OpenWrt 23.05.2 - Service Release

I'm wondering how this is possible:

WNDR3800 (22.03.5 upgrade to 23.05.2): MemAvailable essentially unchanged.

Archer C7v2 (22.03.5 upgrade to 23.05.2): MemAvailable dropped from a longtime average around 60000 to around 40000, even after another reboot.

In each case, the configuration is the same as before because it was an upgrade and the subsequent package installation is scripted.

If v23 is just bigger than v22 (though that seems like an unrealistic amount), then why only one router? They're similar ath79 routers though of course not identical. Is it possible that the c7 family underwent a major change in v23 to account for this while the other didn't? If so, any idea what?