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How much of a difference in 2GB RAM vs 1GB?

A

applesoundgear

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 14, 2012
37
6
I desperately want to buy the iPhone 5se. I have very small hands and love the size of my 5s. I've tried using friends' iPhone 6 phones and I'm just not a fan. A lot of people make the argument that you get used to the larger screen, but I like what I like.

My question is whether the additional GB of RAM in the 6s makes that much of a difference. I've seen reviews where people comment on how much snappier the phone is, but is it so significant that 1GB feels clunky? It's looking more and more like the 5se will have 1GB of RAM with the A9 chip. I'm crazy with excitement for it... but I'm worried that I'm shortchanging myself- on speed ONLY. I don't care about the better camera, resolution, etc. with the larger form factor.
 
I'm not sure it's an issue right now. But it will become one in the future. it will limit the features you get access to on newer versions of iOS. For example, the iPad Air has become almost unusable for me because of its ram limitations. But i dont think it has as much an impact on the phone since u wont be trying to do as many tasks on he device.
 
Depend on how much multi-tasking apps is "running" not just open, and how often you open lots of different website with heavy graphic in browser.
If you do both 1G to 2G are huge different.

Not one day I could not wait for 7+ to release fast enough to replace my 6+, and 2gb+ memory is on top of my reason for replacement. Not interested in 6s+ due to added thickness and added weight. 6+ is plenty thick and plenty heavy enough for me already.
 
Assuming the se rumours are true it sounds like you would be better off waiting. Every time you interact with the phone the size becomes an issue vs the times Safari decides to reload a page.
 
Andres Cantu said:
Biggest difference that I noticed was when going back to a webpage in Safari. Pages don't reload as often with the extra gig.
Click to expand...
This. I kind of hate this. I have a folder full of bookmarks and sometimes it will be several days since I last opened one. When I do reopen a bookmark, I have to press the refresh button or else it gives me the page from several days ago.
 
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Tbh I use an iPhone 6 Plus and have used an iPhone 6s Plus and didn't personally notice the difference.

I did have intermittent page reloading on my iPhone 6 Plus, but since installing a content blocker there is none.

I use Purify & Crystal but not together.

Since then page reloading for me has gone.
 
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bandofbrothers said:
Tbh I use an iPhone 6 Plus and have used an iPhone 6s Plus and didn't personally notice the difference.

I did have intermittent page reloading on my iPhone 6 Plus, but since installing a content blocker there is none.

I use Purify & Crystal but not together.

Since then page reloading for me has gone.
Click to expand...

Do you prefer purify it crystal better?
Do these block ads in Facebook or other apps from loading besides safari?
 
Huge difference. I recommend comparing the two phones in person before buying. I've got the 6S+ and I notice the speed all the time, but especially with fingerprint recognition. I liked the 6 but I don't think I could use it now that I'm used to the speed of the 6S+.
 
Last year, probably wouldn't have made much of a difference but going forward with a new iOS release due in 6 months, I would go for 2gb. Like someone else said, right now - I notice a much bigger improvement with 2gb of ram on the iPad than I do on the iPhone.
 
Last edited:
As long as you’re not a power user, you won’t feel the difference.

That been said, i would like my next iPhone to have 2GB RAM for future prove.
 
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This is so tough. I REALLY don't like the size of the 6. I'll see how the phone performs with 1GB and an A9 chip. I suppose I'll just go to the Apple Store instead of pre-ordering the phone online.
 
The new gpu alone will tap into more ram and it will feel more crippled than the A8 with 1gb of ram.
 
Applejuiced said:
Do you prefer purify it crystal better?
Do these block ads in Facebook or other apps from loading besides safari?
Click to expand...


I usually have Purify activated. This one seems to update more frequently and has more features.

I do not use Facebook through my browser for use the Facebook App.

I prefer to use the Paper App which I downloaded from the United States iTunes. (I'm in the Uk)

Just looked on Facebook through Safari and it seems ads are there.
 
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applesoundgear said:
This is so tough. I REALLY don't like the size of the 6. I'll see how the phone performs with 1GB and an A9 chip. I suppose I'll just go to the Apple Store instead of pre-ordering the phone online.
Click to expand...

No one knows if the new 4" iPhone will come with A9\1GB RAM or A9\2GB RAM... time will tell...
 
It really depends on your usage. I have an iPhone 6 which has an A8 processor and 1GB of RAM, and an iPad Mini 4 with an A8 and 2GB of RAM. I notice no performance difference between them, other than the fact that the Mini can perform split screen multitasking, which I seldom use anyway.
 
Ev0d3vil said:
Not much of a difference with iPhones, but more so with the iPad.
Click to expand...
This is true, at least for my iPhone 5s, iPad mini 2, and iPad Air 2. My iPhone 5s seems to manage just fine with 1GB of RAM on iOS 9.2.1. I never really have an issue with apps or Safari tabs reloading. My iPad mini 2, on the other hand, constantly reloads apps and tabs in the background. It's very frustrating sometimes. My iPad Air 2 rarely does, but there has to be plenty of apps running in the background before it happens.
 
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