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iPad Should it have more RAM?

B

bteam

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 2, 2012
16
0
So I've had the iPad 4 for 2 weeks. It's nearly perfect, but there is a flaw. It seems like Safari likes to reload tabs if too many open. This is very, very annoying. From googling, the problem seems to be a lack of RAM. If there is not enough, Safari releases the older tabs from memory then reloads when you switch back. My iPad is mostly used for web surfing and I use it more than my other computers so I get this problem everyday.

If Apple releases a 2 gig iPad next year, I will probably upgrade.

Not looking for an argument, but I'd just like to hear your thoughts. Should the iPad have more RAM?
 
WhiteIphone5

WhiteIphone5

macrumors 65816
May 27, 2011
1,182
2
Lima, Peru
bteam said:
So I've had the iPad 4 for 2 weeks. It's nearly perfect, but there is a flaw. It seems like Safari likes to reload tabs if too many open. This is very, very annoying. From googling, the problem seems to be a lack of RAM. If there is not enough, Safari releases the older tabs from memory then reloads when you switch back. My iPad is mostly used for web surfing and I use it more than my other computers so I get this problem everyday.

If Apple releases a 2 gig iPad next year, I will probably upgrade.

Not looking for an argument, but I'd just like to hear your thoughts. Should the iPad have more RAM?
Click to expand...

Of course, everyone loves more RAM. But in my opinion it's not really necessary, I think iOS handles RAM very well.
 
Ipadlover29

Ipadlover29

macrumors 6502a
May 28, 2011
972
308
bteam said:
So I've had the iPad 4 for 2 weeks. It's nearly perfect, but there is a flaw. It seems like Safari likes to reload tabs if too many open. This is very, very annoying. From googling, the problem seems to be a lack of RAM. If there is not enough, Safari releases the older tabs from memory then reloads when you switch back. My iPad is mostly used for web surfing and I use it more than my other computers so I get this problem everyday.

If Apple releases a 2 gig iPad next year, I will probably upgrade.

Not looking for an argument, but I'd just like to hear your thoughts. Should the iPad have more RAM?
Click to expand...

I was disappointed when I found out the iPad 4 only has 1gb of ram. Of course apple wants us to buy the 5 to get more ram.
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,461
43,381
clyde2801 said:
Wait til next year, it'll have it then.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Apple has a long and illustrious history of providing products that have very little ram. If they think for the usage the mini is getting 512meg is sufficient they'll keep it at the level.
 
B

Breitling65

macrumors 6502
Mar 3, 2011
320
3
bteam said:
So I've had the iPad 4 for 2 weeks. It's nearly perfect, but there is a flaw. It seems like Safari likes to reload tabs if too many open. This is very, very annoying. From googling, the problem seems to be a lack of RAM. If there is not enough, Safari releases the older tabs from memory then reloads when you switch back. My iPad is mostly used for web surfing and I use it more than my other computers so I get this problem everyday.

If Apple releases a 2 gig iPad next year, I will probably upgrade.

Not looking for an argument, but I'd just like to hear your thoughts. Should the iPad have more RAM?
Click to expand...


I would prefer better and faster iOS7 including new safari.
 
J

jimboutilier

macrumors 6502a
Nov 10, 2008
647
42
Denver
I experienced Safari page reloading with my iPad 1 but not so much with an iPad 2 or mini. But I suppose it depends on the number and complexity of pages open. I usually only have a handful open at once and tend to consume each one in sequence rather than doing a lot of switching.

I can appreciate the desire for more RAM, but remember its onboard the processor not separate so it's nothing like adding commodity rem sticks. They have to come up with a whole new processor package that includes more ram in the design.
 
nfl46

nfl46

macrumors G3
Oct 5, 2008
8,349
8,703
Most likely the iPad 5 will have 2GB, while most Android tablets have 3-4 GB next year.
 
HobeSoundDarryl

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
Feb 8, 2004
12,221
15,593
Hobe Sound, FL (20 miles north of Palm Beach)
Of course it should have more ram. As soon as iOS took on the background multitasking functionality in a real way (which was what- version 2 or 3?), the need for more and more ram manifested. Multitasking and pinched ram are a poor pairing.

While they're at it (adding more ram), I'd like to be able to tag certain apps to stay in RAM. For example, it would be good if an interested user could make their VOIP app always be active in RAM. As is, things get kicked out of ram to free up space for more recently opened apps. Being able to tag some key apps to be "always on" would be a great way to use some of that added ram we want to see.

Of course, such an option paired with some apps would burn through battery time more rapidly, but a "warning" could advise users of that when they try to use that functionality.
 
B

bteam

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 2, 2012
16
0
HobeSoundDarryl said:
Of course it should have more ram. As soon as iOS took on the background multitasking functionality in a real way (which was what- version 2 or 3?), the need for more and more ram manifested. Multitasking and pinched ram are a poor pairing.

While they're at it (adding more ram), I'd like to be able to tag certain apps to stay in RAM. For example, it would be good if an interested user could make their VOIP app always be active in RAM. As is, things get kicked out of ram to free up space for more recently opened apps. Being able to tag some key apps to be "always on" would be a great way to use some of that added ram we want to see.

Of course, such an option paired with some apps would burn through battery time more rapidly, but a "warning" could advise users of that when they try to use that functionality.
Click to expand...

A lot of people seem to be happy with their minis with only 512 MB. :confused:

Can't they do something like connected standby on the new Macs where the program is suspended, but if a packet arrives for a particular program it's woken up? I don't think the notification service works like this because it goes through Apple.

They could always use flash memory as swap space, but I've seen benchmarks on sync speed and it's pretty slow.
 
S

Saberon

macrumors 6502a
Sep 16, 2008
982
1
As much as I love the Mini in person, I decided to get the 4 just for the big jump in CPU/RAM. The Mini has the same hardware as the iPad 2.

Just to clarify some confusion I always seem to find on these forums

iPhone: 128MB
iPhone 3G: 128MB
iPhone 3GS: 256MB
iPhone 4: 512MB
iPhone 4S: 512MB
iPhone 5: 1GB

iPad 1: 256MB
iPad 2: 512MB
iPad 3: 1GB
iPad 4: 1GB
iPad Mini: 512MB

iPod Touch 1: 128MB
iPod Touch 2: 128MB
iPod Touch 3 (32GB and 64GB only) 256MB
iPod Touch 4: 256MB
iPod Touch 5: 512MB
 
Last edited:
F

Fruit Cake

macrumors 6502a
Mar 31, 2012
597
20
They need to enable the swap file in iOS, 1gb ram would go a lot further then it does now.
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,461
43,381
clyde2801 said:
Silly me. But I wonder what next year's model will bring, assuming it won't have a retina display. New colors?
Click to expand...

I don't know what they'll have, but they've never touted the amount of ram as part of the upgrade on iPad models so I kind of doubt that will be one of the items that will be marketed as improved. Heck they don't even really detail the ram amount, so why advertise it increased
 
R

raccoonboy

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2012
918
5
Trust me, it must have somthing to do with 6.0.1 if you are currently using.

OS not willing to give back ram after using apps. My Ipad 2 page refresh more often and i am surprised to find out here that its the same case in Ipad 4. 1G of ram for IOS supposed to be plenty. Wait for 6.1, it should be better.
 
Medic311

Medic311

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2011
1,659
58
i don't really need more RAM since i am constantly closing Apps to maximize battery life

if you're complaining with 1GB RAM, try using a Blackberry and then see how good you have it.
 
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