iPhone 17 Pro Max to get exclusive 12GB RAM, vapor chamber cooling

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone

It may be very few days until Apple unveils iPhone 16 to the world, but new rumors about iPhone 17 Pro Max suggest that the on-device Apple Intelligence will get a big boost with 12GB of RAM.

Two smartphones arranged at an angle, one showing three rear cameras and the other displaying a black-and-white pattern of tech gadgets on its screen.
Renders of iPhone 16 Pro Max, which may be similar to iPhone 17 Pro Max



Apple has heavily emphasized its commitment to Apple Intelligence as the near future of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac platforms. While the 2024 iPhone 16 series will focus on AI for all, it seems iPhone 17 will have a device built to push operating boundaries.

According to a post on X from supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is looking to offer exclusive features for iPhone 17 Pro Max. Those include 12GB of RAM and vapor chamber cooling.

The standard iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and the so-called iPhone 17 Slim would run on 8GB of RAM. While these models would have access to Apple Intelligence, only the iPhone 17 Pro Max gets boosted performance with on-device models.

Vapor Chamber cooling would be additive to the already existing graphene sheets rumored for iPhone 16. Increased cooling means more efficient operations when the processor is being pushed.

Among the 2025 new iPhone models, only the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the following specifications:

1. 12GB DRAM (while the ultra-thin iPhone, iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and SE4 will all have 8GB). Enhanced on-device AI capabilities will likely be a major selling point for

-- (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo)



Kuo suggests that Apple's tendency to limit features for its flagship device is partially attributed to the demand for the model. If nearly 40% of new model shipments are Apple's most expensive model, then introducing new, compelling features can help drive customers to that tier.

The analyst and rumor monger industry isn't a perfect one. Ming-Chi Kuo has had ups and downs in predicting the future of iPhone, but component orders for RAM and cooling systems fit right into the things he tends to get right.

Kuo has also rumored that the iPhone 17 Pro Max could get a 48MP sensor for the 120 mm lens. If so, then all cameras on the rear of that device would have a 48MP or greater sensor in 2025.

Apple is set to announce the iPhone 16 series during the "It's Glowtime" Apple Event on September 9, 2024. About one year later, Apple will be announcing the iPhone 17 lineup, so expect a ton of rumors to come and go in the meantime.

Rumor Score: Possible

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    M68000M68000 Posts: 830member
    Other than battery capacity, it is a bit of a travesty that ALL features are only available on the oversized two handed jumbo phone for a given model year.

    i am pretty sure that Steve Jobs thought or said  phones should be able to be used with one hand.  I happen to agree with Steve on that.
    edited August 28 pulseimagescarstenl.oscargWhiskeyAPPLEcider
  • Reply 2 of 27
    dutchlorddutchlord Posts: 262member
    Pfff speculation about iphone 17 while the iphone 16 is not even released?  Sign of lack of interest for iphone 16 IMO. More of the same, no big deal for anybody.
    pulseimages
  • Reply 3 of 27
    nubusnubus Posts: 568member
    Why limit memory to large displays? On iPad Pro the memory is linked to storage. Apple could do the same on iPhone.
    Based on this it seems 16 is about the base model (3nm, 8 GB) while 17 will focus on Pro (16 Pro will get Wifi 7 and Advanced 5G of no current use).
    pulseimages
  • Reply 4 of 27
    AfarstarAfarstar Posts: 71member
    M68000 said:
    Other than battery capacity, it is a bit of a travesty that ALL features are only available on the oversized two handed jumbo phone for a given model year.

    i am pretty sure that Steve Jobs thought or said  phones should be able to be used with one hand.  I happen to agree with Steve on that.
    In case you hadn’t realised, Steve Jobs died many years ago. What he said then is of no relevance whatsoever in current markets. 
    Fidonet127jcs2305dewmewatto_cobraWhiskeyAPPLEcider
  • Reply 5 of 27
    humbug1873humbug1873 Posts: 156member
    nubus said:
    Why limit memory to large displays? On iPad Pro the memory is linked to storage. Apple could do the same on iPhone.
    Based on this it seems 16 is about the base model (3nm, 8 GB) while 17 will focus on Pro (16 Pro will get Wifi 7 and Advanced 5G of no current use).
    Simple: "Money" the Jumbo-Phones have the highest profit margins and Tim's Apple is all about money over insanely great products. Good in the short/medium Term for shareholders, bad for longterm viability as John Scully (and by extension Michael Spindler) so wonderfully demonstrated  in the 90's with Apple.
    M68000pulseimagesdanoxWhiskeyAPPLEcider
  • Reply 6 of 27
    Fidonet127Fidonet127 Posts: 565member
    This is a rumor. It may or may not be true. That said more memory is more power used which means larger battery needed. Both of which means more heat generated. It may be a case where the bigger phone allows for more space inside to add this in and to allow spreading the heat out. The larger phone case also acts like a bigger heat sink. Apple cannot disobey physics. 
    StrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 27
    seankillseankill Posts: 567member
    M68000 said:
    Other than battery capacity, it is a bit of a travesty that ALL features are only available on the oversized two handed jumbo phone for a given model year.

    i am pretty sure that Steve Jobs thought or said  phones should be able to be used with one hand.  I happen to agree with Steve on that.
    A good deal of this is physics. Volume is a cubed function. Increases in size have a huge impact on the volume of the device. No way can apple get the same features in a 4” screened iPhone that they get into a 6” screen iPhone.

    not to mention the market has spoken, look at the pressure to introduce larger screened phones when apple released the iPhone 4S. Even the 4” screen of the iPhone 5 was behind the times. 

    Admittedly, the screen sizes now are at the upper limit without folding technologies.
    muthuk_vanalingampulseimagesFidonet127tmayStrangeDayswatto_cobrajas99
  • Reply 8 of 27
    pulseimagespulseimages Posts: 644member
    Afarstar said:
    M68000 said:
    Other than battery capacity, it is a bit of a travesty that ALL features are only available on the oversized two handed jumbo phone for a given model year.

    i am pretty sure that Steve Jobs thought or said  phones should be able to be used with one hand.  I happen to agree with Steve on that.
    In case you hadn’t realised, Steve Jobs died many years ago. What he said then is of no relevance whatsoever in current markets. 
    That’s not true at all. Have people’s hand sizes drastically increased since he died? No and unless you have Gorilla sized hands the Pro Max is not a comfortable phone to hold one handed. It’s all about the money not what’s best for the consumer.
    M68000oscarg
  • Reply 9 of 27
    chadbagchadbag Posts: 2,023member
    M68000 said:
    Other than battery capacity, it is a bit of a travesty that ALL features are only available on the oversized two handed jumbo phone for a given model year.

    i am pretty sure that Steve Jobs thought or said  phones should be able to be used with one hand.  I happen to agree with Steve on that.
    To also quote Steve Jobs: “You’re holding it wrong”.   My hands are not gorilla sized at all and I very often use my Max Pro one handed without issue.  I also use it two handed.   Depends on what I’m doing.  Some things are easier two handed but a lot of normal use is fine one handed.  And the things that are easier two handed are because of size.  I’d be using two hands on a normal sized phone as well (mainly typing more than a few characters at a time).  

    I buy the largest phone that Apple makes.  I like to see more on screen or as my eyes age I can up the size of text a little and still get a lot on-screen.    I also use 3 screens including 2 4K screens on my work computer or on my personal Mac an iMac 5k and an attached 4K screen and a 3 Apple Cinema.  I like to have lots of real estate to see stuff and present relevant information.   
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 27
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 13,030member
    As usual Kuo gets anything not supplier-related wrong. He has zero insight in the “why” area, such as the product distinguisher claims. Adding new cooling components to the Pro Max isn’t likely an upsell (who in the hell cares?), but rather born out of the larger size and lower sales volume. Same as it ever was. 

    I mean come on. 
    edited August 29 tmaywatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 27
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 13,030member
    nubus said:
    Why limit memory to large displays? On iPad Pro the memory is linked to storage. Apple could do the same on iPhone.
    Based on this it seems 16 is about the base model (3nm, 8 GB) while 17 will focus on Pro (16 Pro will get Wifi 7 and Advanced 5G of no current use).
    Larger displays = higher resolution = more pixels = more RAM needed. This is not new. 
    watto_cobrajas99
  • Reply 12 of 27
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 13,030member
    humbug1873 said:
    nubus said:
    Why limit memory to large displays? On iPad Pro the memory is linked to storage. Apple could do the same on iPhone.
    Based on this it seems 16 is about the base model (3nm, 8 GB) while 17 will focus on Pro (16 Pro will get Wifi 7 and Advanced 5G of no current use).
    Simple: "Money" the Jumbo-Phones have the highest profit margins and Tim's Apple is all about money over insanely great products. Good in the short/medium Term for shareholders, bad for longterm viability as John Scully (and by extension Michael Spindler) so wonderfully demonstrated  in the 90's with Apple.
    Oh bless your heart, child. 
    Fidonet127dewme
  • Reply 13 of 27
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 13,030member
    Fidonet127 said:
    This is a rumor. It may or may not be true. That said more memory is more power used which means larger battery needed. Both of which means more heat generated. It may be a case where the bigger phone allows for more space inside to add this in and to allow spreading the heat out. The larger phone case also acts like a bigger heat sink. Apple cannot disobey physics. 
    But but but! Apple is greedy! Apple rips its customers off! Apple is a mustache-twirling villain plotting to make things difficult for us!
    Fidonet127watto_cobradewmejas99
  • Reply 14 of 27
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 13,030member
    pulseimages said:
    Afarstar said:
    M68000 said:
    Other than battery capacity, it is a bit of a travesty that ALL features are only available on the oversized two handed jumbo phone for a given model year.

    i am pretty sure that Steve Jobs thought or said  phones should be able to be used with one hand.  I happen to agree with Steve on that.
    In case you hadn’t realised, Steve Jobs died many years ago. What he said then is of no relevance whatsoever in current markets. 
    That’s not true at all. Have people’s hand sizes drastically increased since he died? No and unless you have Gorilla sized hands the Pro Max is not a comfortable phone to hold one handed. It’s all about the money not what’s best for the consumer.
    Poppycock nonsense. Apple’s own internal documents outlined that their consumers demanded larger displays. People vote with their wallets. 
    Fidonet127dewmemuthuk_vanalingamtmaythtwatto_cobrajas99
  • Reply 15 of 27
    kiwimacheadkiwimachead Posts: 45member
    I can never figure out why Apple are so stingy with storage, ram and graphics. Providing decent specs, as well as the ability to upgrade and repair, would be such an easy way to further differentiate themselves in the market as an integrated software and hardware company…
    edited August 30 pulseimageswatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 27
    Fidonet127Fidonet127 Posts: 565member
    kiwimachead said:
    I can never figure out why Apple are so stingy with storage, ram and graphics. Providing decent specs, as well as the ability to upgrade and repair, would be such an easy way to further differentiate themselves in the market as an integrated software and hardware company…
    Apple hasn’t needed more ram in phones because how well things run until AI hit. Apple Graphics and CPU are the ones to beat for mobile. For Macs the ASi has made them a serious contender. 
    watto_cobrajas99
  • Reply 17 of 27
    brianjobrianjo Posts: 50member
    Afarstar said:
    M68000 said:
    Other than battery capacity, it is a bit of a travesty that ALL features are only available on the oversized two handed jumbo phone for a given model year.

    i am pretty sure that Steve Jobs thought or said  phones should be able to be used with one hand.  I happen to agree with Steve on that.
    In case you hadn’t realised, Steve Jobs died many years ago. What he said then is of no relevance whatsoever in current markets. 
    Steve's vision was to make great products.  Tim's vision is to make great profits.

    The problem is that consumers gravitate towards features that seem cool in the beginning, but end up regretting their decision shortly thereafter.  A lot of people I know that bought the huge phones HATE them because they are so huge to carry around.  Only a few people I know searched out the smaller phones, but everyone that has the smaller phones loves them.  Weird, huh?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 27
    stevenozstevenoz Posts: 317member
    Fun graphic of the possible iPhone 17 interior.....


    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 27
    Fidonet127Fidonet127 Posts: 565member
    brianjo said:
    Afarstar said:
    M68000 said:
    Other than battery capacity, it is a bit of a travesty that ALL features are only available on the oversized two handed jumbo phone for a given model year.

    i am pretty sure that Steve Jobs thought or said  phones should be able to be used with one hand.  I happen to agree with Steve on that.
    In case you hadn’t realised, Steve Jobs died many years ago. What he said then is of no relevance whatsoever in current markets. 
    Steve's vision was to make great products.  Tim's vision is to make great profits.

    The problem is that consumers gravitate towards features that seem cool in the beginning, but end up regretting their decision shortly thereafter.  A lot of people I know that bought the huge phones HATE them because they are so huge to carry around.  Only a few people I know searched out the smaller phones, but everyone that has the smaller phones loves them.  Weird, huh?
    If they don’t like their phones shortly after, they can return them or sell them. You found a pocket of people who wish they had smaller phones. The market however points to people wanting larger phones, not smaller phones. 
    watto_cobradewme
  • Reply 20 of 27
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,554member
    Fidonet127 said:
    brianjo said:
    Afarstar said:
    M68000 said:
    Other than battery capacity, it is a bit of a travesty that ALL features are only available on the oversized two handed jumbo phone for a given model year.

    i am pretty sure that Steve Jobs thought or said  phones should be able to be used with one hand.  I happen to agree with Steve on that.
    In case you hadn’t realised, Steve Jobs died many years ago. What he said then is of no relevance whatsoever in current markets. 
    Steve's vision was to make great products.  Tim's vision is to make great profits.

    The problem is that consumers gravitate towards features that seem cool in the beginning, but end up regretting their decision shortly thereafter.  A lot of people I know that bought the huge phones HATE them because they are so huge to carry around.  Only a few people I know searched out the smaller phones, but everyone that has the smaller phones loves them.  Weird, huh?
    If they don’t like their phones shortly after, they can return them or sell them. You found a pocket of people who wish they had smaller phones. The market however points to people wanting larger phones, not smaller phones. 
    When Mr. Jobs was ridiculing competitors larger phones, it was when Apple offered only one form factor which was a small phone. It was a marketing thing that served its purpose at a moment in time. I doubt he truly believed a 5" phone was too big to use; they just weren't making one yet. Once Apple reacted to the market and came out with a larger one in addition to the small, all that was explained away and here we are today. 
    avon b7Fidonet127dewmejas99
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