How can Apple deal with the memory shortage?

Post by thisislife2 » Mon, May 18, 2026, 7:32 AM UTC

kube-system wrote: post #200

thisislife2 wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are concerned about 2 sticks of RAM as "e-waste" (even though it can be reused), but not about a whole Mac ending up as an e-waste because it can't be repaired or run other system softwares?

I think if you’re concerned about ewaste at the end of a product’s life you should be equally concerned about products that are ewaste at the beginning of their life. Most PCs are never upgraded, and their socketed components end up in the landfill in vein and at a higher rate.

PC's that can be upgraded form the bulk of the second-sales industry and don't end up in the landfill for a few more years because they can be upgraded / repaired and used for a few more years.

Post by xenadu02 » Wed, May 20, 2026, 2:12 AM UTC

cogman10 wrote: post #34

xenadu02 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've made this same argument so let me make a counter-argument: There are some ways to get this off the ground much quicker. One or more companies could buy an existing non-leading-edge fab like GlobalFoundaries. That buys a lot of expertise so you're not starting from zero. DRAM also benefits from being very regular and relatively simple. It used to be what you bring up on a new process node to help prove things out…

It does help, but I have to wonder how many people are still working at glofo currently who are researching node shrinks. They stopped their research into the 7nm process in 2018 and all the indications are that they aren't really continuing it. Meanwhile, I believe SOTA is at least 3 or 4 node shrinks beyond that 7nm process. It'll take years for them to catch up to where micron is currently.

That's fair. I had hoped GF was not entirely giving up but was going to wait until the tech for new nodes was proven and cheaper to obtain. It seems that is not really possible at the moment because anyone who is involved in that supply chain doesn't maintain the ability to stand up new processes on older nodes. Way too busy standing up new nodes.

So much for efficient free markets.

Re: How can Apple deal with the memory shortage?

Re: How can Apple deal with the memory shortage?