Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.


All upcoming iPhone 17 models will come equipped with 12GB of RAM to support Apple Intelligence, according to the Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station.

iPhone-17-Pro-on-Desk-Feature.jpg

The claim from the Chinese leaker, who has sources within Apple's supply chain, comes a few days after industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will all be equipped with 12GB of RAM.

Kuo also said even the base-model iPhone 17 could be equipped with 12GB of RAM, but it will depend on whether supply chain shortages can be overcome. He said that Apple will make a final decision on the amount of RAM it will offer in the regular iPhone 17 model by May. Even if the base-model iPhone 17 sticks with 8GB of RAM, Kuo said he expects all models in next year's iPhone 18 lineup to have 12GB of RAM.

Currently, all iPhone 16 models come with 8GB of RAM, so going to 12GB would be a major increase. More RAM enables larger and more capable AI models to run locally, improving the speed, responsiveness, and complexity of tasks without relying heavily on cloud services. A fifty percent increase in allocable RAM would also allow for smoother multitasking, with AI processes operating in the background without slowing down active apps.

Apple is expected to release the iPhone 17 lineup around its usual September timeframe.

Article Link: All iPhone 17 Models Again Rumored to Feature 12GB of RAM
I heard that all iPhone 17 models will cancel the rumored anti-reflective display, so I think all iPhones should be equipped with 12GB of RAM, even the base iPhone 17.
 
All upcoming iPhone 17 models will come equipped with 12GB of RAM to support Apple Intelligence, according to the Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station.

How confident are we that 'Digital Chat Station' isn't an AI-chatbot "hallucinating" Apple rumours?

I mean, the name is a bit generic for starters… And if it had been trained on MacRumors forum posts, it would regularly regurgitate an ever-increasing demand for more RAM.
 
Good, let’s hope the iPhone 17e comes with the same amount of RAM, even if it carries a binned A19 with fewer GPU cores, just like the current iPhone 16e. I’m ready to give OLED another try. I hope my eyes are ready as well (PWM), otherwise I’ll have to look at how to replace the display for an LCD without breaking FaceID or the brightness and proximity sensor.
 
As Apple only offers one RAM option per model anyway, it is more likely that they increase the RAM. They do not make money from charging more for RAM like they to with Macs.

I wonder though if there is a market for an "AI free" iPhone with less RAM and less storage for a lower price. I do not really feel I to run an AI model on a phone, because I can still use many AIs for free and those are likely much more advanced that any AI I can run locally on my phone.

If someone really is an AI geek, I wonder if there is a way to run an AI model back home on your Mac and access it from your iPhone. Such a model would still be private, but much more powerful than anything you can run on a smartphone.
 
I guess all us 8gb phone owners will just need to keep ai disabled. Fortunately that was my plan anyways. I am guessing the 16 series will have a shorter than normal life span IF you plan on using ai.
 
The Apple Silicon developer units were running A series chips and the M series are based on the A series.
Those A12s were customized so they could support desktop OS features like swap memory. Thats why when Apple ported Stage Manager to the A12 iPad Pros, they didn't get swap memory like the M1 iPads Pros.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MRSugarD
Those A12s were customized so they could support desktop OS features like swap memory. Thats why when Apple ported Stage Manager to the A12 iPad Pros, they didn't get swap memory like the M1 iPads Pros.
But the point is, the A series chips can run MacOS if modified correctly.
 
I just find it ever so slightly funny that each year over the last few years they keep slowly increasing the RAM to finally catch up to android phones from 3-5 years ago. And you still have people claiming iPhones don't need more RAM meanwhile Apple themselves disagree.
 


All upcoming iPhone 17 models will come equipped with 12GB of RAM to support Apple Intelligence, according to the Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station.

iPhone-17-Pro-on-Desk-Feature.jpg

The claim from the Chinese leaker, who has sources within Apple's supply chain, comes a few days after industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will all be equipped with 12GB of RAM.

Kuo also said even the base-model iPhone 17 could be equipped with 12GB of RAM, but it will depend on whether supply chain shortages can be overcome. He said that Apple will make a final decision on the amount of RAM it will offer in the regular iPhone 17 model by May. Even if the base-model iPhone 17 sticks with 8GB of RAM, Kuo said he expects all models in next year's iPhone 18 lineup to have 12GB of RAM.

Currently, all iPhone 16 models come with 8GB of RAM, so going to 12GB would be a major increase. More RAM enables larger and more capable AI models to run locally, improving the speed, responsiveness, and complexity of tasks without relying heavily on cloud services. A fifty percent increase in allocable RAM would also allow for smoother multitasking, with AI processes operating in the background without slowing down active apps.

Apple is expected to release the iPhone 17 lineup around its usual September timeframe.

Article Link: All iPhone 17 Models Again Rumored to Feature 12GB of RAM
Heard the anti-reflective coating for the iPhone 17 got scrapped, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple gives all models 12GB of RAM instead. I’m also guessing they’ll start at 256GB storage, but I doubt the price will jump by $100 or more.
 
Last edited:
It's truly embarrassing for Apple HW that the garbage they call SW is allowed to ship with this product. Give the population what they demand which is true Mac OS X running on their own HW.
macOS running on a phone will be a horrendous experience.
Even outside of the user interface differences, macOS handles RAM management completely different than iOS. You would have a phone with a 10 minute battery.
 
I agree as Apple made the decision that all Mac's are now 16GB. This should apply to iPhone and iPad as well.
They should have released the base M4 iPP with 12GB RAM. Now we will be in a situation where the iPhone 17's will have more RAM than the significantly more powerful M4 iPad Pro's :rolleyes:. Not a big deal, but strange nevertheless.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PaladinGuy
What I don’t get is, according to the mockups the 17 is thicker. And that camera island protrudes. So why are the camera lenses not flush with the phone? Why has the phone gotten thicker and the addition of a camera island not given them the real estate to flush the cameras?
So you always put the screen facing down and the iPhone shows the Apple logo. Product placement :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: JoshuaBru
It's truly embarrassing for Apple HW that the garbage they call SW is allowed to ship with this product. Give the population what they demand which is true Mac OS X running on their own HW.
I'd rather dual boot Android than macOS.
 
Really nice render. Looks like landing spot for MagSafe battery pack... but still goal of camera bump is to have camera array flattened not like this camel...
 
If the iPhone 17 line all have 12GB of RAM, it won’t be because Tim Cook cares about customers. It’ll be because he was forced to do it for Apple’s AI to run properly. Cook will always try to get away with giving customers as little as possible in order to save money to maximize profits. That’s precisely why the non-Pro iPhone 16 models still have the same USB 2.0 wired data transfer speeds that the iPhone 1 had, which was released in 2007.
 
Wonder where this leaves all the iPhone 16/16 pro series owners in terms of Apple intelligence.

The answer no doubt is “a cut down Apple Intelligence experience!”.

Which is crazy really considering that series of phone was ‘designed and marketed for AI’

And then we will get the iPhone 18 with 16GB which is what you probably really need.

Even the Pixel 9 Pro ships with 16GB already.
 
Even the Pixel 9 Pro ships with 16GB already.
What do you mean "even"? It's like the only mainstream phone with 16 GB that you can get at a US carrier or big box electronics store. S25 Ultra, Nothing 3a Pro, and the OnePlus 13 are all 12 GB. That's a fine hardware target for an iOS device.

Wonder where this leaves all the iPhone 16/16 pro series owners in terms of Apple intelligence.

The answer no doubt is “a cut down Apple Intelligence experience!”.

Which is crazy really considering that series of phone was ‘designed and marketed for AI’
Apple will continue to give iPhone 16 users the Apple Intelligence features that have launched and the delayed features as well. It will always do what it was "designed and marketed for." But there will be a time when they start to say a certain type of device is required for Apple Intelligence 2.0 or whatever the next big thing is. Maybe their cloud compute will push that date out a few more years? It will happen eventually, just a mater of when.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.