Apple upgraded its entire iPhone 16 lineup to 8GB of RAM, and it had a solid reason to do so. Apple Intelligence has some hardware requirements to be compatible with it, and this is why older models do not support Apple’s AI features.
The company even upgraded the RAM to 8GB on its “so-called” budget iPhone 16e for the same reason. It is now being reported that Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 17 Pro models will be equipped with 12GB of RAM, a major step up from 8GB on the iPhone 16 Pro models.
In a new research note obtained by 9to5mac, prominent industry analyst Jeff Pu claims that the iPhone 17 Pro models will feature 12GB of RAM, compared to 8GB on the current flagships. The analyst states that the reason why Apple wants to upgrade the RAM is to push its AI efforts a step further. Apple is not the only company pushing itself towards higher RAM as its competitors and PC manufacturers are also inclined to follow the same route. The analyst states:
“Meanwhile iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max are expected to migrate to LPDDR5 12GB, this transition alone will contribute to a 3.5% YoYincrease in smartphone DRAM content across an estimated 100 million new iPhone units.”
Apple jumped on the 8GB of RAM with the launch of the iPhone 15 Pro models, and it became the stepping stone for Apple Intelligence compatibility.
Since the standard models housed only 6GB of RAM, the devices are now dormant when it comes to Apple Intelligence despite being only a year old. In comparison, the iPhone 16e is far more capable as it is the cheapest iPhone to support Apple’s AI features. However, all iPhone 16 models feature 8GB of RAM, and Apple Intelligence is the only reason why the company made the jump.
It remains to be seen what sort of features Apple has in mind which is pushing it to upgrade the RAM count on the iPhone 17 Pro models. Considering Apple does give the ‘Pro’ models special treatment, would the standard models still get the higher-end features? It remains to be seen if the company will segregate the Apple Intelligence features, orienting them towards standard and ‘Pro’ users.
Apart from Apple Intelligence, 12GB of RAM on the iPhone 17 Pro models would also allow it to be better at multitasking, overall impacting the performance of the device. This is the third time that we have heard details about the higher RAM count for the iPhone 17 Pro models, which means that the news could be credible beyond the plain rumors. Do you think all iPhone 17 models will house 12GB of RAM?