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A8 Chip From 4.7-Inch iPhone 6 Appears to Carry 1 GB of RAM

Iconoclysm said:
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.
Click to expand...

On my iPhone 4s and iPad mini, it happens often. Saving 1% over on standby vs losing 5% with reloads, I know which one is a better decision. Plus you don't waste time waiting for apps to reload and have a generally better user experience.

I don't have exact figures and neither no you, who knows which one actually saves more oower . it might be a wash, but I do know that 2 GB would provide a better user experience.
 
hahaha, I bet IF the iPhone 6 has 1GB ram then the next iPads will too.

Then again I have never believed the Safari page reloading it to do with the RAM, that's just poor optimisation by Apple.

Who knows, maybe iOS8 will be made properly and so will the Safari app?

I shouldn't gloat, but when Android is moving to 4GB Ram, I think in 2014 it's about time Apple moved to 2GB.
 
Piggie said:
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
Click to expand...

Yes, let's ignore Apple's culture completely...they are the antithesis of that type of behavior. So much so that their former CEO and founder is known to have told the programmers themselves that their product isn't ready when the programmers thought it was.

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Medic311 said:
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.

that is how product development works
Click to expand...

And that doesn't sound like Apple. It sounds like a LOT of companies that I don't like, however.

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cfedu said:
On my iPhone 4s and iPad mini, it happens often. Saving 1% over on standby vs losing 5% with reloads, I know which one is a better decision. Plus you don't waste time waiting for apps to reload and have a generally better user experience.

I don't have exact figures and neither no you, who knows which one actually saves more oower . it might be a wash, but I do know that 2 GB would provide a better user experience.
Click to expand...

The iPad is a different story. It needs 2GB.

Specifically, the iPhone, I don't think it needs it.
 
apolloa said:
hahaha, I bet IF the iPhone 6 has 1GB ram then the next iPads will too.

Then again I have never believed the Safari page reloading it to do with the RAM, that's just poor optimisation by Apple.

Who knows, maybe iOS8 will be made properly and so will the Safari app?

I shouldn't gloat, but when Android is moving to 4GB Ram, I think in 2014 it's about time Apple moved to 2GB.
Click to expand...

You would "gloat" about "Android" moving to 4 GB of RAM? First off, there's nothing for you to be proud of when some engineer working for a company you buy products from decided to put a new memory module on a chip. Second, sounds like Android needs more optimization anyway. Gloat away.
 
barjam said:
What do you use your phone for where you need more than one gb of ram? Ipad sure but iPhone? I don't have the browser reload problem on my phone.
Click to expand...

I use it like Android users use theirs. Say that 10 times fast :p

I have more memory crashes than anything. Try airplaying Spotify (offline; stored on phone) while opening another app or two.

I use many apps at one time and I actually use the... wait for it... iOS multitask feature :eek:

What must I do to make things run half-way smoothly. I have to double-tap home and start flicking away all the apps.

No offense but if you are not having RAM issues, then you (generalization) cannot really add to the argument. We, the ones that do use our phones a ton, contribute to the case of "more memory". An ample supply of anecdotes yields 2 groups here:

1. Those of us that use our phones a lot. More RAM advocates.
2. Those that don't use them as much as group 1. RAM is fine crowd.

The only foolish person, is the one that comes in here after binging on koolaid. More RAM is needed, there is no rational argument against it.

More RAM even helps group #2, so I fail to see how any mentally competent person can come into this thread and lobby against more RAM.

Just because some people are not plagued with RAM issues like the rest of us does not mean it isn't real. I have 16GB in my MBP and it suits me. 10 years from now, I will probably have 32GB because that is the way things work in this industry. We move forward with larger "everything".

iOS and hardware engineers at Apple cannot make the phone run like it has 2-3GB RAM with just 1. I don't care how much people delude themselves.

It's like people thinking that a Pontiac Fiero could hang with a Ferrari.
 
igorsky said:
Can someone explain to me why this is so bad? iOS runs flawlessly, and has been this way for all three iPhones that I've had. Why does the iPhone need more RAM if the os is perfectly optimized for 1GB?
Click to expand...

It runs flawlessly because you only open one app at a time. If you try to open more than one app it doesn't run that flawlessly. In fact that's why the iPhone doesn't have a true multitasking OS, you can't have two apps side by side for example. What is worst is that right now everything runs flawlessly because no developer would be so stupid to make an app that needs more than 1Gb of RAM! He could make it and that app would be great, but it would not work! So, he doesn't make that great app, and you have no idea what you lose, you think everything is great, but is not! The developers are artificially limiting their apps to fit that stupid 1Gb of RAM!
 
Iconoclysm said:
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.
Click to expand...

Name all the Android devices you own, or have owned.
 
Devil's Advocate

I know everyone is sad about this news, but there's something to be said about 1 GB.

First, it uses less power to keep 1 GB of RAM up than 2 GB or more.
Second, not all operating systems use RAM the same. For instance, there was a point when you could buy a Windows XP laptop with 4 GB of memory, but due to how Windows worked, it could only effectively use 3.5 GB. Just because you throw RAM at something doesn't make it any more efficient if the OS can't handle it.
Third, while more RAM is always nice as a developer... I'm not sure you need that much RAM as long as you are doing things correctly. Android probably needs more RAM because it's not being efficient (Java is a higher-level language that traditionally uses a lot of RAM). I have a pretty complex app that can chew up RAM and crash the app, but it's usually because of very large images or PDF files being used and I'm being sort of lazy with displaying that information.

I suspect that Apple will have a 1 GB model reserved for lower-end versions of the phone. Not every user needs tons of power and 1 GB is more than plenty for most users. For power users, I suspect they will add to the 5.5" version. Of course Apple isn't going to be getting into a spec war on this and won't announce how much RAM the phone has. The larger device will have a larger battery and have less of an issue driving the RAM.

Those are my two cents at least. I don't think it has to do with being greedy, but has more to do with making an affordable option that will last. Apple has a really good track record of supporting devices for a long time. Google with Android device... not so much.
 
djorn2k said:
Get your wallet ready because the extra gig of ram is going to set you back about $1000. There are rumors that they are expecting to increase the cost of the iPhone 6.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've seen similar rumors and wouldn't be surprised at all if the prices go up. Honestly, though, I'd pay $1000. I'm not rich, but I'm willing to spend some money on things I really enjoy.




:apple:
 
igorsky said:
Can someone explain to me why this is so bad? iOS runs flawlessly, and has been this way for all three iPhones that I've had. Why does the iPhone need more RAM if the os is perfectly optimized for 1GB?
Click to expand...

Yeah, but now that iOS 8 is allowing interaction between apps and there will be data coming in from the iWatch, there is going to be more happening than before- so they really should double the ram
 
Great, needed just one excuse to not even think about upgrading my 5s. :p
That new iPad Air better have 2GB, though...
 
Iconoclysm said:
Yes, let's ignore Apple's culture completely...they are the antithesis of that type of behavior. So much so that their former CEO and founder is known to have told the programmers themselves that their product isn't ready when the programmers thought it was.

----------



And that doesn't sound like Apple. It sounds like a LOT of companies that I don't like, however.

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The iPad is a different story. It needs 2GB.

Specifically, the iPhone, I don't think it needs it.
Click to expand...

So you admit that the mini which apple still sells contains only 25% of the required ram?
 
Disappointed

I really hope that the iPhone 6 comes with 2gigs of RAM.
I have been quite loyal to Apple products since the release of iPhone 3G and have lived in their ecosystem for quite a bit, but am so disappointed that they keep bottlenecking the performance of the iPhones with a mere 1gig of RAM.

I just hope that they have an entry level iPhone 6 with 1gig of RAM and put at least 2gigs of RAM in the higher configuration models. I think this is quite possible, considering that the iPad Air2 is projected to have 2gigs of RAM:
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/08/20/ipad-air-2-2gb-ram/
 
The reason I didn't get a new iPad last year is because of the ram, I'm sure as hell won't get one this year either if it is the same case.
 
HobeSoundDarryl said:
So would there be any precedence of Apple releasing an alternate A-series chip about one month after rolling out a new one so that the coming iPads can go to 2GB while these new iPhones stay at 1GB.

Or do we see this as it implies: that the new iPads will use the same chip?
Click to expand...

Apple has had "X" variants of processors in the past so they could do it again for the iPad. Hell they could have an "X" variant in one of the iPhones. Or they could offer iPhones with different RAM sizes.

The idea of different RAM sizes has its appeal as the could offer the 16GB flash model with 1GB of ram to offer a low entry price while offering 2gB of RAM in the up sell models. This actually makes some sense because the up sell models have become big rip offs due to the incremental cost of the flash. So Apple may want to enhance their value with more RAM and flash at the established price points.
 
jkichline said:
I know everyone is sad about this news, but there's something to be said about 1 GB.

First, it uses less power to keep 1 GB of RAM up than 2 GB or more.
Second, not all operating systems use RAM the same. For instance, there was a point when you could buy a Windows XP laptop with 4 GB of memory, but due to how Windows worked, it could only effectively use 3.5 GB. Just because you throw RAM at something doesn't make it any more efficient if the OS can't handle it.
Third, while more RAM is always nice as a developer... I'm not sure you need that much RAM as long as you are doing things correctly. Android probably needs more RAM because it's not being efficient (Java is a higher-level language that traditionally uses a lot of RAM). I have a pretty complex app that can chew up RAM and crash the app, but it's usually because of very large images or PDF files being used and I'm being sort of lazy with displaying that information.

I suspect that Apple will have a 1 GB model reserved for lower-end versions of the phone. Not every user needs tons of power and 1 GB is more than plenty for most users. For power users, I suspect they will add to the 5.5" version. Of course Apple isn't going to be getting into a spec war on this and won't announce how much RAM the phone has. The larger device will have a larger battery and have less of an issue driving the RAM.

Those are my two cents at least. I don't think it has to do with being greedy, but has more to do with making an affordable option that will last. Apple has a really good track record of supporting devices for a long time. Google with Android device... not so much.
Click to expand...

Well written but I have one question... What are we talking, $2-3 for an extra gig?

I think that is probably our biggest complaint. Not to mention that Apple wants to make the phone thinner every year, further killing our battery size. When you have a protruding lens, go back into Solidworks and fix it, then we can have our RAM and longer battery life.
 
Well if it's 1GB, Samsung have a new advert for the taking that's valid for a year. Samsung advertising hit weak points like battery life, and aren't averse to highlight spec differences when they're in their favor.

Maybe Apple's view is better to have fast RAM and 64 bit CPU, focus on that than 2GB RAM. If it's purely cost, surely they could defer it through the huge margin from the $100/£100 extra for the upgrade of doubling to 32GB/64GB we've seen in the past.
 
mikethebigo said:
As disappointed as I am, it's important to note that the iPhone operates fine on 1 GB. It's really the iPad that needs more for safari. But I agree, this will hold the iPhone back from becoming more than it is currently. Software can only be so advanced when running with limited RAM.

If Apple keeps being stingy on RAM, it would be really nice if virtual memory was added to iOS.
Click to expand...
The thing is in 2 years you will see the difference. I think its not so wrong to guess that this is a form of planned obsolescence. Why put 2 GB in the phone, if 1 GB wil "ensure" that you will not be satisfied with your device anymore after some time, because the then newest iOS will not run so smooth anymore as with the then newest iPhone...
 
Wait... so x3 resolution assets need twice as much memory to cache compared to x2, and somehow Apple thought 1GB of RAM is still enough?

Oh man, and I thought the iPad was bottlenecked.

In regular use, the new iPhones may approach iPad's level of frustration since they will need more memory than the old iPhones (iPhone 5 and 5S) to do the same tasks.

Looks like iPhone 5 will be the phone to keep around for a while as it is technically the only device that Apple has made... that does not run into memory bottlenecks.

Edit: for those who are fuzzy with the math, x2 resolution means x4 pixels whereas x3 resolution means x9 pixels compared to a base image, and x9 is twice x4.

For instance, consider a 100x100 base image.

100x100 = 10000 pixels

x2 is 200x200, right?

200x200 = 40000 pixels

x3 is 300x300, right?

300x300 = 90000 pixels

And here's the comparison:

90000 pixels / 40000 pixels = 2.25

So twice as much is actually an underestimation.

While compression is possible for caching, there is still no denying that more memory is still needed to store graphics assets on the new x3 devices.
 
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