TechA RAMageddon guide to back-to-school laptop shopping

A continuing RAM and storage crunch is pushing some laptop prices higher and making others much more expensive. The guide says students can find tolerable options below $500 and good ones around $700, but should prioritize enough performance for several years, ideally 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage. It recommends the MacBook Neo for middle and high school students, while the MacBook Air is better suited to college students.

laptopsback-to-school shoppingRAM shortageMacBook

TThe Verge★★☆☆☆2026-08-14 18:32Original