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iPhone X Why do iPhones need so much RAM when there’s no multitasking like computers?

Hieveryone

Hieveryone

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 11, 2014
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USA
I love my iPhone X, but what keeps me up at night is only having 3GB of RAM. I worry that it will slow down in time and wish I had 4GB RAM.

But my question is, if you’ve got laptops out there doing all right with 4GB RAM, why would an iPhone that does very little intensive work need so much RAM?

If all you do is Safari, YouTube, Snapchat, Insta, notes, and so on, what is the need for so much RAM?

Thanks
 
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It doesn’t and devices do just fine with 2gb of ram let alone 3gb. If you want to keep tons of apps running in the background then obviously more is better. I personally only keep a few apps open at any given time and have never had issues with my iPad Air2 which has 2gb or my X which has 3
 
iPhone 6 has 1 GB of ram and it doesn't keep me up at night.

Where I notice low ram issues (on iPhone 6) is just about every app in the background will suspend after a short while and have to be reloaded. With more ram this doesn't happen as much. Also some apps just crash if they hit the ram limit wall.

Also iOS is now a lot fatter than it used to be as each new iteration of iOS requires more ram to work optimally.

Gotta remember, back in the Mac OS 7/8 days, (1990's) computers shipped with 16MB (not GB) of ram standard and they ran fine.

It's not so much the apps on iOS require more ram now than before, it's ios itself
 
I’m kind of in a position where I

*LOVE*

my iPhone X. Like this is my joy right here.

And after seeing how the selfies are with the XS, I cherish this selfie camera like you don’t even know.

So one side I’m like, I’m keeping this thing forever.

On the other hand, is Apple radically changes up its design I don’t what I’d do then. I might feel pressured to upgrade.

Or if this thing becomes slow ugh.
 
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BasicGreatGuy said:
I am always multitasking with my phone. As previously stated, the more RAM, the smoother your device will work under the load.
Click to expand...

What does multitasking mean for iPhone?

I’m never able to open more than 1 app at a time.

Like safari, then swipe up to home, then twitter, then swipe up to home, then insta, and so on.

On the MacBook though, I’ve got notes open, safari, time machine doing its thing, etc all at the same time. No problems.
 
Hieveryone said:
What does multitasking mean for iPhone?

I’m never able to open more than 1 app at a time.

Like safari, then swipe up to home, then twitter, then swipe up to home, then insta, and so on.

On the MacBook though, I’ve got notes open, safari, time machine doing its thing, etc all at the same time. No problems.
Click to expand...
You can have several apps open at a time on the iPhone.
 
Hieveryone said:
What does multitasking mean for iPhone?

I’m never able to open more than 1 app at a time.

Like safari, then swipe up to home, then twitter, then swipe up to home, then insta, and so on.

On the MacBook though, I’ve got notes open, safari, time machine doing its thing, etc all at the same time. No problems.
Click to expand...

When you swipe back home, the app you were in is still open in a suspended state and you can return to it at any time with the app switcher. Apps do not close unless you kill it in the app switcher. I'm guessing that every app you have ever used is still open. :)
 
Just because you don’t see these apps, doesn’t mean they’re not running (or are suspended in the background).

iOS, macOS and etc. make very good use of whatever RAM you have available, so the more you have the better it runs.

I don’t think you can call these mobile apps “all you do” anymore. They’re quite complex now.
 
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BasicGreatGuy said:
You can have several apps open at a time on the iPhone.
Click to expand...

But how does this help? Unless you’re listening to Spotify, what difference does it make if notes is “on” or “off” when I’m looking at Insta?
[doublepost=1539730276][/doublepost]
JBGoode said:
When you swipe back home, the app you were in is still open in a suspended state and you can return to it at any time with the app switcher. Apps do not close unless you kill it in the app switcher. I'm guessing that every app you have ever used is still open. :)
Click to expand...

But how does this help? Like I’m trying to understand this.

If I’m not using it, why should it matter what it’s doing?
 
Another question...


When would I need the app switcher?

Isn’t it easier and faster just to go back to the home screen?

Like I’m on safari, and then I need insta,

Opening the app switcher and finding it is harder at least for me.

Rather swipe up and bam Insta is right there.
[doublepost=1539730887][/doublepost]Wait

I think I get it

Basically, if I’m looking at Safari then exit to another app then come back to safari

I can start where I left off. No need to reload.

THATS why RAM is necessary?

I think I understand now
 
Last edited:
I think folks have forgotten how S. L. O. W. Safari ran in iPhone models that only had 512MB RAM, or even 1GB for some people. MacRumors forums were full of people complaining about browswer refreshes, too. With the additional RAM, I rarely read any of those complaints today.
 
RudySnow said:
I think folks have forgotten how S. L. O. W. Safari ran in iPhone models that only had 512MB RAM, or even 1GB for some people. MacRumors forums were full of people complaining about browswer refreshes, too. With the additional RAM, I rarely read any of those complaints today.
Click to expand...


They were slow when the iPhones got old.

My 3GS was super speedy on iPhone OS 3 and 4.
 
Don’t forget that there are a considerable number of processes running it the background even when you first turn on the device without launching any apps.
Location services, Siri, mail fetch, alarms, notifications monitoring - these all take memory and processor capacity.
 
Hieveryone said:
Another question...


When would I need the app switcher?

Isn’t it easier and faster just to go back to the home screen?

Like I’m on safari, and then I need insta,

Opening the app switcher and finding it is harder at least for me.

Rather swipe up and bam Insta is right there.
[doublepost=1539730887][/doublepost]Wait

I think I get it

Basically, if I’m looking at Safari then exit to another app then come back to safari

I can start where I left off. No need to reload.

THATS why RAM is necessary?

I think I understand now
Click to expand...
No need to goto the app switcher, you can just swipe right or left on the home bar and switch between apps.
 
AppleHaterLover said:
Just because you don’t see these apps, doesn’t mean they’re not running (or are suspended in the background).
Click to expand...

pick one b/c running and "suspended" are two completely different things. apple doesnt allow apps to run in the background. thats why all your downloads stop the moment you exit the app
 
AppleHaterLover said:
They were slow when the iPhones got old.

My 3GS was super speedy on iPhone OS 3 and 4.
Click to expand...

Safari was always slow on the 3GS even on that time. Things are always better in our memory, but I clearly remember that browsing the internet was always painful and slow on my 3GS. When I was at home I was still always on my PC at that time for even little google research because the experience on the phone was not really good.
 
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boomer11 said:
pick one b/c running and "suspended" are two completely different things. apple doesnt allow apps to run in the background. thats why all your downloads stop the moment you exit the app
Click to expand...

Yes, they are two different things. They are not mutually exclusive.

All the rest you said is wrong. I suggest you talk to a developer when you have the chance. Apps can request time to finish a task (such as downloading something) and there are background execution modes SPECIFICALLY for apps that need to run in the background.


You would have been right in 2007, 2009 tops.
 
And for multitasking apps, how is the iPhone XS compared to the 6s or 7? how many apps can stay open on the background now? On my 6s plus I can have 2-3 apps open at the same time, but if I do something that takes a lot of memory, the other apps will reload even if it was the last one I opened.
 
AppleHaterLover said:
Yes, they are two different things. They are not mutually exclusive.

All the rest you said is wrong. I suggest you talk to a developer when you have the chance. Apps can request time to finish a task (such as downloading something) and there are background execution modes SPECIFICALLY for apps that need to run in the background.


You would have been right in 2007, 2009 tops.
Click to expand...

like which apps?

screen record yourself downloading some photos, exit out and tell me what happens

screen record yourself downloading some music from itunes, exit out and tell me what happens
 
While out and about in town, I listen to spotify while mapmywalk is recording my route and occasionally browse Safari or read email.
 
chrfr said:
The other poster is right. This is part of what the whole “Background app refresh” does.
https://developer.apple.com/documen...xtending_your_app_s_background_execution_time
Click to expand...

lol are you kidding? background "refresh" is not even in the same universe as allowing an app to run in the background. i feel like iphone users dont even know what multi tasking even is....

go to convert a 4k video and then try to go do something else. does the conversion continue in the background so you can go do something else?
 
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