Does anybody think iOS 9 will help negate the need for more RAM?

[iamMacPerson]

I moved to iOS with the release iPhone 4s, I grew weary of the garbage that Android had become. I've owned the iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, and now iPhone 6.. and I have never had RAM issues.. perhaps this is due to the way I look at the iPhone (smartphone vs. desktop system).

Continuing to post your opinions is not going to change my experiences.

I've had the 4, 5, 5s and 6 Plus. I started noticing RAM issues with the 5s because of the 64-bit architecture. When you switch from 32 to 64-bit tasks it increases the size of the processes and thus the pages into memory. On the 6 Plus it's horrendous. Sure, performance lag might not be noticeable to anyone (heck most of the time it isn't noticeable to me) the fact that apps and tabs have to reload because they were dumped out of memory is a problem. My Air 2 has 2GB of RAM and I have had 6 tabs open and 10 apps open in the background. Never reloaded anything. Meanwhile, my iPhone can't keep 4 tabs in memory with nothing else in the background.

Oh and by the way, both iOS and OS X are based on Darwin, and have the same underpinnings. The only thing that is different is one fork of the OS is designed for ARM and the other for x86.

The 6+ is underspecced and iOS8 is a mess. These aren't outrageous untruths or sorry accidents only experienced by myself.

I 100% agree with you. The 6 and 6 Plus should have had 2GB of RAM. A lot of people are saying it'll eat more battery, but really how much battery life is wasted reloading webpages? And how much of your mobile data plan for that matter.

I have an iPad Air 2 (2gb) and an iPhone 6 (1gb) and there is hardly a difference. It all depends on proper software optimization.

It's partly software optimization, yes, but the hardware also has to be good. I find my Air 2 to be superior to my 6 Plus for the refreshing issue alone. The 6 Plus is still my favorite iPhone by far, but Apple seriously needs to put some more RAM in the sucker. In the more recent releases of iOS, lag is getting a lot better over that mess that was iOS 8.0.

To put it another way, my MacBook Pro runs Yosemite great with only 4GB of RAM however, whenever I launch a memory intensive app (Chrome, FCPX, Aperture) the RAM a usage shoots through the roof. Same thing. iOS 8 runs great on the 6 Plus until you launch something memory intensive (which, since iOS is a memory hog, is pretty much anything).

And I can cause a cigarette to burn down an entire house, but that is an abnormal use case

Have you ever noticed that it's the unhappy people who continually post alleged situations that some of us have never seen despite using the platform for years?

I have been using iOS since version 3.0 (when it was still called iPhone OS) so almost 6 years. What I am doing on my 6 Plus isn't much different then what I was doing on my 4, or 5, or 5s. The 64-bit architecture though introduced with the 5s increased the size of processes like I said above, thus increasing the RAM usage. This is the very reason 64-bit OSes require more RAM. And the 6 Plus caching things like downscaled imaging is taking even more room so that's not helping.

Also regarding the cigarette analogy, one, not the best. And two, the 6 Plus is having a hard time being a 'breakthrough Internet communicator'.

 

[duffman9000]

Also, tumblr consumes a lot of resources. Never access power hungry websites using a mobile browser - always use the app. It has faster browsing and way better caching support. Why people still use Safari on iOS to browse social networks still astounds me to this day.

I need don't need to use tumblr to make Safari begin reloading tabs. Are you saying we should use a different app for every website that gives Safari trouble? Let's see, add more RAM, or use a different app for every site that chokes Safari.

 

[ardchoille50]

I need don't need to use tumblr to make Safari begin reloading tabs. Are you saying we should use a different app for every website that gives Safari trouble? Let's see, add more RAM, or use a different app for every site that chokes Safari.

Well, let's see, being that I can't add more RAM to my iOS devices.. Forgive me, but it seems painfully obvious; either sit in the forums and complain about something I cannot control, or use another app and resolve the problem for now.

I feel it is much more efficient to look for ways to resolve a problem than to complain about the problem itself.

 

[duffman9000]

Well, let's see, being that I can't add more RAM to my iOS devices.. Forgive me, but it seems painfully obvious; either sit in the forums and complain about something I cannot control, or use another app and resolve the problem for now.

I feel it is much more efficient to look for ways to resolve a problem than to complain about the problem itself.

Yeah, we know that we can't add more RAM. Unlike you, who accepts this ****** mess that Apple chooses to create, I will complain because complaining does work. Furthermore, Apple finally loosened its cheap skate wallet and added more RAM to the iPad Air 2.

 

[ardchoille50]

Yeah, we know that we can't add more RAM. Unlike you, who accepts this ****** mess that Apple chooses to create, I will complain because complaining does work. Furthermore, Apple finally loosened its cheap skate wallet and added more RAM to the iPad Air 2.

I never said I accepted it. It's just that, instead of wasting time complaining, I've focused my efforts and found workarounds such that this is no longer an issue for me. Good luck with your complaining.

 

[dagamer34]

iPhone 5 - 32bit
iPhone 6 - 64bit
iPhone6+ - 64bit plus HD 5.5" screen, plus desktop scaler.

All three phones have 1GB of RAM and they use more RAM the lower you get down the list.
So in effect the 2 year old iPhone 5 has more RAM than the current iPhone 6 and the most expensive iPhone, the 6+, has the least RAM.

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2GB would be twice as good, but it would be the bare minimum. Therefore that is all Apple will give us. If it had 3GB we wouldn't need to upgrade for ages.

Don't forget that extensions of any kind (today, sharing, photo, action, etc.) are also apps which take up memory even if you don't explicitly open them, as well as WatchKit extensions too. And background tasks too which also open up an app, kicking others out of memory

So no, I don't see how there isn't any impact on performance on a 6+ running iOS 8 vs. an iPhone 5 running iOS 6. The former clearly has less memory to deal with.

 

[sanke1]

I never said I accepted it. It's just that, instead of wasting time complaining, I've focused my efforts and found workarounds such that this is no longer an issue for me. Good luck with your complaining.

You should not have to hunt for workarounds for the most expensive phone in the market.

Apple should just add 3/4 GB of RAM to next iPhone and shut us up for next 3-4 years.

 

[jonnyb098]

You should not have to hunt for workarounds for the most expensive phone in the market.

Apple should just add 3/4 GB of RAM to next iPhone and shut us up for next 3-4 years.

Keep dreaming. There's no way in hell their goal is for people to keep their phones for 4 years.

 

[sunking101]

You should not have to hunt for workarounds for the most expensive phone in the market.

Apple should just add 3/4 GB of RAM to next iPhone and shut us up for next 3-4 years.

Exactly. I've had to employ workarounds and have to use my 6+ in a different manner to how I used my two generations older iPhone 5. Progress eh?

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Keep dreaming. There's no way in hell their goal is for people to keep their phones for 4 years.

I think he means for the next 3-4 iPhones. The iPhone 5, 5S and now 6 have had 1GB of RAM. So why not give the 6S, 7 and 7S 3GB of RAM? Quite frankly another three year stint with minimal RAM won't cut it. Premium Android phones have 3 and some are now getting 4GB of RAM. If Apple reckon their iPhone is the best phone on the market, they certainly charge enough to suggest that they think that, then the least they can do is make sure that there is sufficient RAM for an actual smartphone user to go about their business. I was shocked that my 6+ has much less available RAM than my old iPhone 5. I mean, you're kidding me?? Reload city! It's a joke and has had me hating my 6+ since before the honeymoon period even wore off. I should be able to keep this 64GB £700 phone for a couple of years but Apple now have me itching to buy the 6S and I consider that scandalous, all to get some more measly RAM that should have been in my phone to start with.

 

[Paradoxally]

I need don't need to use tumblr to make Safari begin reloading tabs. Are you saying we should use a different app for every website that gives Safari trouble? Let's see, add more RAM, or use a different app for every site that chokes Safari.

You're missing the point. What I mean is that if you take tumblr or any social media network seriously, you should download the app because it saves power and RAM. It's not just a question of performance or lack thereof.

 

[sanke1]

I was shocked that my 6+ has much less available RAM than my old iPhone 5. I mean, you're kidding me?? Reload city! It's a joke and has had me hating my 6+ since before the honeymoon period even wore off. I should be able to keep this 64GB £700 phone for a couple of years but Apple now have me itching to buy the 6S and I consider that scandalous, all to get some more measly RAM that should have been in my phone to start with.

I actually don't care much for available RAM as iOS is designed to eat up as much RAM that is available. But on 1 GB devices, the whole iOS randomly glitches out and reloads tabs and apps more easily.

The bigger question is how readily iPad Air 2 will reload tabs and apps once all iOS devices have 2 GB RAM.

 

[Paradoxally]

Exactly. I've had to employ workarounds and have to use my 6+ in a different manner to how I used my two generations older iPhone 5. Progress eh?

Then you're using it wrong, to put it bluntly. There is nothing I did on the 5 that I don't do exactly the same on the 6+, except for Touch ID because that didn't exist. I follow the exact same usage patterns and I am very satisfied with my purchase, as are many other people.

It seems like MacRumors is the home of complainers and people who are never satisfied with their devices. Just use the damn thing or do something about it. Sell it, keep it, switch, whatever.

My questions are:

1: Why do you keep complaining about Apple's underspecced phones? You should know this is how Apple has operated for years.

2: If you love specs and plenty of RAM, why not go Android? I'm sure you'd love a phone with some amazing specs, and Android has them and a lot more than what Apple will offer you (this is a serious question, no sarcasm intended). It's not like Lollipop is a bad OS, on the contrary.

 

[C DM]

Then you're using it wrong, to put it bluntly. There is nothing I did on the 5 that I don't do exactly the same on the 6+, except for Touch ID because that didn't exist. I follow the exact same usage patterns and I am very satisfied with my purchase, as are many other people.

It seems like MacRumors is the home of complainers and people who are never satisfied with their devices. Just use the damn thing or do something about it. Sell it, keep it, switch, whatever.

My questions are:

1: Why do you keep complaining about Apple's underspecced phones? You should know this is how Apple has operated for years.

2: If you love specs and plenty of RAM, why not go Android? I'm sure you'd love a phone with some amazing specs, and Android has them and a lot more than what Apple will offer you (this is a serious question, no sarcasm intended). It's not like Lollipop is a bad OS, on the contrary.

Not everyone has the same experience. And those that have some bad experiences with this or that don't necessarily have a bad experience with most other things or overall. Given the nature of what forums are often for seems quite appropriate that many people would voice their issues instead of just quietly living with them. Pretty much the norm and nothing exactly strange or new about it. It doesn't mean people should be quiet even if there's not much they can do about some issues or simply about something they would like to be better. It also doesn't mean that people should just completely go with something else just because they have some issues or want something to be improved.

 

[sunking101]

I actually don't care much for available RAM as iOS is designed to eat up as much RAM that is available. But on 1 GB devices, the whole iOS randomly glitches out and reloads tabs and apps more easily.

The bigger question is how readily iPad Air 2 will reload tabs and apps once all iOS devices have 2 GB RAM.

Yeah, I meant RAM available to me.#
2GB will be the bare minimum, but then apps will start to use more and the whole cycle will start again. Apple never give us ample RAM, it's always 'just enough' (or in the case of the 5S/6/6+ 'not enough'). They've got a cheek charging what they do and then underspeccing.

 

[sunking101]

Then you're using it wrong, to put it bluntly. There is nothing I did on the 5 that I don't do exactly the same on the 6+, except for Touch ID because that didn't exist. I follow the exact same usage patterns and I am very satisfied with my purchase, as are many other people.

It seems like MacRumors is the home of complainers and people who are never satisfied with their devices. Just use the damn thing or do something about it. Sell it, keep it, switch, whatever.

My questions are:

1: Why do you keep complaining about Apple's underspecced phones? You should know this is how Apple has operated for years.

2: If you love specs and plenty of RAM, why not go Android? I'm sure you'd love a phone with some amazing specs, and Android has them and a lot more than what Apple will offer you (this is a serious question, no sarcasm intended). It's not like Lollipop is a bad OS, on the contrary.

The i5 used less RAM than the 6+ and consequently more was available to prevent tab and app reloading. This is something I noticed straightaway. The 6+ simply cannot hold as many tabs and apps in their opened state as the i5 can. If this were 10 tabs v 8 then I wouldn't have much of a problem but the reduction is shocking. I cannot have my stock notes app, one browser tab and one heavy app such as Amazon or Ebay open and switch between them without suffering a reload. I could do this on my iPhone 5 with zero issues. I use my phone in a certain way and I cannot use my 6+ in the same way that I used my iPhone 5. Whether 256MB of RAM is fine for your uses or not is frankly of no consequence. I need more than the 1GB I've been given, simple as.

With my usage patterns, the iPhone 5 was a much better phone. Sure the screen was smaller but if a reason for not having an iPhone was the small screens, people would have migrated to Andoid four or five years ago. We didn't though did we? There are benefits to owning an iPhone other than screen size. So for me the 6+ is a significant overall downgrade on my two generations older iPhone 5. Sure I enjoy the screen, battery life and improved loudspeaker....but the i5 reloaded tabs and apps WAY less readily. For me the increased usability trumps having a bigger screen and incremental speed increases.

 

[oldmacs]

They need to both reduce iOS ram usage and put the phones on 2GB minimum. To be honest, the iPhone 6 is going to age TERRIBLY. The devices that age well tend to be the ones where the the specs well exceeded the need at the time. (iPad 2, iPad 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4S are such examples).

I'm hoping they use the 512MB devices as targets to reduce RAM usage for iOS 9, thus making it run well on 1GB devices. At the moment the iPad Mini 2 and 3 are disasters due to their low ram ceiling. its gotten to the point that my iPad 2 is less annoying to use than my brand new Mini 2 (I am also not alone in this and the genius bar has verified nothing wrong with my hardware).

People who are saying that the iPhone 6 is nothing different to Apple's past Under-speccing are WRONG. The 2G and 3G had 128 MB of ram, the 3GS had 256, the 4 had 512 and now a break in the pattern, we have the 5,5S and 6 all on 1 GB of ram - that is under speccing right there.

As mentioned before, Apple's under specced devices never age well. The 3G was a mess after iOS 4. The iPad 1 and 3 both aged terribly as well.

Lets remember that the 6 will probably live on for another two years, either as the current model or in a plastic case... and in 2 years time 1 GB of ram is not going to be pretty, as it is pretty terrible now.

Apple has the money to put 2GB of ram in, and if they haven't by the time of the
6S, I will have lost faith in them.

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After enduring iOS 4 on a iPhone 3G, I wouldn't put it past Apple declining to optimize the OS for an older SoC. They did it before and I won't doubt it will happen again.

When Apple actually optimises for older devices, you don't have performance issues. The 3GS runs iOS 6 well for example. The 3G with iOS 4.0 was just complete unoptimised. You can tell as 4.2 ran a heap better meaning that it as finally optimised.

 

[duffman9000]

Keep dreaming. There's no way in hell their goal is for people to keep their phones for 4 years.

At least with previous releases, the iPhone ran great upon release. The 6+ didn't, despite the deniers that tried to tell us otherwise. iOS 9 may run better, but iOS10 will cripple my phone. I bet it will be another iOS 7 to 8-like transition. We're going to wonder just what the hell the phone is doing to warrant another massive performance drop.

 

[ardchoille50]

You should not have to hunt for workarounds for the most expensive phone in the market.

Agreed. However, since circumstances do require workarounds it's more efficient to focus our energy on finding them.

Apple should just add 3/4 GB of RAM to next iPhone and shut us up for next 3-4 years.

Three to four years?! You must be new to the Internet. Apple could add 4GB of RAM and some folks would find fault elsewhere. Some people simply aren't happy unless they're complaining.

 

[C DM]

Agreed. However, since circumstances do require workarounds it's more efficient to focus our energy on finding them.



Three to four years?! You must be new to the Internet. Apple could add 4GB of RAM and some folks would find fault elsewhere. Some people simply aren't happy unless they're complaining.

And then there are plenty of people do have various issues or various improvements they would like to see and aren't just looking for completely random things to complain about.

 

[mazdamiata210]

You're missing the point. What I mean is that if you take tumblr or any social media network seriously, you should download the app because it saves power and RAM. It's not just a question of performance or lack thereof.

It was to prove a point to all the people who say "well I opened 32 tabs and it doesn't reload". It does reload, and having 8mb of free ram is not acceptable on any system while "idle".

All this arguing over a 20 cent chip that Apple will use for the 6S and 6S+

 

[Coupz]

Having 8mb ram free is a pretty good sign. If you don't understand this, you should read a little bit more about memory management of iOS and OSX.

 

[sanke1]

Agreed. However, since circumstances do require workarounds it's more efficient to focus our energy on finding them.



Three to four years?! You must be new to the Internet. Apple could add 4GB of RAM and some folks would find fault elsewhere. Some people simply aren't happy unless they're complaining.

Exactly. But they would definitely not be whining about RAM issue. Currently all the stutters, lags and reloads can be traced back to lack of RAM.

Why don't you personally demand a 512 MB iPhone made specially for you? Tim Cook would be more than happy to save 1$ over it.

It's 2015. How many days can Apple sit on 1 GB and pretend it's enough?

 

[chekz0414]

I must say iOS 8.3 on my old iPhone 5 was doing pretty well, but when my iPhone began to fail hardware wise due to a kernel panic I upgraded to an iPhone 6 Plus. The reloading tabs and apps thing isn't something made up, the 6 Plus really does reload more (BUT it also launches faster) I have gotten used to this, but I'm hoping Apple doesn't pull an iPad 3 and cuts this device prematurely. After all this device is faster than iPad Air, and iPad mini 2, and 3, and iPhone 5s. I think iOS 9 will bring optimization on par with Google which re engineered their OS to be efficient on only 512MB. I'm sure Apple can do the same, for all we know they have been since 9.0 has been in the works since last year.

 

[roadbloc]

I doubt it. Apple want people to buy new handsets, not use their older ones for longer.

 

[Ries]

If you approach a smart phone as if it were a desktop computer, then yes, it needs more RAM. However, if you see it for what it really is, a phone, then the current RAM situation is fine. Always select the right tool for the job.

You can't even have two simple apps running side by side... Open myfitnesspal, enter data, go to health app, check data, go back to myfitnesspal... guess what, the app reloads. This is 2015, windows 3.11 and DOS did a better job than the current iOS on 4MB of RAM.