Aaargh. I tend to hang on to my phones -- I'm still using an iPhone 8 and was hoping to replace this year; not sure if my phone will last the year. Any phone will be better than what I've got, but it is frustrating that I may be forced into purchasing a phone that is obsolete straight out of the box.
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iPhone 17 to Feature 12GB RAM, Up From 8GB in iPhone 16 Models
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I've been using Lightroom for a long time processing my photos from regular cameras. And have been using Apple's RAW mode since it was introduced a couple years ago (for photos I care about). For "throw away photos" I'll never print or need long term, jpeg is fine.
Pretty funny that when Apple is forced to up its minimum ram spec that when they do, and when people flock to buy that newer device, they will go right ahead and up the minimum required again for some (insert anything here) software requirement. So basically they will introduce some new feature that only the pro models with more ram will get out of the box and everyone else would need to upgrade the minimum ram on the base models to get it. I am sure they will do this for both Macs and iPhones.
There is no A18 released yet. All iPhone 16 models are expected to have 8GB RAM.
And this rumor makes sense to me, there is no reason to fragment AI features by only putting enough RAM in the pro models, they already made that mistake with the 15.
Justifying 8GB in today’s market and trying to market your product as high end is essentially an oxymoron. A 16GB DDR5 RAM stick costs no more than $50 and not $200. This is tactic Apple used for years to create higher profit margin across the Mac product line. Current MacBook Air’s should be priced at starting $999 for 16GB/512 and $1099 for 32GB/1TB for a 13”. That is fair market value and not $1499 for this configuration for a M3/13”. Put this in perspective, a 512GB drive costs about $35 and a 1TB for about $45. You are telling me that it costs a higher configuration of 16GB and 1TB costs the user $600 more to have a more “future proof and optimized” system? Reality check guys…
Man, Apple really does the least they can get away with, don’t they?
Now it’s catching up to them as every year’s product ends up being quickly obsolete. Almost none of their current phones will support iOS 18’s AI features, and even the new phones they’re about to announce will soon suffer a similar fate.
Longevity used to be a feature of Apple devices. Now their customers will see how badly Apple has been screwing them over to save a few pennies.
Apple today is not the Apple of 10 years ago. It’s a tired company well past its peak.
Now it’s catching up to them as every year’s product ends up being quickly obsolete. Almost none of their current phones will support iOS 18’s AI features, and even the new phones they’re about to announce will soon suffer a similar fate.
Longevity used to be a feature of Apple devices. Now their customers will see how badly Apple has been screwing them over to save a few pennies.
Apple today is not the Apple of 10 years ago. It’s a tired company well past its peak.
If it's time for you to upgrade. My manager is upgrading her 8 Plus to the 16 whatever.
no no no!!! iPhone 17 would be mistake.
Wait until the iPhone 18 Upgrades:
More…
I will buy the iPhone 16 and then jump to the iPhone 19, which is better than 17&18.
We haven't even seen the iPhone 16 yet and they are running rumours on the iPhone 17 being better, hilarious.
If the EU really wanted to help consumers, they would force Apple to provide options for things like RAM. This is clearly being done to help them sell future hardware at the expense of the consumers.
Apple RAM is magical. They know you're going to love it! /s
Exactly, I keep my iPhone for 2 or 3 years at the maximum, so no recently iPhone goes out of date that fast.
At least as long as the battery has life left...
[edit] ...on the other side, that also seems to diminish a lot faster lately.
And you are right. Too much rumor hype about AI and RAM. For someone who wants on device Apple AI current 16/17 predictions must be confusing. 14/15 already questionably dmaged by the processors used. Thats why I will buy the SE because I do not want to waste money on hypotetical support/not support. SE is clear, no false expectations, just reality.
Well, still planning to upgrade to this year Pro model as there is always something better down the road. This time around next year, we shall be seeing iPhone 18 (or 2026 model year) rumors.
I upgraded from iPhone 12 Pro Max this January to 15 Pro Max. I used 12 Pro Max for about 3 + years. I am planning to keep my iPhone 15 Pro Max for 4 years minimum. So, future proof for the flagship ones should be around 5-6 years at least. It is like paying for personal high end laptop and we can’t keep changing it every two or three years. Besides, after 3 years, one gets used to the device and gets emotionally attached to it as well, refusing to change it 😊. Here we don’t get carrier upgrades and have to pay them in FULL which includes astronomical taxes.
SE is really tempting and I don’t use my Pro Max cameras anyways hence I may need to see SE in future. My second son recently bought iPhone 15 base model (with some minor discounts) which I like it very much with the size. If SE comes with the same but with upgraded specs except for the single camera, I would love to get one for $499! Can’t wait to see it.
That was someone from Apple's marketing that said it was macs vs windows. Android runs on top of Linux.
I bought a 15 PM earlier this year, so I am not planning on upgrading any time soon, but I think some people are missing the point that Apple is not going to simply increase specs on their devices unless they absolutely have to, not when you *want* them to. If people keep buying MacBooks with 8GB of RAM, they will keep selling them, and that makes complete sense business-wise. If there was no competition from Android, they would probably not upgrade the SoC every year either.
Wut? That’s $3k every 6 years instead of 8. Those maths don’t work.
I'll wait for the iPhone 20 line-up... that will be the real killer compared to my 12 mini