'iPhone 12 Pro' again rumored to boast 6GB of RAM, 'iPhone 12' stuck with 4GB [u]

AppleInsider

A prolific leaker shared additional details about Apple's next-generation iPhone series on Thursday, claiming the top-tier "iPhone 12 Pro" will sport 6GB of system memory.

The specification was shared in a cryptic tweet from the mysterious "L0vettodream," who said, "Professional 6GB General 4GB." While not specifically mentioned, the upcoming "iPhone 12" series is thought to be the focus of L0vetodream's tweet, as the handsets are expected to be Apple's next big hardware launch.

Memory allotment has long been rumored to come in at 6GB for the highest-spec "Pro" iteration, while base variants are anticipated to carry over the usual 4GB of RAM seen on iPhone 11. Both "iPhone 12 Pro" and "iPhone 12" are predicted to run an "A14" processor potentially more powerful than the A12Z Bionic SoC found in iPad Pro.

Extra RAM will enable the high-end iPhone to handle critical computations and should allow more apps or browser tabs to be open simultaneously in the background. Further benefits could include a boost to processor-intensive camera operations, features Apple continuously improves upon with each new iPhone release.

	iPhone 12	iPhone 12 Max	iPhone 12 Pro	iPhone 12 Pro Max
Display	5.4-inch BOE OLED Super Retina	6.1-inch BOE OLED Super Retina	6.1-inch Samsung OLED Super Retina XDR with ProMotion and 10-bit Color Depth	6.7-inch Samsung OLED Super Retina XDR with ProMotion and 10-bit Color Depth
Memory	4GB	4GB	6GB	6GB
Storage	128GB, 256GB	128GB, 256GB	128GB, 256GB, 512GB	128GB, 256GB, 512GB
Body	Aluminum	Aluminum	Stainless Steel	Stainless Steel
Rear Cameras	Dual camera	Dual camera	Triple camera + LiDAR	Triple camera + LiDAR
Pricing	$649, $749	$749, $849	$999, $1,099, $1,299	$1,099, $1,199, $1,399

For 2020, Apple is rumored to integrate a triple camera array and possible LiDAR Scanner on "iPhone 12 Pro," while mid-tier variants will make do with a dual-camera system.

Beyond RAM, so-called "Pro" versions of the forthcoming smartphone are expected to integrate a stainless steel chassis, 6.1- and 6.7-inch OLED screens with ProMotion, and other improvements. Rumors point to a revamped iPad Pro-inspired design for both next-generation lines.

Update: Noted leaker Jon Prosser corroborated the RAM rumor in a tweet Thursday.

Can confirm

-- Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser)

July 10, 2020

entropys

I strongly doubt I will ever feel the slightest bit memory constrained over the life of my future love, the 5.4 inch iPhone 12.

edit: I will certainly be more memory constrained than the phone, just say in’.

Rayz2016

“Whhaaaattttt?? Stingy Apple is only giving us 4GB when Samsung is putting 1 petabyte in the new Note Fission?? And Samsung is throwing in the new Samsung ReactorInATruck (beta),  fifty miles of power cabling and a HAZMAT suit!! Sweet deal! F*ck Apple and f*ck my ability to reproduce! I’m going Android!”

Beats

Rayz2016 said:

“Whhaaaattttt?? Stingy Apple is only giving us 4GB when Samsung is putting 1 petabyte in the new Note Fission?? And Samsung is throwing in the new Samsung ReactorInATruck (beta),  fifty miles of power cabling and a HAZMAT suit!! Sweet deal! F*ck Apple and f*ck my ability to reproduce! I’m going Android!”

Remember when Samsung was giving away big screen TVs so people could buy their knockoffs?

michelb76

Whatever helps to make these things cheaper.

rwes

entropys said:

I strongly doubt I will ever feel the slightest bit memory constrained over the life of my future love, the 5.4 inch iPhone 12.

edit: I will certainly be more memory constrained than the phone, just say in’.

If everything above holds, my gf is getting my current iPhone 11 Pro (she should like, coming from an iPhone 8) and I’m doing the same as you! +1 for future love, 5.4” iPhone 12. Miss the feel of the 1st gen SE! hope this will be a great substitute; maybe the first time I order on launch day, IIRC, as well.

GeorgeBMac

I wonder two things:

-- How close are the speeds of storage vs RAM?

-- Do iPhones 'page' memory requirements in excess of available RAM to storage?

Depending on the answers to those questions, more RAM may or may not make a lot of difference.

BUT, as the article points out, it could be a factor in photos where speed & lack of latency can make a significantly different experience for the user.

Marvin

GeorgeBMac said:

I wonder two things:

-- How close are the speeds of storage vs RAM?

-- Do iPhones 'page' memory requirements in excess of available RAM to storage?

Depending on the answers to those questions, more RAM may or may not make a lot of difference.

BUT, as the article points out, it could be a factor in photos where speed & lack of latency can make a significantly different experience for the user.

In the iPhone, storage and RAM speed are not very close and it doesn't use virtual memory:

https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Performance/Conceptual/ManagingMemory/Articles/AboutMemory.html

"Although OS X supports a backing store, iOS does not. In iPhone applications, read-only data that is already on the disk (such as code pages) is simply removed from memory and reloaded from disk as needed. Writable data is never removed from memory by the operating system. Instead, if the amount of free memory drops below a certain threshold, the system asks the running applications to free up memory voluntarily to make room for new data. Applications that fail to free up enough memory are terminated."

More memory is always good to have, especially when dealing with higher resolution data like 4K video. I don't think it's nearly as important on an iPhone as more productive devices like an iPad but if they do at some point allow running macOS on the device when it's docked to a display, it would make sense to have more.

This kind of setup might seem odd to some but it makes a lot of sense for businesses. The new filesystem partitions the operating systems into read-only volumes with the data separate. They can easily install iOS and macOS on the same device and they can both share access to the same data partition. That means things like email and documents don't need to be synced between mobile and desktop.

For heavy computing and file writes, it doesn't make sense to have this setup but most people aren't in this category. This could encourage a lot of people to get rid of their PCs. Kids can get hand-down mobiles and get a free computer with it. Schools can get rid of Chromebooks because iOS devices with the Mac system would be more productive and the hardware cheap.

Metriacanthosaurus

iPhone 12 isn't "stuck" with anything.

If iPhone 12 Pro is getting 6 GB, it is because of some specific new feature that demands the system have more memory, to maintain the already good performance.

GeorgeBMac

Marvin said:

GeorgeBMac said:

I wonder two things:

-- How close are the speeds of storage vs RAM?

-- Do iPhones 'page' memory requirements in excess of available RAM to storage?

Depending on the answers to those questions, more RAM may or may not make a lot of difference.

BUT, as the article points out, it could be a factor in photos where speed & lack of latency can make a significantly different experience for the user.

In the iPhone, storage and RAM speed are not very close and it doesn't use virtual memory:

https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Performance/Conceptual/ManagingMemory/Articles/AboutMemory.html

"Although OS X supports a backing store, iOS does not. In iPhone applications, read-only data that is already on the disk (such as code pages) is simply removed from memory and reloaded from disk as needed. Writable data is never removed from memory by the operating system. Instead, if the amount of free memory drops below a certain threshold, the system asks the running applications to free up memory voluntarily to make room for new data. Applications that fail to free up enough memory are terminated."

More memory is always good to have, especially when dealing with higher resolution data like 4K video. I don't think it's nearly as important on an iPhone as more productive devices like an iPad but if they do at some point allow running macOS on the device when it's docked to a display, it would make sense to have more.

This kind of setup might seem odd to some but it makes a lot of sense for businesses. The new filesystem partitions the operating systems into read-only volumes with the data separate. They can easily install iOS and macOS on the same device and they can both share access to the same data partition. That means things like email and documents don't need to be synced between mobile and desktop.

For heavy computing and file writes, it doesn't make sense to have this setup but most people aren't in this category. This could encourage a lot of people to get rid of their PCs. Kids can get hand-down mobiles and get a free computer with it. Schools can get rid of Chromebooks because iOS devices with the Mac system would be more productive and the hardware cheap.

WoW!   I wish you would do an entire article on that!   It's fascinating and the ramifications and possibilities even more so!

Partly, if nothing else, I think it explains the efficiency of iPhones -- especially the early, lower powered ones:   Instead of thrashing around moving data from here to there and back again, it simply takes it once from where it is....    Simple, easy, and efficient.   But, as you point out, may be less effective in a "productive" (high demand) scenario.

But too, it demonstrates that increasing RAM may be (for the demanding applications) more helpful in an iPhone than in a Mac.

And yes! I'm loving the thought of plopping my iPhone into a dock and using it as a MacBook.   That is, if not already possible, very possible for future phones

Apple_Intrigued

This article has some old, incorrect information. The iPhone 12 & 12 Max will not have BOE displays, as they didn't pass Apple's standards. Also, the starting price for the 128 GB 5.4" 12 is now rumored to be $749.  All of the prices have gone up, despite the removal of the earbuds & charger.  That goes to show you that Apple's intent is clearly to make money from people buying their fast chargers, which they never include in the box.  It has nothing to do with saving the environment. No surprise there.

GeorgeBMac

Metriacanthosaurus said:

iPhone 12 isn't "stuck" with anything.

If iPhone 12 Pro is getting 6 GB, it is because of some specific new feature that demands the system have more memory, to maintain the already good performance.

Having more RAM is like having more sex....  Nobody, ever, complained of having too much.

SpamSandwich

Is “Boast” an SEO term to goose hits for the site? It’s a bit goofy to assign human motivations to a phone and I’ve seen this word used in headlines here far too often. How about “iPhone 12 Pro rumored to sport 6 GB of RAM...”?

sergioz

Mikey Campbell says "Extra RAM will enable the high-end iPhone to handle critical computations and should allow more apps or browser tabs to be open simultaneously in the background." Are you referring to Chrome, maybe Firefox? Definitely not mobile Safari, because Safari doesn't use RAM for "... tabs open simultaneously in the background" Safari only using RAM for currently open tab!

harry wild

Just remember that difference between 4 and 6 GB of RAM is (6-4) 2 or 50% more RAM!  Cost Apple about $4.00 more for 6GB RAM!  Apple always force you to buy the top tier if you know anything about technology!  But I may wait it out till next year to see if Apple elevates the 5.4” to Pro status!

appleexpat

1-2 GB of RAM this year and maybe after 2 more years they will finally update data transfer speeds out of the outdated lightning port where data transfers for syncing between an iPhone and a MacBook Pro transfers at a snail's pace. Hello Apple, please address and update this outdated and slow lightning port on the iPhones along with the RAM inside

nicholfd

Apple_Intrigued said:

This article has some old, incorrect information. The iPhone 12 & 12 Max will not have BOE displays, as they didn't pass Apple's standards. Also, the starting price for the 128 GB 5.4" 12 is now rumored to be $749.  All of the prices have gone up, despite the removal of the earbuds & charger.  That goes to show you that Apple's intent is clearly to make money from people buying their fast chargers, which they never include in the box.  It has nothing to do with saving the environment. No surprise there.

And you know all of this to be fact, how?