Intel’s Lunar Lake laptops can’t upgrade RAM and that’s totally fine [Video]

Intel’s upcoming Lunar Lake platform won’t support user-upgradeable or swappable RAM at all. That means you better be sure to get all the RAM you need on your Lunar Lake laptop, because you can’t get more memory without buying a new laptop.

It’s a big change for the Intel x86 platform, which has traditionally offered this kind of flexibility. After all, we’re talking about PC laptops and not “mobile devices” running Android or iOS… right?

But, while the news is shocking on its face, it’s not as bad as it sounds. This RAM change will actually help the average PC buyer, and it won’t be a long-term threat to people who want upgradeable RAM. Here’s why.

Further reading: The best laptops we’ve tested

What Intel is doing here isn’t new. Many laptops—probably even most laptops in 2024—ship with RAM that’s soldered to the motherboard.

In other words, rather than putting RAM sockets on the motherboard and inserting RAM into them, manufacturers permanently attach RAM directly …