All recently launched Apple devices, including the iPhone 16 series and the new iPad mini, come with 8GB of RAM. Yes, this includes the standard iPhone 16 model as well. But why did Apple choose 8GB of RAM when previous devices like the iPhone 15 ran smoothly with 6GB? The answer lies in the common link between all newly released devices. Located in Apple Intelligence. All new Apple devices support Apple Intelligence, and 8GB of RAM is thought to be a requirement. It is said that 8GB of RAM may be the minimum requirement for Apple Intelligence.
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Apple Intelligence and 8GB RAM requirements: What we know
Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technology, admitted in an interview with YouTuber Geekerwan earlier this year that Apple Intelligence requires 8GB of RAM. “We have extensive data on what enables certain features, and Apple Intelligence is a key feature that we wanted to support,” he told Geekerwan. He added, “We are evaluating different configurations of compute, memory bandwidth, and capacity to ensure the best performance. Apple Intelligence was a key factor in our decision to increase RAM to 8GB.”
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The iPad mini, updated for the first time in three years, also now includes 8GB of RAM, as confirmed by Bloomberg’s Mark Garman. Considering this is a premium iPad, Apple probably didn’t want to ship it without Apple Intelligence. That’s why we added 8GB of RAM along with the A17 Pro processor.
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Why standard iPhone 15 models don’t support Apple Intelligence
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are the only models in the iPhone 15 series that support Apple’s latest AI features. If you think about it, the standard model comes with 6GB of RAM, while the iPhone 15 Pro model comes with 8GB (same as the iPhone 16 series), which might explain the difference. Of course, the iPhone 15 Pro also has a faster A17 Pro processor, but the AI features can also exist on a much less powerful chipset thanks to a hybrid implementation.
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