Apple says all four models have 8GB of RAM

The iPhone 16 will hit stores on Friday, right after pre-orders are sent out to buyers who bought their desired models online. The release date of a new iPhone is usually the moment when we learn all its secrets, including the specs that Apple never likes to talk about on stage.

A new iPhone is usually torn down very early on the day of its launch, revealing everything new inside the phone. These teardowns usually reveal the amount of RAM Apple has used for each device, as well as the battery capacity. They also usually confirm what leaks leading up to the launch event have already revealed.

In the case of the iPhone 16, we won’t have to wait for teardowns to confirm that all four models have 8GB of RAM. Apple has already done that in a surprising move. Maybe Apple should be more bold and bring up the iPhone’s RAM on stage at a future event.

Earlier this year, Apple clarified that the Neural Engine on its custom chip is a key component supporting Apple Intelligence technology, after questions arose about why older iPhone models did not support Apple’s built-in AI features.

Apple has reluctantly confirmed that Apple Intelligence requires at least 8GB of RAM. The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have 6GB of RAM, so they can’t run Apple Intelligence. They also include the older A16 Bionic chip, while the iPhone 15 Pro has the more powerful A17 Pro chip.

This confirmation has further fueled speculation that all iPhone 16 variants will have at least 8GB of RAM. That’s what Apple used in the iPhone 15 Pro last year. We’ve also seen leaks saying that’s the amount of RAM Apple has chosen for this year’s devices. Next year, some versions of the iPhone 17 could even have 12GB of memory.

Recently, discoveries in Xcode seemed to answer the question about the iPhone 16’s RAM. But we would need a teardown to get a perfect confirmation.

Thanks to Apple’s VP of Hardware Technologies, Johny Srouji, we don’t have to wait until Friday. Srouji answered questions about the A18 chips in an interview with YouTuber GeekerwanAs for RAM, Srouji confirmed that Apple decided to use 8GB of RAM in the iPhone 16 variants mainly because of Apple Intelligence. But the RAM would also benefit from other things besides AI:

Our goal is to build the best products that deliver the absolute best user experience. As far as Apple is concerned, storage intelligence is one aspect, and when we look at what we build, whether it’s silicon, hardware, software, we don’t want to be wasteful in many ways.

We have a lot of data that tells us what will enable a particular feature, and Apple Intelligence is one of those very, very important features that we want to enable.

We look at different configurations both from a compute perspective and from a memory bandwidth perspective and memory capacity perspective. And then we made the right compromise and balance of what actually makes the most sense.

So Apple’s intelligence was the main thing that led us to believe that we needed to get to 8GB. But with that in mind, 8GB will help a lot in many other applications, including gaming, high-end gaming, AAA gaming, and on-device gaming. So I think it will be really, really beneficial.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this is one of the benefits of having the software, silicon, and product fully integrated. Our excellent team of developers will optimize not only the computations but also the memory usage of each application so that no memory is wasted.

So we looked at all of these trade-offs and came to the conclusion that “here’s what makes sense” and that 8GB was the perfect choice for us.

That’s Srouji’s entire answer about RAM in the iPhone 16, and I gave you the entire quote to give you a different perspective. That way, you can explain why the iPhone doesn’t have to match the RAM improvements you see in the iPhone.

Srouji does a great job of explaining Apple’s principles of creating best-in-class products and how that informs Apple’s decisions regarding its A-series and M-series chips. The full interview is worth watching, and you can find it below.

As someone who loves Srouji’s segments at Apple’s product launches, I’d like to see him explain the same rules at iPhone launch events. I don’t think Apple needs to hide these key iPhone specs. I’m sure Srouji and his team could offer key insights into iPhone memory requirements that home shoppers would appreciate.

The alternative is that the iPhone will still look worse than some Android phones, although that is obviously not true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmsNxBkemp0