Do you not think that management makes those decisions after extensive consultation and discussion with the engineers?
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A8 Chip From 4.7-Inch iPhone 6 Appears to Carry 1 GB of RAM
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Do you not think that management makes those decisions after extensive consultation and discussion with the engineers?
It's not the same NAND flash but I'm sure the cost is far, far less than Apple charges. Whatever, since these devices don't go "on sale" it only contributes to their resale value. I'm not going to complain that Mesa Boogie charges me 10x for tubes what any other manufacturer does, I can resell the damn thing for almost what I paid for it partly for that very reason.
Otherwise, I think you might be surprised to find out that the price of NAND storage has barely fluctuated in four years. There simply haven't been advancements there.
It can take a lot of time and effort for a dev to rewrite programs to use less memory. If it isn't an issue (because there is far more available ram) you can be absolutely sure that many will choose to not bother.
I remember a while back when Apple upped the size of apps that you could update using data plan (no wi-fi). I remember reading in the forums a bunch of dev's saying that there were relieved, because they were or were going to rewrite their app to try to stay within that size limit.. but now didn't have to. Same exact thing.
I'd genuinely be interested in reading/listening to one of those interviews, if you don't mind sharing a link. You're right about additional RAM sticks use more power (which I didn't mention here, but acknowledged in an earlier post), but considering the non-issue of the question: how much power, I really think that increasing the amount of RAM is of non-consequence to the battery life of the phone.
I'm not saying that I have hard proof of this, but I'd be hard-pressed to believe that the additional cycles incurred because of the CPU does not outweigh the constant power draw of the additional memory.
So why do my apps always reload when I pause to check an email then go back?
Are you telling me that when the app reloads that it magically bypasses the CPU or the dumped safarie page does not require LTE to redwonload the info?
Maybe the should call the chip the M8 for magic since no CPU cycles are required to load programs!
Sorry, the way I worded that made it seem that the phone would draw more power at all times than when being used. I meant that if I didn't use my phone for 5 hours, it would suck if it drew more power out of the battery than if I'd used it for whatever amount of time of use would equal 5 hours worth of standby.
I'd have to try to dig up an interview, but the first I started to understand this RAM vs. power issue was when one of the Windows Phone designers talked about why they were trying to make a more efficient OS to use less memory and how memory seemed to take a bigger hit out of the battery than you might think. A current windows phone like the Lumia 930 has 2 GB of RAM but that's only after they grew in size with the Android phones, allowing for a larger battery.
One of the things that I find attracts me to the iPhone the most is that it does the minimal things that I want a smartphone to do, while taking up minimal space in my pocket. I have three current smartphones, too many tablets, and a crap ton of laptops...I do not need a phone with 2 GB of RAM for virtually any reason I could ever imagine. If I was a poor kid in Uganda trying to develop a first person shooter in some mobile app? Maybe.
Yeah I'm probably going to stick with my S5 now. Performance is going to be a dog with on the iPhone with only 1GB of RAM. Between this and the 16GB base storage, it would appear that Apple just doesn't care to move forward.
Be honest, how often does that happen to you? And how often do you think it happens to the average iPhone user? It happens to me at most once a week. Yes, it sucks...but yes, I'd rather know that someone can call me because my battery isn't dead after sitting in my pocket all day. I don't find ANY smartphone reasonable enough for the amount of usage I put into a web browser. It's just not practical.
Because it's mostly just one of those "higher is better" specs without real world performance taken into account. Something a couple of Android OEMs love to throw out there - also something those who are relatively new to the tech world don't bother to consider.
I've read various studies/articles/etc. about RAM vs. energy utilizations in the past, and there's a lot of contributing reasons that the interviews you're referring to are probably talking about. As mentioned, freeing up CPU cycles is one, capacity per RAM module vs. multiple modules is another - and more nuanced topics, such as the possibility of thrashing and speed, that also are also contributors. Unless they go overboard with the memory (or somehow use non-efficient ones), I really do not see how power will be affected to the point where users will be aware of it.
And yes, I'd really be curious about the interviews if you can dig them up. I'll try looking on my end as well.
Edit: but yeah as others said, maybe .1% of iPhones users never even think about RAM. I never do and I read this site for crying out loud.
Uhh.. Yes it does, each bit of memory is a little capacitor that has to be refreshed nearly constantly (at least very rapidly) by the battery. The more memory, the more power usage. The usage isn't linear, like another poster said, but it does impact power consumption.
Do you think management force software to be released before the programmers say it's ready to go out?
Errr, yes, all the time, it's well known they do, and I expect nothing different in other areas. Management can be total dicks at any level in any company
guess you have never been in a product development environment. management doesn't discuss with engineering, they dictate to engineering. they dictate and establish the requirements and it's the job of the engineers to make it happen. when i say requirements that includes both design/aesthetics, technical specifications, reliability and/or mechanical performance, cost, etc.
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That they do not is testament to how well (and transparently) Apple manages memory (and the user experience in general). Those that do understand what goes on beyond the scenes however, are likely the ones raising an issue with their decisions.