Many of you are probably still using DDR4 RAM, but DDR6 RAM is already on the horizon. Poised to surpass even the blazing-fast speeds of DDR5 memory, DDR6 promises 8,800–17,600 MT/s speeds, thanks to a new 4 x 24-bit sub-channel architecture instead of the 2 x 32-bit seen on DDR5 memory. With higher frequencies come greater signal stability challenges, which is why the familiar DIMMs are going away, making way for flat CAMM2 sticks. These modules will be bolted onto the motherboard, lying parallel instead of the perpendicular layout we’ve been seeing for decades. With server deployment targeted for 2027 and consumer adoption soon after, the ongoing memory shortage couldn’t have come at a worse moment. The 2028–2029 window that was planned for DDR6’s consumer rollout might not hold anymore, considering the stratospheric prices will only conflate the already sky-high launch prices of this new technology. More memory-efficient LLMs could bring down enterprise memory demand, but that isn’t guaranteed to lower RAM prices.