Recently, I chatted with friends about the devices we each want to buy, and we all shared the same feeling — everything is getting more expensive. Game consoles, graphics cards, RAM, SSDs, even laptops that used to be relatively affordable — the prices now are enough to make anyone hesitate.
Prices so high they numb you
Let’s start with game consoles. I was thinking about getting a PS5 Pro this year to play Phantom Blade. But then, PS prices went up across the board…
After PS raised prices, the Switch 2 followed, then Apple, not to mention the gradual price hikes on PCs and phones that started back in March and April…
Another perspective
Complaints aside, when you think about it, this trend might not be entirely bad.
The steady rise in hardware prices and slowing performance gains are actually pushing the industry to think in a different direction — since hardware specs won’t keep soaring, improvements in software experience have to come from better resource utilization. The old mindset was “not enough hardware? Just get better hardware.” Now it’s becoming “this is the hardware we have, we need to squeeze every bit of performance out of it.”
It reminds me of the GBA era. Back then, the performance of a handheld console could easily be emulated by any ordinary PC, yet developers still managed to create games under extremely limited hardware conditions that remain enjoyable to this day.
From brute-force computing to elegant algorithms
There’s a similar trend in the AI field. A few years ago, everyone was blindly piling on compute power — bigger models, more massive training clusters. But now, as constraints grow, we’re starting to focus on squeezing every ounce of performance from hardware. Only when resources are no longer limitless do people truly think about using them efficiently. Programmers need to write more efficient code, algorithm engineers need to design more refined models, game developers need to come up with smarter rendering strategies. All these efforts ultimately accumulate as technical know-how, and in the long run, they push the entire industry forward.
Back to reality
Of course, I’m not saying price hikes are entirely justified. Price increases are fine, but at least consumers should see corresponding value improvements. A big part of the current price surge is the inflated AI bubble, with users in other areas footing the bill… I hope this situation ends soon.
Update: Microsoft is optimizing Windows 11 for 8GB devices
About a month after this post went out, I came across a piece of news that fits the theme perfectly. At the end of July, in an update on its Windows quality commitments, Microsoft announced it would make optimization for devices with 8GB of RAM and above one of the top engineering priorities of its Windows K2 initiative. Pavan Davuluri, President of Windows + Devices, said future work would focus on reducing Windows 11’s memory footprint — through a more efficient memory allocator, WinUI 3 optimizations, and lower memory usage in the Chromium components and WebView2 built into the OS — so everyday tasks like launching apps, opening Start, using File Explorer, and searching feel faster and more responsive.
This is exactly the kind of thinking I described above: when hardware specs stop soaring, software has to find room in resource efficiency. On top of that, memory prices have been climbing over the past year, making 16GB configurations costlier, while a huge number of entry-level laptops still ship with 8GB. Rather than forcing users to upgrade their hardware, it makes sense to first lower the OS’s own “memory tax” and extend the life of existing devices. Microsoft hasn’t shared specific performance targets or a release date, only saying these optimizations will roll out gradually through 2026 — so the real-world impact remains to be measured once they land.
