I am in the market for a new iPhone and am eyeing the 16 Pro Max. I only upgrade every 4-5 years and have a regular iPhone 12 at the moment. I would either upgrade this year or next year at the latest. I'm sure the perceived jump from regular 12 to 16PM would be plenty, but at the same time, i keep thinking about the 12GB of RAM that the 17 PM will presumably have. Sure, you likely won't notice the RAM when the Phone is new, but over a lifespan of 4-5 years, 50% extra RAM seems to be a pretty big enabler when it comes to longevity. What do you guys think? Am i overthinking it, since RAM is not even a "feature" that i'm missing out on?
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Other Are you concerned about RAM?
- Thread starter Flux386
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Why buy iphone 17PM with possible 12GB RAM, when iphone 20 ultra could have 24GB RAM
Remember the iPad mini 6 only has 4gb and functions fantastically. I have no interest in AI so couldn’t care less how much RAM my phone has.
It's funny people want what might happen in the future (iPhone 17 or 20 or 2000).
Those people will be waiting forever to buy a phone if they are expecting future improvements.
Those people will be waiting forever to buy a phone if they are expecting future improvements.
My primary iPhone is the 11 Pro Max and my secondary iPhone is the 6s Plus. My 11PM is running the iOS 18 Developer Beta and my 6s Plus is on iOS 15. Neither have any issues now in doing what I use them for.
So, no. I am not concerned about RAM. I'm not using my iPhones for anything other than calls, email, texting, and some light web browsing when out of the house.
We don't plan to upgrade until the launch of the 17 series, but our upgrade at that time will be to the 16 series, not the 17.
Yes, that's always the thing right? People always want the mostest, fastest, greatest, bestest. Well, that's next year's model and that's always a year away.
Not concerned in the least. I've been using iPhones since the 3G and have never once run into a use case where the RAM was a limiting factor for me. I guess I'm not the kind of "power user" that maxes out my phone's capabilities. I'm usually not creating complex spreadsheets while having 349 tabs open in Safari and trying to play graphic-intensive games while streaming 8K video on YouTube and running a 3D CAD app all at the same time.
So you must not have upgraded your iPhone 3G to iOS 4, huh?
iPhone 6 & 6 Plus was deficient in RAM. Only had 1GB. I used one for 7 years and it was super annoying. Any app that wasn’t being used was immediately suspended and had to relaunch when you went back to it.
The 6S & 6S Plus got 2GB of RAM and that was and still is plenty on iOS 15. No RAM issues.
I think the dark days of inadequate RAM ended after the iPhone 6.
The 6S & 6S Plus got 2GB of RAM and that was and still is plenty on iOS 15. No RAM issues.
I think the dark days of inadequate RAM ended after the iPhone 6.
Never noticed that on my 6 Plus when it was my primary phone. Nor do I notice now, years later.
If you only upgrade every 4-5 years and care about AI in the mid-term, then yes, I’d wait for the second-gen “AI iPhone”. Possible other factors: https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/iphone-17/
Anything with more than the 4GB in the 13 i'll be happy
For an OS that barely supports multitasking, 4GB is plenty. It was only with LLMs that more RAM became necessary.
I appreciate that Apple has resisted calling LLMs Artificial Intelligence - because it isn't.
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Personally I’d disagree.
I’m currently using an XR (3GB ram), whilst my partner is using a 12pro (6GB ram).
With all apps closed, the 12P does loads apps fasters (ie a few seconds differences depending on app, but if you’re only using a handful of apps there isn’t much day to day difference)…
Where I really notice the difference is when you have multiple apps open and app reloads: the 12P reloads apps far less compared to the XR.
Especially when you need to transfer data across multiple apps...
That's funny this reminds me of when the first Apple silicon Mac devices came out.
I had a $2500 CTO/BTO 2018 Mac Mini with Intel i7 and 64GB of RAM which was just awful - sluggish, spinning beach balls, fans spinning up, and heat throttled.
Then I got a $500 base Mac Mini in 2020 with M1 and 8GB of RAM which ran 20x faster, no heating, and snappy.
Such a believer, I now have the 2022 M1 Max Studio base and love it!