In the good old days, replaceable laptop RAM meant that you could easily upgrade your hardware whenever you wanted. There was almost no better feeling than snagging a bargain laptop, knowing you could slot in some extra RAM and give yourself a power-up, beating the system for once.

Then soldered RAM came along. Apple changed everything overnight, and our ability to upgrade the hardware we own slowly drifted into the ether.

Everyone hates soldered RAM. Exceptthe problem is, soldered RAM is really good in so many ways, and I’ve fully come around to itover the years — and you should, too.

Soldered RAM sits closer to the processor

Faster processing is clearly quite good

Every inch of wiring between a processor and its memory limits how fast that memory can run. So, it stands to reason that having the RAM as close to the processor as possible makes sense. Shorter traces between the memory and the processor improve signal integrity, which enables higher data rates.

Socketed RAM adds distance and extra processing that introduces interference, even if you’re using the latest memory.

As said, Apple was first out of the gate with soldered RAM with the 2008 MacBook Air, before moving it into the same processor package with its Apple M1 silicon in 2020. It paid off, as the M1 chip blew competitors away at the time, delivering much better performance and efficiency than older MacBooks running Intel hardware.

But why stop there?

Intel went a step further with Lunar Lake (Core Ultra Series 2) and put the memory chips inside the processor package. That means most Lunar Lake-based laptops ship with either 16GB or 32GB onboard memory that can literally never be changed.

It’s HotChips 2024 presentation [PDF] claimed 40 percent lower power with faster processing and slimmer designs, and in fairness, largely delivered on that. The only problem was the cost; the design was so expensive to manufacture that it specifically negatively affected Intel’s bottom line, so it moved back to off-chip soldered memory.

It’s not just speculation, though. We know that soldered memory is faster and more efficient than socketed. It’s not just that the data transmission distance is shorter.

Most companies also solder much faster memory, too. For example, Apple’s M5 silicon uses LPDDR5X unified memory operating at 9,600 MT/s (derived speed), while Intel’s Lunar Lake uses LPDDR5X-8533. You simply can’t access those speeds on socketed laptop RAM, which typically tops out at 6,400 MT/s.

Soldered memory also makes integrated graphics faster

Shorter connections make everything better

Now, something often overlooked in the soldered vs. replaceable RAM argument is the former’s impact on integrated graphics.

Where a dedicated GPU has onboard memory, most integrated laptop graphics share system memory and are also directly affected by data transmission distance. That means all the textures, shaders, video frames, and so on are also dependent on the same bandwidth as everything else, so making it more efficient is another huge benefit.

How fast the RAM can move data, called bandwidth, sets a ceiling on how fast the graphics can run.

Some of the more powerful chips get around it by pairing integrated graphics with soldered memory. AMD’s Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is the best example. It has a huge 256GB/s memory connection, which is nearly three times the roughly 90GB/s of a typical SO-DIMM laptop, seen across Framework, Asus, HP, and other manufacturers.

That gives the integrated graphics around the same power as an RTX 4070, while taking up less space and delivering better efficiency.

It frees up space in the laptop chassis

More cooling, slimmer designs, bigger batteries

The problem with old memory sockets is that they’re large, especially in dual-stacked configurations. The sockets need space, and that means more capacity in the chassis.

Remove the sockets, and you get slimmer laptops, and that’s exactly what’s happened over the past decade or so. Soldered RAM is a core part of why we have such wonderfully slimline laptops these days; no more massive shoulders from lugging around an enormous monster with enough memory to get the job done.

Intel’s HotChips presentation specifically mentions how moving to a fully integrated design would return 250 square millimeters of board area. Now, that 2.5cm doesn’t sound like a huge saving, but it gives more space for additional cooling, a larger battery capacity, or just an overall thinner design.

Fewer manufacturing components save money

No socket, no cost

A memory socket is one more part to buy, place, and attach to the board, and soldered memory skips it.

Speaking to Digital Trends, HP Senior Director of Experience Engineering, Haval Othman, said that “It actually costs more to put a socket on the board than it does to solder RAM onto the board.”

He didn’t elaborate on how much, mind you, but the process of manufacturing traditional socketed memory is more complex than memory to be soldered, not to mention the additional hardware required to make it work: printed circuit boards, mounting, power management ICs, thermal spreaders, and more are all required to make socketed RAM work.

I’ll absolutely concede that despite these cost savings, given the global RAM issues due to unprecedented demand from AI companies and data centers, we’re not really seeing as many of those price reductions anymore. We can blame Sam Altman for our RAM woes.

Most people aren’t looking to upgrade their memory

As much as losing out on replaceable RAM is problematic for those who wish to upgrade their hardware, the simple fact is that tinkering and upgrading laptop memory isn’t something most folks are doing. Even when additional RAM slots are available, or the laptop itself can be modified, most people are just happy that their machine works and, when the time comes, they’ll upgrade the whole unit.

That’s not a finger in the eye of those who want to upgrade their RAM, because those devices still exist. But manufacturers are always going to cater to the majority, and most folks just want something that does the job without issue.

The other part of the equation is that people are generally buying laptops with more RAM these days. I remember buying my first laptop with 8GB RAM, but these days, that’s a paltry figure.

My current laptop has 32GB soldered LPDDR5X 5600MHz RAM, keeping up with hardware trends… and is all the faster for it. While hardware requirements are increasing, 32GB RAM is enough for the foreseeable future, especially for someone like me whose workflow doesn’t involve high-quality video editing, modeling, or similar.

For most folks, 16GB still gets the job done, and with the faster processing, higher capacities, and better efficiency, it all adds up to another reason why soldered RAM is leaving socketed laptop memory behind.