Should you buy a laptop now or wait for prices to drop?

Why laptops cost more in 2026

Memory chips. AI data centers are buying up the same DRAM and flash storage that goes into laptops, and memory makers have moved factory space to higher-margin server parts.

The jump showed up in retail RAM first. Consumer Reports tracked a standard 32GB kit that sold for $90 on September 11, 2025, and $269.99 by November 21. Laptops lag behind because makers buy memory on contracts months ahead, so those costs are reaching shop shelves now.

Acer chairman and CEO Jason Chen said on September 19, 2026, that finished PC prices would rise 5% to 20% on average in the fourth quarter. Laptops with more RAM and bigger SSDs sit at the top of that range. In June, IDC forecast that average PC selling prices would rise 17% across 2026 and warned they’re unlikely to return to 2025 levels even as supply grows.

When will laptop prices come down?

Not before the second half of 2027 on the most hopeful forecast. The memory makers themselves are gloomier.

Who	What they forecast	When said
Acer (Jason Chen)	PC prices up 5% to 20% in Q4 2026, peaking around mid-2027, then easing in the second half of 2027	September 2026
IDC	Average PC prices up 17% in 2026; unlikely to return to 2025 levels	June 2026
Memory makers (SK hynix and others)	Tight supply into 2027, with warnings it could last until 2030	June to July 2026

Keep in mind who’s talking. Notebookcheck pointed out that Acer has raised its own prices, and a PC maker has every reason to tell buyers relief is coming. Even so, nobody in the table expects laptops to get cheaper before mid-2027.

Is Black Friday still worth it this year?

Yes, and arguably more than usual, because it’s the one week when discounts can cancel out the price rises. Adobe’s data from the 2025 holiday season showed computers peaking at 23% off listed price on Cyber Monday. During the first 23 days of November, electronics discounts topped out at just 12%.

Do the sums before you get excited. A laptop whose list price rose 20% and then gets 23% off ends up about 8% below where it started. That’s a real saving, but not the bargain the red banner suggests.

Plenty of Black Friday “deals” are the usual price with a crossed-out number above it. LaptopOwners has a step-by-step guide on when is the best time to buy a laptop that shows how to match part numbers, read a “was” price and check each retailer’s holiday return and price-adjustment rules.

Watch for the shrinkflation laptop

The bigger risk this year isn’t the price. It’s what you get for it. Consumer Reports warned that a $600 laptop in 2026 may look identical to last year’s model but ship with a dimmer screen and 8GB of RAM instead of 16GB.

Makers have a clear reason to do this: memory is the part that’s gone up most. So check the spec sheet line by line, not just the model name.

For most people, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD is the floor worth paying for. In a count of 60 laptops priced in October 2026, LaptopOwners found only 2 of 10 models between $500 and $700 shipped with 16GB, against 5 of 6 between $700 and $1,000. Its guide to how much you should spend on a laptop breaks down what each price band buys.

Buy now or wait: what we’d do

Your situation	What we’d do	Why
Laptop is dead or dying, and you need one for school or work	Buy during Black Friday week	Prices are forecast to keep rising into mid-2027
You need 32GB+ RAM or a 1TB+ SSD (video, 3D, gaming, local AI)	Buy sooner rather than later	High-memory configurations take the biggest increases
Laptop works fine and you just want an upgrade	Wait	Check prices again in the second half of 2027
Budget under $500	Look at refurbished or open-box before new	New laptops at this price are where specs get cut first

Read independent reviews before you buy

A sale price tells you nothing about how a laptop holds up. Two sites worth checking for measured results:

Notebookcheck publishes long reviews with screen brightness, temperatures, fan noise and battery runtime, and has covered the memory price story closely. RTINGS lab-tests laptops to the same method and has a compare tool, so you can line up two models side by side before a sale starts.

What to do next

1. Write down the hardest thing you’ll run on the laptop. That decides how much RAM you need.
2. Pick a model and copy its full part number from the maker’s own store.
3. Note that part number’s price at two or three stores now, so you’ll know whether the Black Friday price is real.
4. Buy between November 27 and 30 from a store that adjusts prices if they fall, and write down the return-by date.
5. If your current laptop is fine, set a reminder to check prices again in mid-2027.

Sources

• Consumer Reports: With AI data centers scooping up RAM, laptop prices could spike in 2026
• TechRadar: Acer CEO on Q4 2026 PC prices and the memory shortage (September 2026)
• Notebookcheck: Acer CEO says memory makers are hyping the 2030 shortage (September 2026)
• BigGo Finance: Acer chairman on Q4 PC prices, with IDC’s 2026 forecast (September 2026)
• Adobe: Cyber Monday 2025 results and category discounts (December 2, 2025)
• Chain Store Age: Adobe data on early-November 2025 discounts