What the memory crunch changed
Demand from AI data centers has squeezed supply in the consumer memory market. That pressure is lifting prices and pushing vendors and platform owners toward an older but more available option: DDR4.
According to The Verge, the RAM shortage is bringing DDR4 back. Intel and AMD are taking steps in that direction, meaning new systems may lean on DDR4 instead of the newer DDR5.
Why it matters
DDR4 offers lower bandwidth and higher power draw than DDR5. But its cost and availability become decisive during shortages. A return to the older standard could help keep system prices in check in the near term.
This comes as PC shipments have fallen sharply in the same period. The memory bottleneck is shaping not just prices but which hardware actually gets built.
