The JEDEC Solid State Technology Association (JEDEC) has officially adopted a new RAM form factor that is much thinner than the current industry standard, which could be set to give your next laptop a much-needed speed boost.
Now that the new standard known as CAMM2 has been ratified, it's only a matter of time before the SO-DIMM sticks we're used to in the best desktops and best laptops are replaced by CAMM2 units.
This form factor started life as a patented technology – known as simply CAMM – according to Tom's hardware, and was first installed in the Dell Precision 7670 laptop. It's 57% thinner than SO-DIMM, and Dell claims it can break the 6,400MHz barrier that SO-DIMM DDR5 RAM was limited to, meaning much faster clock speeds.
Goodbye, SO-DIMM – the time for CAMM has come
Now that JEDEC has standardized CAMM, it means more companies than just Dell can build it. It also means that future generations of RAM will likely adopt this shape and size, and the technology upgrade that comes with CAMM2.
While today's best DDR5 RAM units are built using the SO-DIMM form factor, we may soon see DDR5 and LPDDR5 units in the near future. With CAMM2 there is no need for soldered on memory, meaning this practice will likely be phased out in the future.
In addition, future memory units, including DDR6 or fourth-generation high-bandwidth RAM (HBM4), may also adopt CAMM2 once JEDEC establishes specific standards for it.
However, progress in computer memory is moving quickly and we may well see CAMM2 as a stepping stone technology that bridges the gap between the status quo and near-chip or even on-chip memory.
For example, Apple has started integrating RAM directly onto the motherboard alongside its custom ARM processors. It's a technology that Samsung is also exploring and could pave the way for much faster movement of data within systems. It is expected that this will translate into even higher speeds.