now present among Valve's May survey results) are arguably the most value-packed GPUs available. They're not as cheap as Nvidia's low-end RTX 5000 series GPUs, but these Radeon graphics cards are still affordable and provide much better performance.

Still, it's hard to see Nvidia's GeForce GPUs falling out of favor anytime soon, and they remain clearly dominant in the desktop arena. Team Green's DLSS upscaling technology remains superior to AMD and Intel's equivalents, and it really impresses on the image quality and performance fronts.

Nvidia's RTX 3060 is still leading as the most popular GPU, as it has for years in the Steam survey results, but it's good to see Team Red's latest GPU line-up putting up a fight finally — even if the competition is still very one-sided.

• Google has cut the price of Gemini AI Plus from $7.99 to $4.99 per month
• Subscribers now get 400GB of Google storage instead of 200GB
• Here's how Gemini AI Plus compares with OpenAI's $8 ChatGPT Go plan

Google just slashed the price of its Google AI Plus plan to $4.99/month (£4.99 /AU$7.99), down from $7.99, and at the same time doubled the included cloud storage from 200GB to 400GB. This makes Google AI Plus significantly cheaper than its main rival, ChatGPT Go, which costs $8 a month. But which one offers the better value? Let's find out.

The first thing to note is that both of these offerings sit on the bottom rung of OpenAI's and Google's and paid subscription ladders. They're the first step toward the more fully featured ChatGPT Plus on one hand, and Google AI Pro subscription on the other, both of which cost around $20 a month (Google's is slightly cheaper at $18.99).

That said, both plans offer significant improvements over their free counterparts. The free versions are great for occasional use, but you'll soon start running into limits, particularly when it comes to image generation and other advanced features.

Usage improvements

Everything with AI models is measured in usage. Once you've used up your daily allocation, you start to lose access to the better parts of the models, meaning things can slow down considerably or, in the case of image generation, stop working altogether.

To make matters more confusing, neither company is particularly transparent about exactly how much usage you get each day. That's because limits are often dynamic, and can vary depending on demand.

Google AI Plus comes with usage limits that are up to “twice as high” as those on the free version of Gemini. You also get access to additional features, including video generation.

ChatGPT Go, on the other hand, simply promises "more" access than the free version of ChatGPT without specifying exactly how much more. OpenAI says subscribers get more access to GPT-5.5 Instant, along with higher limits for messaging, uploads, image creation, and memory.

If you look at the small print of OpenAI's offer, you'll also notice it states that "this plan may include ads", which is an immediate red flag for me.

What else do you get with Gemini?

Gemini does seem to offer more than ChatGPT. As well as the increased usage limits, you also get a few extras, including access to Nano Banana, Gemini's image generator in Google Search, and 200 Google Flow credits for creating cinematic video scenes.

But the really interesting addition is NotebookLM, Google's AI-powered research and writing assistant. Subscribers get higher limits for Audio Overviews, the feature that automatically generates podcast-style summaries, along with more notebooks for organizing projects and research.

And let's not forget the 400GB of cloud storage, which can be shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos. That’s almost worth the price alone, and you’re getting more Gemini access thrown in.

The story Google AI Plus starts to tell is one of integration. If you already rely on Gmail, Google Drive, Google Photos, and other Google services, the subscription feels less like a standalone AI chatbot and more like an upgrade for your entire Google account.

That's where ChatGPT Go starts to look a little less compelling. ChatGPT remains one of the best AI assistants available, but at this price point, Google is offering a broader package that combines AI tools, research features, video generation, and a substantial amount of cloud storage.

Whether that's enough to tempt existing ChatGPT users away from OpenAI is another question. But if you've been curious about paying for AI and didn't want to spend $20 a month, Google's new $4.99 price point makes Gemini AI Plus one of the most affordable ways to get access to a premium AI experience.

• The Nvidia RTX 3060 and 3050 are apparently making a comeback
• A graphics card maker in Asia has new models planned as budget alternatives, and this practice could spread to other regions
• Meanwhile, we're hearing that SK Hynix plans to accelerate development of its memory chip production capacity and triple it by 2034

The RAM crisis appears to have another side-effect, namely bringing back old GPUs, but there's some more positive news for the future from one of the big memory chip makers.

VideoCardz noticed the resurrection of a couple of Nvidia graphics cards that aren't even from the past generation, but the one before that: the RTX 3050 and 3060, which are GPUs from 2020 that have been brought back by Manli, a graphics card maker that mainly supplies Asia.

The Manli RTX 3060 which has returned from the dead is a 12GB model, whereas the RTX 3050 has 6GB of VRAM and a 70W power envelope, meaning that it can run off the PCIe slot (with no need to be connected to the PSU).

Elsewhere, the future of RAM is looking rosier, with news from SK Hynix, one of the major three players in making memory chips, that it's ensuring that manufacturing capacity is being ramped up in a big way going into the next decade.

Chey Tae-won, the chairman of SK Group, said in an interview with Nikkei Asia (via ComputerBase, as spotted by TweakTown): "Since we're proceeding with the plan to expand as much as possible, our calculations show that our wafer capacity will double within five years. But honestly, once all these facilities are built, it won't just double, it will triple by around 2034."

So that means by 2031, SK Hynix will have doubled its manufacturing capacity, and it'll only be a few years more until that's trebled, moving notably faster down the line. That said, this is a best-case scenario we're told, and those expectations could always slide.

Analysis: a notable acceleration

This represents SK Hynix putting its foot down on the RAM production pedal in a big way. We're now looking at eight years for a trebling of manufacturing capacity for DRAM and NAND flash memory chips, whereas previously the timeline for this was 20 years. Yes – two whole decades.

This is a measure of how much RAM demand SK Hynix is expecting going forward – and that the current memory-hungry environment isn't going away. As we've been hearing recently, if anything, the AI boom is set to continue and gobble up even more RAM in the foreseeable future.

As for the Nvidia GPUs which are being brought back to life, this may be just in Asia for now, but it indicates that this could happen elsewhere, too. There have been previous rumors about the RTX 3060 12GB making a comeback, so here we're seeing some hard evidence that this is actually happening.

Are you wondering why it's happening? Well, both of these GPUs are back to serve as budget-friendly options in a time where current-gen GPU availability is becoming more problematic, and prices are rising. (Indeed, at the higher-end for Nvidia GPUs, price inflation has been getting quite nasty this year, and the fear is that it'll only worsen).

The RTX 3060 was a popular offering for a long time, and the 12GB variant proved tempting for gamers who didn't want to be shortchanged by newer Nvidia budget graphics cards that only served up 8GB of VRAM. While you may question the wisdom of an affordable GPU that packs on the video RAM in this memory-starved climate, remember that this Nvidia card uses GDDR6 VRAM, not GDDR7 as seen in current-gen Blackwell GPUs, so it's a different kettle of fish in that respect. It theoretically allows for some extra breathing room to produce some more wallet-friendly graphics cards without tapping into precious GDDR7 resources.

Of course, we don't know how wide a scope this apparent revitalization of old Ampere GPUs might have, and it could be quite a limited affair. Time will tell.

• Intel has detailed how it's designed Wildcat Lake laptops to be affordable
• This isn't only about the Wildcat Lake processor itself, but the supporting components
• These have been implemented in a cost-friendly way, leveraging phone chips and design elements, helping to further reduce the cost of production

Intel is talking up how laptops based on its new Wildcat Lake mobile chips will be a major step forward in terms of affordable notebooks, underlining the lengths it's gone to in order to keep costs down.

VideoCardz noticed a new video from Intel on YouTube (see below) in which the company claims it "reimagines mainstream laptops with Core Series 3" processors (Wildcat Lake — not to be confused with Core Ultra Series 3, which is Panther Lake).

Wildcat Lake is mobile silicon for more budget-oriented laptops, and the chip itself is built with that affordability, and power-efficiency, firmly in mind. But what Intel details here is the way it has implemented the rest of its reference platform – that laptop makers can pick up and run with to produce their own models — in order to reinforce those cost savings.

It's called the 'Firefly program' and to cut a long story short, Intel has brought in supporting elements from the world of phones as an alternative to what would typically be used in PCs.

That means using phone-class system memory (LPDDR5X), along with the likes of audio chips from the phone world, and much more besides.

Intel explains: "We see two Firefly prototypes, including a 12.9mm metal chassis with redesigned thermals, standardized internal cabling for a separate I/O board, and a new core logic module that combine Intel SoCs with phone-class memory to lower costs and accelerate time-to-market."

With cost reductions in all the supporting chips and hardware, and the likes of internal cabling, and indeed the motherboard itself, being brought in on top of the cheaper CPU, Intel is further reducing the bill of materials (overall cost) for laptop makers.

Analysis: Intel definitely isn't phoning it in…

The core idea is to leverage the smartphone component supply chain to use in laptops, and the design work therein demanded quite some effort from Intel engineers. The end result is a more affordable laptop, a key consideration for Windows 11 notebooks when you consider just how well Apple is now doing in this budget space with the MacBook Neo.

There's another important boast from Intel here, too, and that's the speed with which Firefly laptops can be brought to market. Apparently, this can be done in just a few months using Intel's reference platform, and so the suggestion is that Wildcat Lake laptops won't take long to arrive in force to combat the MacBook Neo – which is already a very popular device.

There's a reason for that popularity, of course, because laptop price hikes have now set in, so an attractively priced MacBook looks doubly tempting. We need more Windows 11 notebook rivals to offer a wider choice in that respect, and from what I've seen of Wildcat Lake thus far, I think it's a great move from Intel — and it'll be interesting to see exactly what kind of price tags are attached to these portables.

The likes of the new Dell XPS 13, which uses Wildcat Lake for the entry-level model, look set to offer a premium-like laptop experience for a palatable outlay ($699 in the US, or $599 for students) in a Neo style. However, I'm hoping there will be a good number of notebooks sat below this kind of pricing.

This would be all good news given the RAM crisis, of course, and could provide some great opportunities to get an affordable new laptop later this year (and I believe buying in 2026 could be a smart move, if you need a new portable).

There is, of course, another competitor that Intel will need to carefully consider – namely Nvidia with its new RTX Spark chip. Now, while that silicon is about as far from a budget effort as you can get, and not a direct rival, it's having a knock-on effect to advance all Arm-based Windows 11 laptops, as I recently discussed. Interesting times indeed, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon C chips are also incoming as a tempting budget option for this year.

• Intel has detailed how it's designed Wildcat Lake laptops to be affordable
• This isn't only about the Wildcat Lake processor itself, but the supporting components
• These have been implemented in a cost-friendly way, leveraging phone chips and design elements, helping to further reduce the cost of production

Intel is talking up how laptops based on its new Wildcat Lake mobile chips will be a major step forward in terms of affordable notebooks, underlining the lengths it's gone to in order to keep costs down.

VideoCardz noticed a new video from Intel on YouTube (see below) in which the company claims it "reimagines mainstream laptops with Core Series 3" processors (Wildcat Lake — not to be confused with Core Ultra Series 3, which is Panther Lake).

Wildcat Lake is mobile silicon for more budget-oriented laptops, and the chip itself is built with that affordability, and power-efficiency, firmly in mind. But what Intel details here is the way it has implemented the rest of its reference platform – that laptop makers can pick up and run with to produce their own models — in order to reinforce those cost savings.

It's called the 'Firefly program' and to cut a long story short, Intel has brought in supporting elements from the world of phones as an alternative to what would typically be used in PCs.

That means using phone-class system memory (LPDDR5X), along with the likes of audio chips from the phone world, and much more besides.

Intel explains: "We see two Firefly prototypes, including a 12.9mm metal chassis with redesigned thermals, standardized internal cabling for a separate I/O board, and a new core logic module that combine Intel SoCs with phone-class memory to lower costs and accelerate time-to-market."

With cost reductions in all the supporting chips and hardware, and the likes of internal cabling, and indeed the motherboard itself, being brought in on top of the cheaper CPU, Intel is further reducing the bill of materials (overall cost) for laptop makers.

Analysis: Intel definitely isn't phoning it in…

The core idea is to leverage the smartphone component supply chain to use in laptops, and the design work therein demanded quite some effort from Intel engineers. The end result is a more affordable laptop, a key consideration for Windows 11 notebooks when you consider just how well Apple is now doing in this budget space with the MacBook Neo.

There's another important boast from Intel here, too, and that's the speed with which Firefly laptops can be brought to market. Apparently, this can be done in just a few months using Intel's reference platform, and so the suggestion is that Wildcat Lake laptops won't take long to arrive in force to combat the MacBook Neo – which is already a very popular device.

There's a reason for that popularity, of course, because laptop price hikes have now set in, so an attractively priced MacBook looks doubly tempting. We need more Windows 11 notebook rivals to offer a wider choice in that respect, and from what I've seen of Wildcat Lake thus far, I think it's a great move from Intel — and it'll be interesting to see exactly what kind of price tags are attached to these portables.

The likes of the new Dell XPS 13, which uses Wildcat Lake for the entry-level model, look set to offer a premium-like laptop experience for a palatable outlay ($699 in the US, or $599 for students) in a Neo style. However, I'm hoping there will be a good number of notebooks sat below this kind of pricing.

This would be all good news given the RAM crisis, of course, and could provide some great opportunities to get an affordable new laptop later this year (and I believe buying in 2026 could be a smart move, if you need a new portable).

There is, of course, another competitor that Intel will need to carefully consider – namely Nvidia with its new RTX Spark chip. Now, while that silicon is about as far from a budget effort as you can get, and not a direct rival, it's having a knock-on effect to advance all Arm-based Windows 11 laptops, as I recently discussed. Interesting times indeed, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon C chips are also incoming as a tempting budget option for this year.

• AMD's David McAfee expects DDR5 RAM prices to 'recover slowly in the future'
• However, the exec added that DDR5 won't return to 'normal' pricing levels for some two years
• Meanwhile chatter from the rumor mill claims Lenovo is going to implement another sizeable round of price hikes with its PCs

An AMD exec has told us that DDR5 RAM pricing isn't likely to normalize until 2028, and in other news, fresh from the memory and wider component crisis, Lenovo seemingly has more price hikes in the works for its PCs.

Let's start with the AMD story. VideoCardz flagged up the interview that 4Gamers conducted at Computex 2026, in which the Taiwanese site spoke with David McAfee, who is VP and general manager of Ryzen CPU and Radeon Graphics.

When questioned on the memory shortage (bearing in mind translation issues with the article), McAfee said he expects prices to 'recover slowly in the future' but that DDR5 RAM won't return to normal pricing levels for about another two years.

VideoCardz also highlighted a post on X from leaker Harukaze5719, which in turn points to a report from Sina Finance in China that tells a separate tale of the Lenovo price hikes.

Obviously, this is just whispers from the rumor mill, but the theory is that Lenovo plans to jack up prices in China by the equivalent of $150 in July. This applies to its PCs and laptops, and, in fact, to every product line Lenovo sells, we're told (though common sense would indicate that cheap peripherals, like a basic Lenovo mouse, won't get a $150 price hike).

While this is a (rumored) move over in Asia, it would clearly make sense that mirroring cost increases in the same order (perhaps even a bit more) would be implemented in other regions.

Analysis: more urgency for laptop buyers?

The AMD exec has essentially thrown his lot in with the forecasters who see the RAM crisis ebbing away during 2028. While that still means it has a fair way to go, this is actually a relatively optimistic prediction compared to some more recent thoughts – notably from Nvidia's CEO. Jensen Huang said the memory crisis will last "quite a few years", suggesting that we may have to be patient until 2029 or 2030 to see the worst of this over. Others have guessed that we'll be sailing rough waters with RAM pricing until 2030, too.

The sad truth is that at this point, if I could have a guaranteed end-in-2028 outcome for these RAM woes (somehow), I'd take that prospect – and run. Of course, there's the question of what McAfee means exactly by returning to 'normal levels', complicated by the fact that this is a translated interview. Broadly speaking, I assume this means that prices will drop back down to more palatable levels relative to now – though I don't see them ever returning to pre-crisis levels, frankly.

It's a bleak old outlook, for sure, although there is some hope in Chinese memory chip makers tackling the RAM shortfall to some extent with increased production from these Asian giants. McAfee alludes to this when mentioning Changxin Memory in China increasing its DDR5 production capacity, but others – notably Huang – seem distinctly unswayed by such arguments.

A lot, of course, could rest on what happens with AI going forward. However, with predictions of increased memory demands one way or another in that sphere – and no remote indication of the AI 'bubble' bursting, or clever tech innovations helping out as much as some folks think they might – I'm not optimistic on the whole.

On top of this, the news from Lenovo is a further blow. If you recall, the computer giant already hiked PC prices earlier this year, and so this is another helping of RAM crisis-related cost rises for laptops and desktops (and other hardware besides, apparently).

As I've been discussing recently, after the Nvidia CEO's recent end-of-decade prediction for the extent of the memory crisis, now really does seem to be the right time to buy a laptop. The news that Lenovo may be about to pull the trigger on yet more substantial PC price rises only puts more urgency into that theory, because this surely won't happen in isolation among PC vendors.