The Mac Book Neo kickstarted an 8GB RAM trend — and seeing new Windows 11 laptops from Dell, Acer, and Microsoft following its lead has me worried | Tech Radar

Overview

News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets

Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more

Details

Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards.

Unlock instant access to exclusive member features.

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.

The Mac Book Neo kickstarted an 8GB RAM trend — and seeing new Windows 11 laptops from Dell, Acer, and Microsoft following its lead has me worried

Bringing that question back under the spotlight: is 8GB still enough?

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

There's been a resurgence of 8GB laptops around Computex

This is due to pricing pressures exerted by the component crisis

Windows 11 laptop makers are following in the Mac Book Neo's footsteps – but is that wise?

If you thought 8GB laptops were becoming a thing of the past, think again, because there's now something of a resurgence in notebooks with this RAM loadout — and you can probably guess why.

Yes, this is down to the RAM crisis, with system memory now a lot more costly, meaning that notebook manufacturers looking to keep pricing more affordable are bringing back more 8GB devices at the mid-range level. (Whereas previously in this space, we were effectively seeing 16GB as the bare minimum.)

Tom's Hardware noticed the trend at Computex (with this practice creeping in before the show), pointing out that the new Dell XPS 13 — an impressively specced, affordable notebook — starts at 8GB for the entry-level model (though you can buy it with 16GB, of course).

Other recently revealed notebooks with 8GB of RAM include the Acer Swift Air 14 — which, like the baseline Dell XPS 13, is built around Intel's new Wildcat Lake silicon — and the Chuwi Uni Book (notably with a sub-$500 price tag).

Microsoft's Surface Laptop for Business 13-inch, revealed last month, also starts at 8GB, which was a bit of a shock — mainly because it means this entry-level device doesn't qualify as a Copilot+ PC (they need 16GB).

Apple's Mac Book Neo triumph could also be great news for Windows 11 laptops

Apple's going all-in with the Mac Book Neo — but Microsoft is fighting back

Of course, what set the stage for all this was the Mac Book Neo emerging with 8GB of memory at a temptingly affordable price. The Neo has been highly successful, so much so that the rumor mill believes Apple has doubled the production run of its new Mac Book for this year (from 5 million to 10 million units — previous speculation that was backed up this week).

Now we're seeing Intel Wildcat Lake chips and 8GB configurations being used to produce more enticingly priced Windows 11 laptops, and this isn't limited to Intel's silicon either. Qualcomm's new Snapdragon C (Arm-based) CPU is going to power affordable Windows 11 notebooks which are likely to run with 8GB of RAM, the Acer Aspire Go 15 being one of those.

The return of more 8GB laptops is not a surprise. Indeed, this is exactly what was predicted to happen in 2026. It's getting a lot trickier for laptop makers to keep prices down, what with the cost of a bunch of components rising — most notably storage and RAM — so the easiest way to keep price tags more affordable is to cut back on the latter.

And yes, there is room to cut down to 8GB of system memory. A laptop with this loadout can still work fine, providing you're only doing basic daily tasks (emails, web browsing, watching videos, and light document work).

The Mac Book Neo proved it can handle all this with aplomb, while being a surprisingly premium-like device to boot. Windows 11 laptops can do the same — albeit with some more difficult headroom issues caused by the OS, although Microsoft is actively trying to reduce those performance issues with its fix Windows 11 campaign this year.

Microsoft says 32GB of RAM is the 'no worries' level for Windows 11 gaming

These three Windows laptops are better alternatives to the Apple Mac Book Neo

Dell XPS 14 (2026) review: one of the best Windows 11 laptops you can buy right now

All in all, I'd say that it is okay to buy a Windows 11 laptop with 8GB of RAM if you're just performing basic computing tasks — for now. And there's the rub for me: worries around future-proofing, as discussed in my piece at the start of the year about whether 8GB is enough for a laptop in 2026.

How long do you want your laptop to last you? I'm betting you'd like to get five years out of the device, or you may hope for even longer. So, while 8GB is enough for basic duties right now — just about — the likelihood is it'll start to feel increasingly ill-suited before too long, especially if AI starts to figure more prominently in the everyday operation of an OS (and all bets indicate it will). And with laptop RAM being soldered to the motherboard (in the vast majority of cases), it's not like you can upgrade the memory.

The other argument is that you don't have to buy an 8GB laptop; you can go for 16GB — but some people want the option of going cheaper, as their notebook budget may require this. And that's fair enough — I'd agree that more choice is good. All I'll say is just bear in mind the future-proofing aspect, and push for a bit more memory with a Windows 11 device if you can.

What'll also be interesting to see is if more 12GB loadouts appear as a middle-ground option, giving more breathing room above an 8GB machine.

Follow Tech Radar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.

➡️ Read our full guide to the best laptops

Best overall: Apple Mac Book Air 13-inch M5
Best budget: Apple Mac Book Neo
Best Windows 11 laptop Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch
Best thin and light: Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i
Best Ultrabook Asus Zenbook S 16

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for Tech Radar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

1 Masters of the Universe director on the new sci-fi fantasy movie's historic mid-credits scene

2 Dutton Ranch episode 5 recap: a death and a deal with the Devil on Paramount+

3 New 8GB Windows 11 laptops from Dell, Acer and Microsoft have me worried

4IPVanish servers – all you need to know about the VPN provider's network

5 Anthropic wants to pause on AI development while we figure out what's next

Tech Radar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Key Takeaways

News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets
Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards
Unlock instant access to exclusive member features
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards