Could iPhone 16’s lack of RAM dampen AI excitement?

While the big launch of the iPhone 16 is just a few weeks away, the first rumors about next year’s upgrade are already circulating. The new details suggest that iPhone 17 it gets more RAM to support the AI ​​features on the device, leaving the upcoming flagship looking a little lackluster.

According to both a Weibo leaker and analyst Jeff Pu, the iPhone 17 will have 12GB of RAM, which is 4GB more than the 8GB inside the iPhone 16. The leak suggests that those who want a premium phone ready for AI should get next year’s iPhone. 17, despite Apple billing the iPhone 16 as its first AI smartphone. The increase in RAM could also make the 17 series the best gaming iPhones yet, allowing for faster loading and saving of files on the device.

The reason for the RAM increase is that the 2025 iPhone 17 will have native Apple Intelligence instead of the cloud-based app on the iPhone 16. The Weibo leak also suggests that more “leading AI apps” are coming, meaning that we’ll likely see new generative AI features on the phones rather than the basic AI apps in the iPhone 16.

With the supposed iPhone 17 camera updates and better overall iPhone 17 specs, more potential users are debating the iPhone 16 and waiting for the 17 model. However, the 2024 lineup has consistent RAM and the same chipsets across the lineup, which makes for a change from the usual discrepancy between Pro and normal models. There’s also the small matter of the iPhone SE 4 arriving next year, with Apple once again set to take on the best mid-range phones at their own game.

If rumors are to be believed, it looks like Apple might need another year to catch up with the AI ​​innovations of some of the best Android phones in 2024, like the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Google Pixel 9 Pro. Google’s latest phone also has more RAM than its predecessors just for AI applications, so we could see other brands follow suit in the coming year and increase the memory to power the smartphone AI revolution .