// THE VERGE — HARDWARE & GADGET
It’s a bad time to want a new computer
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Apple, Microsoft, and Valve announced some difficult prices this week — a sign that this is our new reality.
Apple, Microsoft, and Valve announced some difficult prices this week — a sign that this is our new reality.
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It’s not exactly surprising that RAMaggeddon is making new tech hardware really expensive. But if you’ve been in the market for things like a new computer or tablet, this week has been filled with sticker shock. Given how many companies announced price hikes related to component shortages, it seems unlikely things will get cheaper any time soon.
Valve started the week off by finally revealing the price of the Steam Machine, its long-delayed, console-like PC that, in our tests, has performance on par with the PS5. It starts at $1,049, nearly double the price of the six-year-old PS5, and that’s for the base configuration with 512GB of storage and without a controller. A bundled controller adds an extra $79, and if you want the 2TB model, you’ll have to tack on another $300. (If you still wanted one soon at that price, well, I hope you entered the lottery.)
Ahead of launch, Valve had warned that the component crisis had forced it to revise its pricing plans. When asked in a recent interview by PC Gamer the one thing he would change about the Steam Machine, Valve engineer Yazan Aldehayyat said: “Make it cheaper.” While the company hasn’t spelled out its initial planned price, it seems like if you shave off $250 or $300 from the current Steam Machine prices, you’ll land in the ballpark of where Valve was originally thinking.