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Move it to 8-10 GB of RAM and that is plenty for an iPhone.



16 GB is bumping against entry level laptop territory. I would love to see the workflow of people that need that much horsepower in an iPhone, because I do not believe they represent the greater majority of iPhone users. Most people are only using a phone to make calls/sending messages, take pictures, browse social media, do quick searches, and check emails.



Most tasks more intensive than that, most people are pulling out out a tablet, laptop, or they are going to a desktop.



That much RAM in a phone also would also come with trade offs such as making the phone significantly more expensive and users would also certainly take a significant hit in battery life. All those things are very unApple.
 
16 GB is bumping against entry level laptop territory.
“Entry level” laptop? I use my M1 Pro MBP for running Bayesian statistical models and analyzing multi-gigabyte neuroimaging datasets, and the base 16 GB has been more than enough for that. The only time I ever made full use of the 24 GB on my iMac was when I was using an EEG preprocessing tool that made some very poor RAM decisions (~18 GB used by the process), which I eventually fixed and submitted upstream so it’s both faster and only takes ~5 GB at most).

Like, I get people have workloads where 16 GB doesn’t cut it, but “entry-level”?
 
“Entry level” laptop? I use my M1 Pro MBP for running Bayesian statistical models and analyzing multi-gigabyte neuroimaging datasets, and the base 16 GB has been more than enough for that. The only time I ever made full use of the 24 GB on my iMac was when I was using an EEG preprocessing tool that made some very poor RAM decisions (~18 GB used by the process), which I eventually fixed and submitted upstream so it’s both faster and only takes ~5 GB at most).

Like, I get people have workloads where 16 GB doesn’t cut it, but “entry-level”?
His argument was ridiculous anyway, saying that 16 GB would cost as much as an Apple laptop. And it already does. And RAM would be one of the cheaper components. But Apple is all about margins. Eventually the iPhones will have 16 GB and everyone will act like it’s normal. I can’t honestly figure out why anyone would hate having nice things.
 
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Apple doesn't need to add $100 to offer flagship specs on their flagship phone. How else you think Apple is the most valuable company in the world?

Apple can easily put 16 GB RAM in their flagship phones if they wanted to so that apps stop reloading.

And I already got a M1 12.9 iPad Pro (which also suffers from apps reloading because it only has 8GB of RAM).
which apps?
 
Because there are times when out in the field or one needs to be mobile where even an ultraportable laptop like the M1 MBA won’t cut it. Also, specialty apps might require a specific mobile OS.

I’m office-bound nowadays so I’m not all that big on phones but I’m sure there are those who use their smartphones as highly capable pocket computers.
I dunno I have a M1 MBA and its very capable. What can't it do? Play games?
 
His argument was ridiculous anyway, saying that 16 GB would cost as much as an Apple laptop. And it already does. And RAM would be one of the cheaper components. But Apple is all about margins. Eventually the iPhones will have 16 GB and everyone will act like it’s normal. I can’t honestly figure out why anyone would hate having nice things.
I think its because most people aren't having a problem with the ram that we already have.
The ones that are having problems only talk about safari, so why not just close some tabs, or
restart the phone?
 
I have noticed a big difference between my old 11 Pro to my 13 Pro but only if I think about it and try to open old apps I haven't used/closed out. Quite frankly, if I haven't used the app yesterday or today, I rally don't care if it reloads. Where I have noticed a bigger difference is between my 2018 iPad Pro and my 2021 iPad Pro. The difference in RAM is very noticeable.
 
Doesn't work. Even my M1 12.9 iPad Pro with 8GB RAM has apps reloading under regular use. Apple needs to stop being cheap and put 16 GB RAM in their flagship devices.

No wonder Apple is the most profitable company in the world by charging flagship prices for non-flagship specs.
What apps are reloading for you? You just give this vague complaint.

Speaking of flagship phones. Let's compare some of the flagship phones with twice as much RAM as the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

How about the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra with 12 GB vs iPhone 13 Pro Max with 6GB. Start the video at 11:56.

How about the Google Pixel 6 Pro with 12 GB vs iPhone 13 Pro Max with 6GB. Start the video at 12:12.

How about the Motorola Edge X30 with 12 GB vs iPhone 13 Pro Max with 6GB. Start the video at 8:52.

How about the Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro with 12 GB vs iPhone 13 Pro Max with 6GB. Start the video at 8:58.
 
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Personally, I like that my iPhone 12 Pro is still one of the most responsive and smooth working phones on the market, even though it's a year and a half old, but sure, you go for numbers in specs and call them "non-flagship".
Exactly. Honestly, with 6GB of RAM, the A15, and ProMOTION, my 13 Pro is absolute buttery smooth and fast.
 
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iPhones have always had “flagship” RAM because the iPhone has always been a “flagship” device and thus defines what amount of RAM is considered “flagship” at the time of release of any said model.

If you’re using Android to compare, that’s disingenuous considering Android needs an entire VM layer on top of the OS to run. The needs and memory management are completely different. Android “flagships” have almost always needed more RAM to compete.

The thread was opened with a question that doesn’t make any sense and gives no context to what the OP means by “flagship RAM.” Which is apparently 16GB I guess?

I’ve always been more disappointed in the storage options for iPhones than RAM. Remember how long 16GB was the total storage in iPhones!? Way too long.

A small consideration for this: Apple has stretched the technology in order to turn a bigger profit for longer, but doing so has forced them to make their OS extremely efficient for dealing with such low resources and it’s because of all that time fine tuning the efficiencies that we get the performance we get at the power draws we see in current iPhones. Plus it’s the reason for the long support tail of iOS devices. All good things.

Would 16GB in an iPhone be nice? Maybe, but as many have pointed out, there’s not much to do on an iPhone that needs that much RAM. So what’s the point of upping it now?
 
Doesn't work. Even my M1 12.9 iPad Pro with 8GB RAM has apps reloading under regular use. Apple needs to stop being cheap and put 16 GB RAM in their flagship devices.

No wonder Apple is the most profitable company in the world by charging flagship prices for non-flagship specs.

Perhaps it is you who is the cheap one since you got an 8GB iPad when you clearly needed one with at least 16GB. Pay more money for the specs you need?
 
What apps are reloading for you? You just give this vague complaint.

Speaking of flagship phones. Let's compare some of the flagship phones with twice as much RAM as the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

How about the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra with 12 GB vs iPhone 13 Pro Max with 6GB. Start the video at 11:56.

How about the Google Pixel 6 Pro with 12 GB vs iPhone 13 Pro Max with 6GB. Start the video at 12:12.

How about the Motorola Edge X30 with 12 GB vs iPhone 13 Pro Max with 6GB. Start the video at 8:52.

How about the Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro with 12 GB vs iPhone 13 Pro Max with 6GB. Start the video at 8:58.
Really impressive how well the iPhone does with just 6GB of RAM.
 
Doesn't work. Even my M1 12.9 iPad Pro with 8GB RAM has apps reloading under regular use. Apple needs to stop being cheap and put 16 GB RAM in their flagship devices.

No wonder Apple is the most profitable company in the world by charging flagship prices for non-flagship specs.
Maybe this will help.

 
iPhones have always had “flagship” RAM because the iPhone has always been a “flagship” device and thus defines what amount of RAM is considered “flagship” at the time of release of any said model.

If you’re using Android to compare, that’s disingenuous considering Android needs an entire VM layer on top of the OS to run. The needs and memory management are completely different. Android “flagships” have almost always needed more RAM to compete.

The thread was opened with a question that doesn’t make any sense and gives no context to what the OP means by “flagship RAM.” Which is apparently 16GB I guess?

I’ve always been more disappointed in the storage options for iPhones than RAM. Remember how long 16GB was the total storage in iPhones!? Way too long.

A small consideration for this: Apple has stretched the technology in order to turn a bigger profit for longer, but doing so has forced them to make their OS extremely efficient for dealing with such low resources and it’s because of all that time fine tuning the efficiencies that we get the performance we get at the power draws we see in current iPhones. Plus it’s the reason for the long support tail of iOS devices. All good things.

Would 16GB in an iPhone be nice? Maybe, but as many have pointed out, there’s not much to do on an iPhone that needs that much RAM. So what’s the point of upping it now?
Yes and of course they'd charge us more for more memory and we'd use more battery.
Maybe apple could sell iPhones with more ram for people that want to pay more
and the 6 or 8 gigs for the rest of us.
 
Personally, I like that my iPhone 12 Pro is still one of the most responsive and smooth working phones on the market, even though it's a year and a half old, but sure, you go for numbers in specs and call them "non-flagship".
Spec chasers are rife on this website regardless of practical value, necessity or the engineering compromises necessary to ameliorate their specific complaint. This will never end no matter what Apple does.
 
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