Most consumer laptops still ship with soldered RAM

Quick, dry observation: a lot of new laptops still come with RAM soldered to the board, which limits future upgrades and can shorten useful life for some users.

• Apple MacBook Air and Pro M-series, RAM is soldered.
• Many thin-and-light Windows ultrabooks from HP, Dell, Lenovo use soldered RAM to save space.
• Bulkier gaming laptops and workstations still often offer SO-DIMM slots for upgrades.

So if upgradeability matters, check the specs before you buy instead of assuming you'll be able to add RAM later.