9.7-inch iPad Pro and iPhone SE Both Have 2GB RAM

[Burger Thing]

If Apple would put 4GB in iDevices, Samsung would choose 8GB as their minimum just to prove to the fools that they are better on specs. Go to a really bad restaurant in your neighborhood, the dishes are always twice as big as in the nearest good restaurant.

Then the iPad Pro 12" would be a solid candidate for a nasty burger joint with ingredients for fools with its 4 GB of RAM in that rather interesting analogy of yours

 

[Gudi]

Then the iPad Pro 12" would be a solid candidate for a nasty burger joint with ingredients for fools with its 4 GB of RAM in that rather interesting analogy of yours

More pixels more memory, more soup more salt. It's okay to use more salt if really needed, just not to sell more drinks.

 

[Burger Thing]

More pixels more memory, more soup more salt. It's okay to use more salt if really needed, just not to sell more drinks.

Pixels iPad 9.7 pro > iPhone 5 SE = same salt?

I think in your analogy there is too much salt in the soup.

But Bartender Phil and Tim the Cook would me more than happy to sell you more drinks along your new order when you get thirsty again after a short while.

 

[Gudi]

Pixels iPad 9.7 pro > iPhone 5 SE = same salt?

Yes same, you can't tailor a perfect amount of RAM for every single screen size. So it is 2GB for everything, except the 5.6 mpx 12.9" iPad Pro compared to every other iDevice with 3.1 or less megapixels. It neeeds more memory, that's why it gets more memory. Not because of prosumer entitlement. Apple couldn't give a **** about how much RAM you want.

But Bartender Phil and Tim the Cook would me more than happy to sell you more drinks along your new order when you get thirsty again after a short while.

How is giving me a bad experience supposed to make me buy more iPads? Especially as they never tell you when the new one has more memory? iOS devices aren't made for free multi-tasking anyway.

 

[magbarn]

Just placed an order for a iPP 12.9 128gb for $50 more than the equivalent 9.7 model. I want the 4gb of better future proofing and I don't need camel hump camera or other gimmicks ...
It seems only the iPhone SE escapes Apple's gimping of smaller devices like the iPP 9.7 and Mini 4 compared to their larger siblings...

 

[Burger Thing]

Apple couldn't give a **** about how much RAM you want.

Truer words have never been spoken. The scary things is, that you actually believe this is a good thing.

 

[Gudi]

The scary things is, that you actually believe this is a good thing.

Apple however cares about a lot of other things nobody else seems to care about. For example they would never sell you a computer without telling you it's exact weight and dimensions. Even the last millimeter of height for the Mac Pro. Please note that they also don't tell you the clock speed of their ARM processors, but they tell you with how many frames per second it can shoot slow motion videos. Some specs are more important to what Apple values in a computer than others.

Mobile devices will always be memory limited and since iOS is build to run only one app at a time it's a hard limit. App developers are supposed to optimize their newest apps for a certain class of 64-bit dual-core 2GB memory devices. There can not be any ambiguity that that is the limit for now. Software has to fit to the hardware not the other way around. If you want to write inefficient software and than find a computer fast enough to run it, Apple doesn't want your code.

 

[ColdShadow]

Really? My iPad Mini 2 Retina is doing great on iOS 9.3 has not slowed at all.

It is definitely slower with more lag compared to when I bought it 14 months back.and compared to newer devices.insufficient RAM is noticeable.
I use mine heavily,so I can definitely tell it's performance has degraded.

 

[Abazigal]

Apple however cares about a lot of other things nobody else seems to care about. For example they would never sell you a computer without telling you it's exact weight and dimensions. Even the last millimeter of height for the Mac Pro. Please note that they also don't tell you the clock speed of their ARM processors, but they tell you with how many frames per second it can shoot slow motion videos. Some specs are more important to what Apple values in a computer than others.

Mobile devices will always be memory limited and since iOS is build to run only one app at a time it's a hard limit. App developers are supposed to optimize their newest apps for a certain class of 64-bit dual-core 2GB memory devices. There can not be any ambiguity that that is the limit for now. Software has to fit to the hardware not the other way around. If you want to write inefficient software and than find a computer fast enough to run it, Apple doesn't want your code.

I would argue that Apple, like any other company, simply opts to advertise specs they know will make them look good, while omitting specs that don't.

That's why they never advertise ram on their iOS devices. Virtually every other Android device will at least match them in terms of ram, if not come with more. Yes, you can excuse that by claiming that iOS is more memory-efficient, but that's something which will be very difficult to explain to the consumers.

Likewise, Apple likes to tout their ARM processors as 64-bit, but not the fact that they are dual-core, because again, 2 cores sound worse than 4, even though, ironically enough, the inverse is actually true in real life for mobile devices at least.

Apple tells me the dimensions of their products, but unless you walk around with ruler in hand all the time, who will be able to accurately visualise how large or heavy these devices really are?

Apple sometimes strikes me as a paradox. On one hand, that they are willing to invest no small amount of resources into features like quad-speaker layout or true-tone screen display show that they do care about the end user experience. Implementing this is surely more challenging than simply adding more ram or a faster processor, and I find it admirable that they are doing this as the benefit of these features tend to be harder to quantify vs straight spec increase. I suppose it's something only a company as profitable as Apple can afford to do.

Yet on the other hand, Apple seems to have some terrible aversion to adding more specs beyond what is just enough to ensure a great experience on their iOS devices, and it can be frustrating at times. The iPhone 6, for instance, really should have come with 2gb of ram instead of 1, and I suspect users will be starting to feel the limitations of that very soon.

 

[mac4good84]

I would argue that Apple, like any other company, simply opts to advertise specs they know will make them look good, while omitting specs that don't.

That's why they never advertise ram on their iOS devices. Virtually every other Android device will at least match them in terms of ram, if not come with more. Yes, you can excuse that by claiming that iOS is more memory-efficient, but that's something which will be very difficult to explain to the consumers.

Likewise, Apple likes to tout their ARM processors as 64-bit, but not the fact that they are dual-core, because again, 2 cores sound worse than 4, even though, ironically enough, the inverse is actually true in real life for mobile devices at least.

Apple tells me the dimensions of their products, but unless you walk around with ruler in hand all the time, who will be able to accurately visualise how large or heavy these devices really are?

Apple sometimes strikes me as a paradox. On one hand, that they are willing to invest no small amount of resources into features like quad-speaker layout or true-tone screen display show that they do care about the end user experience. Implementing this is surely more challenging than simply adding more ram or a faster processor, and I find it admirable that they are doing this as the benefit of these features tend to be harder to quantify vs straight spec increase. I suppose it's something only a company as profitable as Apple can afford to do.

Yet on the other hand, Apple seems to have some terrible aversion to adding more specs beyond what is just enough to ensure a great experience on their iOS devices, and it can be frustrating at times. The iPhone 6, for instance, really should have come with 2gb of ram instead of 1, and I suspect users will be starting to feel the limitations of that very soon.

This is a great post, right on point. I had the iphone 6+ 128GB for 17 months and switched to a 6s 64GB yesterday due primarily to the size of the plus and the excessive storage I didn't need ( I had an early upgrade I used). But also, the performance of the 6+ was frustrating. I was under the impression iOS 9 was supposed to be "under the hood improvements" and overall performance for new as well as legacy devices, yet when I upgraded to that software I swear it crippled my iphone 6+ in ways it shouldn't have. Going between apps lagged a lot, loading pages for safari seemed to take even longer and opening an app like facebook? It literally took a few seconds before the page loaded. It just performed slower and over time it got worse. That's pretty absurd for a device that is only still just one generation behind the current 6s. My wife got the regular 6 and she is still happy with it, and that seems to perform better overall than my plus. But now having the 6s and using it for only 2 days so far, the difference is almost laughable. EVERYTHNG loads instantly. I don't have a single issue whatsoever. The 2 GB of ram ABSOLUTELY should have been in the 6 and I agree with you 100 percent that people will be feeling the effects of it if they aren't already. I sure did. Lesson learned; whenever I want to upgrade, wait for the "S" version of the phone.

 

[spacemnspiff]

Truer words have never been spoken. The scary things is, that you actually believe this is a good thing.

Another analogy could be, common man doesn't care about the size of the water plumbing or the inlet pressure at his house, he just expects it to just work. Isn't there high level of engineering and optimization with the plumbing, sure there is, but should the homeowner need to worry about, didn't think so. How about specs of every aspect of the HVAC in that persons house? Can that person spout that out, maybe he can?
If going by compulsive big RAM proponent, that same person would demand 6" plumbing all over his house. And the plumber would consider that person an idiot or pedantic who doesn't understand much, let alone plumbing.

The person so worried about the size of the RAM, why does that person also not also worry about the bandwidth/latency of the interface between the CPU and the RAM, can the same person who is so particular about RAM size also spout the bandwidth out, didn't think so. But that is just as important as the RAM.

Now if we are back on the ground from the fine high horse we are on, if the phone works for its intended use case, Apple maybe right in not needing to publish specs. Sure there are edge cases where the phone doesn't perform that well, well that's an edge case, so is not in all probability the intended use case.

But now having the 6s and using it for only 2 days so far, the difference is almost laughable. EVERYTHNG loads instantly.

I actually have a different exprerience, change from 6 to 6S was not noticeable for the most part.

 

[Gudi]

I would argue that Apple, like any other company, simply opts to advertise specs they know will make them look good, while omitting specs that don't.

2GB in the iPad Air 2 and 4GB in the big iPad Pro would have made them look good, but they never mentioned it. We only know it thanks to rumor sites talking about it.

That's why they never advertise ram on their iOS devices. Virtually every other Android device will at least match them in terms of ram, if not come with more.

Apple customers don't compare Apples to Oranges. If you want an iPhone, you will never buy a Galaxy because it has more RAM. Never!

Yes, you can excuse that by claiming that iOS is more memory-efficient, but that's something which will be very difficult to explain to the consumers.

When the most profitable tech company in the world released the bigger screen iPhones 6/6+, Samsungs profits plummeted. Seems like the benefits of more memory is much harder to explain than screen size.

Likewise, Apple likes to tout their ARM processors as 64-bit, but not the fact that they are dual-core, because again, 2 cores sound worse than 4, even though, ironically enough, the inverse is actually true in real life for mobile devices at least.

No it's not. If it's all the same cores a quad core is exactly twice as fast in multi-core applications than a dual core. Apple did mention dual core once during the iPhone 4s keynote. But they never mentioned triple core in the iPad Air 2, despite that and 2GB RAM were the reasons which made me buy one.

Apple tells me the dimensions of their products, but unless you walk around with ruler in hand all the time, who will be able to accurately visualise how large or heavy these devices really are?

People do walk around with rulers and the rumored thickness and weight is an important part of the anticipation and marketing of new Apple devices.

Apple sometimes strikes me as a paradox. On one hand, that they are willing to invest no small amount of resources into features like quad-speaker layout or true-tone screen display show that they do care about the end user experience. Implementing this is surely more challenging than simply adding more ram or a faster processor, and I find it admirable that they are doing this as the benefit of these features tend to be harder to quantify vs straight spec increase. I suppose it's something only a company as profitable as Apple can afford to do.

It's exactly the other way around. You can only become a highly profitable company if you specialize in things others do not. Because it's so easy to increase screen size and memory, Apple is reluctant to do it. First better displays not bigger, first better customers not more.

Yet on the other hand, Apple seems to have some terrible aversion to adding more specs beyond what is just enough to ensure a great experience on their iOS devices, and it can be frustrating at times. The iPhone 6, for instance, really should have come with 2gb of ram instead of 1, and I suspect users will be starting to feel the limitations of that very soon.

I suspect as the first big screen iPhone with Apple Pay it will hold it's value for people who bought it because of that. While in the Android spec race to the bottom 4GB and quad core fast becomes a commodity every phone has. Look at the resale prices what's rare and valuable.

 

[magbarn]

This is a great post, right on point. I had the iphone 6+ 128GB for 17 months and switched to a 6s 64GB yesterday due primarily to the size of the plus and the excessive storage I didn't need ( I had an early upgrade I used). But also, the performance of the 6+ was frustrating. I was under the impression iOS 9 was supposed to be "under the hood improvements" and overall performance for new as well as legacy devices, yet when I upgraded to that software I swear it crippled my iphone 6+ in ways it shouldn't have. Going between apps lagged a lot, loading pages for safari seemed to take even longer and opening an app like facebook? It literally took a few seconds before the page loaded. It just performed slower and over time it got worse. That's pretty absurd for a device that is only still just one generation behind the current 6s. My wife got the regular 6 and she is still happy with it, and that seems to perform better overall than my plus. But now having the 6s and using it for only 2 days so far, the difference is almost laughable. EVERYTHNG loads instantly. I don't have a single issue whatsoever. The 2 GB of ram ABSOLUTELY should have been in the 6 and I agree with you 100 percent that people will be feeling the effects of it if they aren't already. I sure did. Lesson learned; whenever I want to upgrade, wait for the "S" version of the phone.

I had the same experience as you. The 6+, other than the larger screen, wasn't much faster than my iphone 5 given that it was >2 years old at the time. Sadly, it was actually more laggy and the websites reloaded much more frequently than my iphone 5. I'm a physician and will frequently need several websites open at once so I can cut and paste information, the page reloading drove me crazy! They both had only 1gb of ram, but the iphone 5, being 32 bit was much more efficient with memory. The 6S+ fixed all that crap with the extra memory. I had the same experience with the Air 1 with its piddly 1gb of ram that was fixed with the Air 2(I would've kept the Air 1 if the page reloading wasn't such an issue either) This is why I will pick a 4gb over a 2gb iPad anyday...

 

[Tech198]

"2GB RAM puts the iPhone SE on par with the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus, both of which also include 2GB of RAM."

Also the iPad Air 2 (this is too confusing). I'll just call it (October 2014)

 

[mac4good84]

I had the same experience as you. The 6+, other than the larger screen, wasn't much faster than my iphone 5 given that it was >2 years old at the time. Sadly, it was actually more laggy and the websites reloaded much more frequently than my iphone 5. I'm a physician and will frequently need several websites open at once so I can cut and paste information, the page reloading drove me crazy! They both had only 1gb of ram, but the iphone 5, being 32 bit was much more efficient with memory. The 6S+ fixed all that crap with the extra memory. I had the same experience with the Air 1 with its piddly 1gb of ram that was fixed with the Air 2(I would've kept the Air 1 if the page reloading wasn't such an issue either) This is why I will pick a 4gb over a 2gb iPad anyday...

Exactly. I loved the prospect of a larger screen and I think the 1 GB paired with the plus just sagged the overall performance. You mentioned the ipad, I have an Air 2 myself and that has been nothing short of stellar, buttery smooth and quick. I have had it for almost 2 years come this October and I have no interest in getting the iPad Pro 9.7 inch.

 

[sdugoten]

You were proven wrong by at least 6 videos I posted showing you iPad Air NOT refreshing even with 4 tabs and two apps in background, but you just ignored them. I even used the websites you gave me.
You were the one that had to apologize.

I own a iPad Air also. It was great when it was running IOS 8. It is terrible after it is upgraded to IOS 9 with clean install, no restore backup. Switching between app is definitely lagging in IOS 9 on iPad Air. Having 5+ tabs can make it refresh, it depends on how big the website you are loading. I was browsing the Chinese shopping site taobao, it takes about 7 tabs to make it refresh with nothing running in background on my iPad air. If you have 2 or 3 apps/games running in background it might be even less.

http://world.taobao.com/item/523854896304.htm?spm=a312a.7700714.0.0.C3J1n1#detail

It is pretty easy to open 5+ tabs when you are doing shopping online.

iPad air with 1G ram was great on IOS 7/8. It becomes crap when it runs on IOS 9. It LAGs and not only you can feel it, but also see it. That means the OS would make you use more memory, it all depends on Apple how badly they want you to buy their new product. Having 2G ram is OK now, but Apple can make it obsolete if Apple to decide make it more memory intensive in IOS 10, just like the move from IOS 8 to IOS 9 for 1G ram.

No, iPad pro 9.7 is nothing Pro about except the pricing in the Pro range and give you upgrade that is natural in the Air line, and some Pro options enable you to pay more to use the new Pro feature.

 

[TroyBoy30]

No it's not. Not even close to its optimization and coherence. And the nexus 7 is a crap tablet.
[doublepost=1458764593][/doublepost]
More RAM running android means nothing.
All, not most but ALL, android phones aren't on par with iPhone. Not to sp ask about the iPad Pro using A9X.
Again the only comparable platform is Microsoft Surface.

Flawlessly. Absolutely.
There is nothing slow on my former iPhone 6 , nor in my son's iPad Air. Nothing.
Specs matter only in android world, where specs are supposed to take place of optimized software and resources.

Btw... Garbage iPad Pro ... Your hater's attitude is just demonstrating your agenda here.


As a software developer what you said about Java says me a lot about your knowledge.
Every single developer, real developer I mean, knows the difference.

you can always count on an unbiased opinion from someone with a no google avatar. youre simply hooked on the cool-aide.

 

[s2mikey]

The screen is amazing, I will admit. I just don't find it all practical.

Thats my problem. Im sooooooo used to & in love with the 9.7" screen. The perfect balance between screen real estate and portability. Sure, home-only users dont care but even then Id still prefer the smaller footprint of the 9.7" air. Sitting in bed or on the couch still confirms that perfect size, IMO.

Of course, if prices keep dropping or deals keep coming up on the Big iPP.... hmmmm....

 

[ShaunAFC3]

I don't really get why on here what is the fuss about the new 9.7 inch iPad Pro only having 2GB of RAM instead of 4GB, I'm pretty sure in 12-18 months time Apple will announce the next 9.7 iPad Pro with 4GB of RAM hopefully maybe!!!

 

[Max(IT)]

I own a iPad Air also. It was great when it was running IOS 8. It is terrible after it is upgraded to IOS 9 with clean install, no restore backup. Switching between app is definitely lagging in IOS 9 on iPad Air. Having 5+ tabs can make it refresh, it depends on how big the website you are loading. I was browsing the Chinese shopping site taobao, it takes about 7 tabs to make it refresh with nothing running in background on my iPad air. If you have 2 or 3 apps/games running in background it might be even less.

http://world.taobao.com/item/523854896304.htm?spm=a312a.7700714.0.0.C3J1n1#detail

It is pretty easy to open 5+ tabs when you are doing shopping online.

iPad air with 1G ram was great on IOS 7/8. It becomes crap when it runs on IOS 9. It LAGs and not only you can feel it, but also see it. That means the OS would make you use more memory, it all depends on Apple how badly they want you to buy their new product. Having 2G ram is OK now, but Apple can make it obsolete if Apple to decide make it more memory intensive in IOS 10, just like the move from IOS 8 to IOS 9 for 1G ram.

No, iPad pro 9.7 is nothing Pro about except the pricing in the Pro range and give you upgrade that is natural in the Air line, and some Pro options enable you to pay more to use the new Pro feature.

7 tbs opened on a 1 Gb device ? Mate, it's easy to do that, but I have to repeat the old adagio: you are using it wrong.

For the rest of your post, NO, I can't feel nor see anything lagging on my iPad Air.
[doublepost=1458850099][/doublepost]

you can always count on an unbiased opinion from someone with a no google avatar. youre simply hooked on the cool-aide.

What's wrong in having a NO GOOGLE avatar on an Apple centric forum ?

 

[Dave Walker]

Well I wanted to wait another year or so for the Pro 2 but my IPad 3 no longer fits my needs so I bought the new Pro. Disappointed in the 2GB of RAM tho'.
Ironically now the Air 2 has dropped in price it probably makes it the best buy at the moment - if 64GB is sufficient.

 

[Ixidor]

Would it be a good idea to upgrade if I wanted LTE support? As I mentioned before, I have an iPad Air 2 (without LTE) and it's very capable. I was very excited with the release of the iPad Pro 9.7" but the 2 GB RAM killed my enthusiasm.

LTE connectivity and Apple Pencil support would be very useful to me. I can get a plan where the cost of the iPad would be divided across 24 months making it very affordable. I just need to pay an additional $10 a month for 1.5 GB data (which I can pool together with my iPhone 3GB monthly data for a total of 4.5 GB monthly).

The problem is that this kinda locks me in for 2 years and I'm not sure if 2 GB RAM will cut it by then.

Is it worth upgrading?

 

[KPOM]

The problem is that this kinda locks me in for 2 years and I'm not sure if 2 GB RAM will cut it by then.

Is it worth upgrading?

For most people, 2GB will be fine in 2 years (at which point we'll probably be having this debate over 4GB vs 8GB). What do you plan to run on it?

 

[Soultaco]

2GB of RAM... damn. I'm cancelling my preorder and returning my apple pencil. This device is a straight up lie. Apple can't call this a smaller version of the iPad Pro if it lacks key specs from the larger model. I was so excited about a 256gb model. I've been saying these things need to be 256-512gb since the iPad 2 came out, and you know damn well they could have done it back then. Now we finally get 256gb, but there's no USB 3.0. I would have given that a pass back in the iPad 2 days, but it's 2016.
I mean if I had no iPad and was a professional artist, yeah I'd consider the iPad Pro. As it stands right now, the 9.7" iPad "Pro" is too weak to justify the price. Plus I don't think any of us consumers like being lied to. Slight under clocking, possibly to deal with heat issues...... I can tolerate that. HALF the ram of the device that's advertised to have identical SOC specs, hell no. Guess my mom might have to wait until I give her my iPad Air 2. Or maybe not. I'm seriously considering spending a bit more and getting a surface pro or a Wacom Cintiq Companion 2 (clunkier for sure but at least they're honest about their specs

 

[Grolubao]

It's just hard to justify upgrading to the pro coming out from an Air, but also doesn't make sense to upgrade to the Air 2, so I guess I'll wait another year for the 4gb RAM