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I often see something like this in laptop configurations:

2 SODIMM slots | 2 x 4GB | upgradable to 2 x 8GB

What limits it to 8GB per module? Why can't I put 16GB or 32GB module in each slot? Do they have to do anything extra in hardware to support a bigger module?

If yes, does that actually cost them significant money or is it an artificially imposed limitation to prevent low end models from being upgraded beyond a limit?

I remember seeing similar restrictions on SD card sizes. Back in the day when the biggest SD card was 128GB, manufacturers would write "storage expandable up to 128GB" when in reality the devices could support bigger cards when they became available.

Is this RAM spec something like that - I mean manufactures could thinking this laptop isn't really meant for applications that would need 64GB RAM so they instead state a figure that is reasonable for that laptop?

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  • Basically CPUs and motherboards have internal and external limits on how they talk to memory. It's more complicated than the duplicate, but that is pretty much the "simple" view.
    – Mokubai ♦
    Aug 18, 2021 at 17:39
  • "What limits it to 8GB per module?" - Primarily the motherboard. "Why can't I put 16GB or 32GB module in each slot?" - Motherboard simply won't detect the larger DDR4 modules. 32 GB DDR4 are only supported by the current generation anyways.
    – Ramhound
    Aug 18, 2021 at 17:42

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