The iPhone 16 will hit stores on Friday, just as preorders ship to buyers who were early enough to purchase their desired models online. The new iPhone release date is usually when we learn all its secrets, including the specs Apple is never comfortable discussing on stage.
The new iPhone is usually torn apart very early on its release date, revealing everything new inside the phone. These teardowns usually disclose the amount of RAM Apple used for each device and the battery capacities. They also typically confirm what leaks that preceded the launch event have already revealed.
For the iPhone 16 phones, we won’t have to wait for teardowns to confirm all four models feature 8GB of RAM. Apple did it already in a surprising move. Maybe Apple should show more courage, and address the iPhone RAM on stage during future events.
Earlier this year, Apple explained that the Neural Engine in its custom chip is the key element in supporting Apple Intelligence when addressing questions about why older iPhones can’t support Apple’s on-device AI features.
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Apple reluctantly confirmed that Apple Intelligence needs at least 8GB of RAM. The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus feature 6GB of RAM, which is why they can’t support Apple Intelligence. They also pack the older A16 Bionic chip, while the iPhone 15 Pros feature the more powerful A17 Pro chipset.
That confirmation further fueled speculation that all iPhone 16 variants would feature at least 8GB of RAM. That’s what Apple used on the iPhone 15 Pros last year. We also saw leaks saying that’s the amount of RAM Apple chose for this year’s devices. Next year, some iPhone 17 versions might go to up to 12GB of memory.
More recently, findings in Xcode seemed to answer the iPhone 16’s RAM question. But we would have needed teardowns for a perfect confirmation.
Apple Intelligence features on the iPhone 16 phones. Image source: Apple Inc.
Thanks to Apple’s VP of Hardware Technologies, Johny Srouji, we don’t need to wait until Friday. Srouji answered questions about the A18 chips in an interview with YouTuber Geekerwan. When it came to RAM, Srouji confirmed that Apple decided to use 8GB of RAM inside the iPhone 16 variants primarily because of Apple Intelligence. But the RAM would also benefit elsewhere, not just AI:
Our goal is to build the best products, delivering the absolute best user experience. As it relates to Apple, intelligence dram is one aspect, and when we look at what we’re building, whether it’s silicon, hardware, or software, we don’t want to be wasteful in many ways.
We have lots of data that tells us what is going to enable a certain feature, and Apple Intelligence is one of those very, very important features that we want to enable.
We look at different configurations both for computation, and memory bandwidth, and memory capacity. And then we made the right trade-off and balance of what actually makes the most sense.
So, Apple intelligence was a major feature that led us to believe that we need to get to 8GB. But having said that, the 8GB is going to help immensely in many other applications, including gaming, high-end gaming, AAA title games, and gaming on device. So I think it’s going to be really, really beneficial.
The other thing to keep in mind, this is one of the benefits of having the software and the silicon and the product fully integrated. Our excellent software team will optimize not only for compute, they’ll also optimize for the memory footprint of each application so they don’t end up also wasting memory.
So we look at all these trade-offs, and we end up with ‘here’s what makes sense,’ and 8GB was the most perfect choice for us.
That’s Srouji’s entire response about RAM in the iPhone 16, and I gave you the whole quote to make a different point. That’s the way to explain why the iPhone doesn’t have to match the RAM upgrades you’d see on the iPhone.
Srouji does a great job explaining Apple’s principles of creating best-in-class products and how that impacts Apple’s decisions regarding its A-series and M-series chips. The entire interview is worth a look, and you’ll find it below.
As someone who loves Srouji’s segments in Apple’s product launches, I’d love to see him explain the same principles during iPhone launch events. I don’t think Apple has to hide these key iPhone specs. I’m sure Srouji and his team could offer key insights into the iPhone’s memory requirements that customers at home would appreciate.
The alternative is having the iPhone continue to look inferior to some Android phones, even though that’s clearly not the case.
