You're buying a new motherboard if soldered RAM dies.

Yes, if the soldered RAM fails, the entire motherboard usually needs replacement.

This is the big downside to the thin-and-light laptop trend. RAM is soldered directly to the board. It’s not a socketed stick you can swap out. When it goes bad — and it can, especially with heat or voltage issues — repair shops rarely bother reballing or replacing individual chips. That kind of microsoldering is expensive, time-consuming, and not guaranteed. Most shops will quote you for a motherboard swap instead.

If your laptop is under warranty, you’re fine. If it’s not, a replacement motherboard often costs nearly as much as a used laptop of the same model. For older machines, it’s usually not worth it.

This is one of those “you’re paying for thinness with repairability” tradeoffs. Future you might prefer a laptop with socketed RAM.