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It's official – CAMM, the brand-new form factor for laptop RAM, has been adopted as a JEDEC standard. Now officially known as CAMM2, this new technology is expected to replace the older SO-DIMM form factor that has been in use for over two decades.
Initially, CAMM was introduced by Dell as a proprietary technology in its Precision 7670 laptop. Back then, the company highlighted the benefits of the new memory form factor over the existing SO-DIMM, including its thin profile (57% thinner than SO-DIMM). Dell also claimed that CAMM could overcome the 6,400MHz barrier for DDR5 SO-DIMM memory and scale to higher clock speeds.
However, the proprietary nature of CAMM made it much more challenging to upgrade since only Dell made CAMM memory. On the other hand, SO-DIMM RAM could be sourced from countless companies. CAMM2 resolves this issue by being standardised by JEDEC, which sets the specifications for memory like GDDR6, HBM3, and DDR5.
The CAMM2 specifications cover both DDR5 and LPDDR5(X) types of memory. One of the notable features of CAMM2 is that it makes non-soldered LPDDR5(X) memory possible, which could discourage the use of soldered DDR5 RAM. Moreover, the two variants have different pin-outs, meaning one variant cannot be used on a motherboard for the other type of RAM. Another benefit of CAMM2 is that a single module can be designed to have two memory channels, something that can't be achieved with SO-DIMM memory. However, there are also plans for single-channel CAMM2 modules.
While CAMM2 may be more expensive than SO-DIMM initially, it will probably replace it entirely. Still, that won't happen immediately, as both should exist simultaneously for some time. Nonetheless, CAMM2's standardisation by JEDEC ensures that it is a technology that's here to stay.
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KitGuru says: How many years will it take for CAMM2 to replace SO-DIMM modules completely in the laptop market? Do you think manufacturers will start launching CAMM2-compatible devices in the next year?
