Memory wars: Microsoft announces big price increases for Surface laptops
We have bad news for Windows laptop shoppers.
Microsoft has become the latest company to raise prices because of the global memory shortage, announcing wide-ranging price increases for Microsoft Surface laptops.
As reported by Windows Central, Microsoft has increased prices up to $500, specifically citing "recent increases in memory and component costs" in a statement to the site. The new prices are live now at the online Microsoft Store, and retailers will likely update prices soon, too. Every laptop in the Surface lineup has increased in price by at least $100 compared to its 2025 pricetag, and some of these laptops have gone up by as much as $500 since 2024.
For example, the 13-inch Surface Pro was $999 in 2024. A year later, it started at $1,199, with some better specs. Now, in 2026, the same device is $1,499. In just two years, that one laptop has seen a $500 price hike, and it's not alone. Every laptop in the Surface lineup now starts for over $1,000, which wasn't true two years ago. As Windows Central pointed out, it only gets worse the more bells and whistles you attach to each laptop, as the highest-end Surface Laptop 15 is now $3,649.
These Surface laptops are the latest in a long and growing list of tech products experiencing price increases due to the global memory shortage. The hardware demands of AI data centers have led to shortages and higher prices for RAM memory components. Combined with the tariff-related price increases seen in 2025, the end result is another year of higher prices for shoppers.
In just the last couple of months, we've seen Sony suspend SD card sales and raise the price of the PS5 game console, and it's become increasingly difficult to buy a Steam Deck at any price due to stock shortages. One has to wonder how much longer the Nintendo Switch 2 will be available for $450.
In the laptop market specifically, Apple recently raised prices on its MacBook devices as well; however, the company also introduced a new budget laptop, the MacBook Neo, which has put even more pressure on the Windows laptop market.