SSD Archives - usatoday24

In the midst of the RAM and SSD crisis, there are those who are launching laptops and mobile phones with more capacity at the same price: Apple

March 4, 2026 by usatoday24

Apple has set out to eclipse the Mobile World Congress. He does not attend the Barcelona fair, but he has presented products. For now, the iPhone 17ethe new MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro and M5 Max processorsthe new MacBook Air M5 and the renewal of your monitor Studio Display. And what has caught my attention the most is the “generosity” of an Apple that has not accustomed us to it. Because, with the one that is falling with the RAM crisis and of SSD priceApple is offering more without increasing the price. And it is something that has several readings… and some asterisks. The new devices. There isn’t much new in anything the company has presented so far. It is assumed that there is still a ‘cheap’ MacBook throughout this Wednesday, March 4, but what they have already presented is, basically, the same as last year, but with new processors. The iPhone 17e is a mobile phone with an outdated design, but it includes a slightly cut version of the processor of the iPhone 17 Pro. The MacBook Pros were already beasts in many ways and now they can be equipped with the M5 Pro and M5 Max that reach absurd figures for GPU capacity and memory bandwidth in the most powerful versions. And the MacBook Air was already a very interesting device for mobility, but now also somewhat more powerful. As I say, not much new on the front, until we look at the storage. With the one that is falling… At this point, no one is aware that we are experiencing an unprecedented component crisis. It’s not like 2020, when a bunch of factors caused a global chip crisis. Now there is only one “culprit”: artificial intelligence. There is three main companies that manufacture memory (Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung), and the three have focused almost the entire his production to memories for AI. This is causing not only us to have to pay more to be able to buy RAM or an SSD for our PC, but also the manufacturers themselves are changing their device launch plans –the steam machine-, there is someone who is selling laptops without RAM or without SSDwho looks to Chinese manufacturers to see if they can find a solution or, directly, those who can withdraw from the market. And, in the middle of that hurricane, Apple (which It is not characterized by its popular prices), launches devices. And the surprise came. Generosity. I’m not going to explain much, I’m just going to give some information: The iPhone 17e starts with 256 GB of storage and costs 709 euros. He iPhone 16e It started at 128 GB and cost 709 euros. The MacBook Air M5 costs 1,199 euros with 512 GB of SSD. He MacBook Air M4 It cost the same at launch, 1,199 euros (in October last year they lowered it by 100 euros to 1,099 euros), but with 256 GB. On these devices, Apple has doubled the storage while maintaining the price. And not only that: the Studio Display XDR was sold with a basic tilt adjustment stand, but you could purchase the articulated arm that allowed you to adjust both angle and height. The price of support? 999 euros, which became a meme. Now, the new Studio Display XDR It comes with that ‘Pro’ support included. Of course, the base MacBook Pro M5 costs 100 euros more with a 1 TB SSD instead of 512 GB. Generosity? What is happening here, is the first thing I thought when I started analyzing the price. There are several options that can be compatible… and even all at the same time. No company is there to give away, so it is simply possible that they have a huge stock of 512 GB SSDs that they now mount as a base in their computers. This would make sense if we take into account the very high price of expanding the memory on an Apple device. The most basic option would be the most chosen, so those with 128 GB on mobile phones and 256/512 on MacBooks would be the best sellers and, therefore, have a surplus of the expanded options that fewer people would opt for. Another reading may be that, due to the high price of the devices, Apple decides to absorb part of the cost of RAM because it’s still worth itmaking money per device sold and expanding the Mac user base at a time when Windows laptops can have a very difficult time. What Apple saves are the chargers in its new equipment. The MacBook Pro no longer included a charger, but the MacBook Air did. Now not even that. The turn. The other option is that… it will be our turn. The prices that I have detailed are in euros and for Spain if we take into account the launch price, without subsequent offers or reductions. In the United States, things are very different. They have also doubled the storage, but the MacBook Air in its 13 and 15-inch versions now They are 100 dollars more expensive than the previous generation. It is always complicated because direct conversions cannot be made from the US price to the European price (in fact, the M5 MacBook Air costs $1,099 and $1,299 compared to our 1,199 euros and 1,499 euros), but we may simply have to face that price increase in 2027 models. Because, unfortunately, the RAM crisis is going to last a long time. Intel He thinks he has the rest of the decade ahead of him, NVIDIA does not have good forecasts either and Samsung has just said that, if that, it will begin to ease in 2027. Images | Apple, Samsung In Xataka | Apple has been the industry’s first customer for decades. AI is relegating it to the background

We already know the best day to buy a new SSD: yesterday

January 19, 2026 by usatoday24

Six months ago, a Lexar NQ790 SSD with a 1 TB capacity had a price of 67.68 euros on Amazon. Today that same unit It is 139.99 euros: more than double. The worrying phenomenon that we have already seen with DRAM memories is now also beginning to be a reality in this type of storage units, but the worst is yet to come. what’s happening. At the end of 2025 we already saw how the average price of RAM memory modules had tripled or quadrupled in some cases. This component is becoming an absolute luxury for users and manufacturers not only of PCs and laptops, but also of mobile phones. AI, once again guilty. The AI industry demands all production for itself, and that has made manufacturers focus on that segment for a simple reason: they make more money than ever thanks to it. The problem? that at focus on memories for AI chips and data centersthey do not have the resources to manufacture memories for the rest of the segments and of course not for end users. And what we already saw with RAM memories is now clearly seen in other components such as SSD units and also graphics cards for gamers. bad business. If you are undecided when it comes to building your PC, two messages. The first: it doesn’t surprise us. The second: if you are going to buy the components, do it as soon as possible. The catastrophe that is occurring with DRAM memories was just a prelude to what will happen with other components, and among them, SSD units are directly affected, which will soon also become a small luxury product. Price of a Lexar 790 1TB SSD on Amazon. Source: CamelCamelCamel They are already worth more than gold. What happens with the 1 TB capacity Lexar drive is almost anecdotal compared to larger capacity SSD drives. At Tom’s Hardware They made a disturbing comparison: an 8TB M.2 NVMe SSD weighs 8.2 grams on average and right now its average price is $1,476. And pay attention, because 8.2 grams of gold today costs about $1,150. 4 TB SSD units are “somewhat cheaper” than gold by weight, but even these models can be comparable if we choose one of the units with the best features. Dangerous trend. In PC Part Picker they have graphs of price tracking and the evolution of SSD unit prices is clear. As the image shows, the average price of 4TB NVMe drives is already practically 50% more than it was more than a year ago. For now, prices seem to be weathering the storm due to the inventory that was available, but as shown by the fact that the gray area already occupies almost the entire graph in recent months, those inventory units are disappearing and demand will predictably make this growing trend maintain… or skyrocket even more. Better not even talk about graphics cards. The RAM memory problem is also affecting the graphics card segment and in recent days we are seeing an important collateral effect. Some manufacturers are abandoning the manufacturing and marketing of some “more affordable” models to focus on more expensive ones. ASUS advertisement recently that it was going to stop selling its GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and the reason is simple: this card has 16GB of GDDR7 memory, which is the same as used in the RTX 5080. Why settle for selling a $749 MSRP card when you can sell a $999 one instead? If you want to buy, the sooner the better.. If you were thinking about upgrading or building a new PC, it seems clear that the best time is yesterday. The prices of memory, SSD units and graphics cards are beginning to break worrying records, and it is not likely that these increases will relax. In fact, everything indicates that they are going to get worse. Bad time for those who were hoping to renew their PC. In Xataka | The situation with RAM prices is so desperate that there are already those who build their own memory at home

From batteries and supports to SSD units

May 29, 2025 by usatoday24

From the launch of the PlayStation 5 More and more compatible accessories have come. There are many who are quite interesting, and not only to have a better experience but because it also offers good comfort when using the console. In this article we will review five very useful accessories to accompany the PS5. Remote5 by 24.95 eurosan external battery for the dualsense that offers an autonomy of up to 12 hours. Crucial SSD by 145.99 eurosa 2 -TB SSD with a dissipator compatible with the PlayStation 5. Universal Razer Quick Charging Stand by 29.95 eurosa load base for the dualsense that is available in various colors. KDD Support by 24.95 eurosa wall support in which two dualsense can be placed, some headphones and several accessories. Disc reader by 79.95 eurosthe official record reader that allows you to reproduce videogames in physical format. Remote5 The PlayStation 5 dualsense battery can last more or less depending on whether a video game makes use of haptic vibration functions and adaptive triggers. Therefore, one of the most interesting accessories is the Remote5which can be found in PCComponent for a price of 24.95 euros. The Remote5 is an external battery that is attached to the dualsense through the port USB-C. The interesting thing is that it offers a Autonomy of up to 12 hours – In practice, it is similar to the autonomy that the command has – and also its design is ideal for the least possible space to occupy and that is not uncomfortable if used while we play video games. * Some price may have changed from the last review Crucial SSD Many video games occupy a large portion of the internal storage of the console, so on certain occasions some video game must be removed to install another. Therefore, internal SSDs are ideals of the console. Among them, a very good purchase option is Crucial SSD P310 whose price at Amazon is from 145.99 euros. The crucial SSD P310 that we can find in Amazon comes with a dissipator – very eye because in other stores it comes without it. It is a SSD PCIE GEN4 NVME M.2 of 2 TB which offers speeds of up to 7100 MB/s. Of course, it is compatible with PlayStation 5 and install it It is quite simple, you just need to follow a few steps. Crucial SSD P310 (2TB), PCIE GEN4 NVME M.2 * Some price may have changed from the last review Universal Razer Quick Charging Stand If you do not usually play the console for many hours in a row, instead of an external battery it is possible that you are more interested in a load base. In stores like Amazon there are many, but one of the most popular is the Universal Razer Quick Charging Standwhich can be found by 29.95 euros and that is available in various colors. Its operation is very simple: The dualsense control should only be placed at the top of the load base. It has a fairly compact design and also, as the brand mentions, it is able to recharge the Dualsense battery in less than three hours. Universal Razer Quick Charging Stand * Some price may have changed from the last review KDD Support If you have several dualsense and you also want to use headphones and the occasional accessory, in Amazon there are many supports that have a fairly adjusted price. One of the most interesting-due to its value for money-is the KDD brand supportwhose price is 24.95 euros. This support is placed on the wall by means of screws – yes, the paste is that the wall must be drilled. It is quite interesting because It has a support to place two dualsense controlscomes with another support for headband headphones and also in the upper part includes a box in which different accessories can be placed, such as the TV command. * Some price may have changed from the last review Disc reader If you have one PlayStation 5 Slim Digital or one PlayStation 5 Proit is possible that at some point you are interested in Disc reader Because you have seen a good offer in some physical game in physical or simply because you want to play a physical game in the PlayStation 4. The official price of the record reader dropped a few months agoso you can currently be found in stores like XTralife by 79.95 euros. The record reader is Compatible with both PS5 Slim Digital and PS5 Pro. It is interesting not to be limited to buying only video games in digital format, but it is also to play video games in the PlayStation 4 (if we have them, of course). Disc reader (PS5 Slim and PS5 Pro) * Some price may have changed from the last review Some of the links of this article are affiliated and can report a benefit to Xataka. In case of non -availability, offers may vary. Images | John Tones and Juan Carlos López (header), Sony, PlayStation In Xataka | PlayStation 5 Pro vs PlayStation 5: These are all the differences between the two Sony consoles In Xataka | Two years ago I bought a PS5. I wish someone would have told me that I also needed these accessories

The tariff war will shoot the price of a component that nobody speaks: the SSD units

April 11, 2025 by usatoday24

The tariff war that has triggered the entire planet The US government led by Donald Trump is wreaking havoc in the markets. Consumers are already noticing Price increase Of many products, and presumably in the short term we will perceive it in many more. There is no doubt that the world is entering In an unexplored terrain. If we stick to technology, much is being talked about the impact of tariffs on chips for applications of artificial intelligence (AI), CPU and other components, but storage solutions have gone unnoticed. Until now. And it is that US tariff policy will cause with high probability a very important increase in the price of mechanical hard discs and solid state storage units. Mechanical hard drives can be worse stopped than SSD units Seagate, Toshiba and Western Digital are the main manufacturers of mechanical hard drives. The supply chains of these three companies are very complex because the components they use to assemble their units come from a very wide range of countries. And, to anyone’s surprise, many of these nations are among those subject to The highest US tariffs. In principle the most disadvantaged company at the current situation is Seagate. As we have told you, the US administration has increased tariffs for products from China up to 145%and Seagate produces a good part of his porpholio in the country led by Xi Jinping. In current circumstances the best option for these companies is Move your production to the USeither one of the countries that are receiving a slightly friendlier treatment from the Government of Donald Trump. The manufacturers of solid state units have an advantage that the mechanical hard drives companies do not count However, for mechanical hard drives manufacturers it is not easy to move from one country to another. And it is not because these devices are assembled in clean rooms similar to Those used to manufacture semiconductors with the purpose of ensuring that dust particles do not spoil them. The panorama faced by the producers of solid state storage units is not very different. Samsung, Micron or Kioxia supply chains, among other companies that manufacture NAND 3D memory chips or SSD units, are as complex as those of companies that produce mechanical hard drives. However, manufacturers of solid state units They have an advantage With which the mechanical hard drives companies do not count: the assembly of the SSD does not have to be carried out in a clean room. In practice it is relatively simple to transfer the production of SSD from China or Vietnam to Mexico, Canada or the US. Whatever the price of storage units, whether they are going to increase perceptibly over the next weeks. Only a return to the prior market to tariffs could avoid it, and right now this possibility is remote. More information | Blocks & Files In Xataka | China responds again to US tariffs and rises to 125%: from here it would be a “joke” to keep climbing

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