Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Why are they so illogical? The ’Pro’ refers to the innards, the ’Max’ to the screen size and therefore battery. Why are they having different cameras and now RAM between two Pro models? It’s irritating. It’s dumb. And you don’t want to buy products from a dumb company.
Exactly. People aren't chosing between the Pro and Pro Max for the specs, they are chosing based on size preference and that has always been the case.
 
Given how mature smartphones are nowadays, you should skip at least 2 iphone generations before upgrading to have a substantial enough upgrade - assuming it's not broken and you picked the correct size/storage.
Don't be fooled by apple overhyped marketing every year, YoY upgrades are quite incremental since iPhone X.

IMO 16 series is way more relevant to anyone with iPhone 12 or older than most recents models if you have a classic use of a smartphone.
 
Don’t know why people are complaining about RAM?

Do you really experience a „bottleneck“ with RAM in phones?

lol
Don't you see Apple is almost all-in in AI for at least the next two years?

AI needs lots of RAM to allow useful features for upcoming phones. What could attract people to upgrade an iPhone is useful fine-tuned AI features - enabled by the extra RAM.

Yes, RAM has almost never been a true bottleneck on iphone (except iphone before 6S I would say). But it can for sure be the main limiting factor to have/don't have powerful new features on future versions of iOS in the long run. The segmentation between iphone 15 / 15 pro for Apple Intelligence is the 1st recent example of that RAM bottleneck
 
Differentiating the Pro models this way doesn't motivate me to spend more on a Pro Max. It means I would either settle for the cheaper iPhone 17 or not upgrade at all.
It’s like when I buy a medium food product and they immediately ask if I want large, I then say, “Actually make it a small”.
 
Why are they so illogical? The ’Pro’ refers to the innards, the ’Max’ to the screen size and therefore battery. Why are they having different cameras and now RAM between two Pro models? It’s irritating. It’s dumb. And you don’t want to buy products from a dumb company.
‘Pro’ and ‘Max’ are just names. Besides other considerations like size, you need to think how to allocate limited supply/more expensive components, and usually people who are willing to pay more align with people who want the biggest display. Makes total sense to me.
 
I find it incredibly annoying that MR releases/shares rumors about future iPhones before the next iPhone (in this case, 16) is released. Feels kind of disrespectful to the unreleased iPhone, IMHO.
This happens every year, and it's because of the long lead time between design and release of new iPhone models. It's a fact of life that once a new model releases, the design of the next is already well underway. This is MacRumors, not MacOnlyNextModel.
 
It defies logic Apple will raise to 8GB this year, then immediately increase again to 12GB for all models the following year. That rapid increase has never happened since iPhone 6.

Apple isn't about to give 12GB to all iPhone 17 devices. It makes zero sense. What makes sense is Apple pushing their highest tier iPhone 17 Pro Max with unique features.
The rise of AI (and in particular, on device AI) means we are back in the days of rapid increases in specifications. Remember we went from 128 MB in the iPhone 3G to 1 GB in the iPhone over 5 years - only the iPhone 4S did not double the RAM over the previous model. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple has to keep increasing the RAM over the next few years if it doesn't want to be left behind in the AI race.

The issue with just throwing more and more memory at the problem creates a situation where only the flagship Android models perform reliably. You can’t rely on app developers to code efficiently. That said, if 8 GB is the minimum for Apple Intelligence then I would prefer 12 GB across the board for more headroom and future proofing.
This seems to be a lesson either Apple haven't learnt or are actively betting won't be an issue. I have zero doubt that, if true (we are still months away from the iPhone 17 spec freeze), Apple is betting that more RAM (probably marketed as more features) on the Pro Max model will lead to more people buying that model over the regular Pro which will increase the average sales price of the iPhone range and please Wall Street. At the same time, they are counting on those who don't want/can't afford the Pro Max not being put off the lower models.

Exactly. People aren't chosing between the Pro and Pro Max for the specs, they are chosing based on size preference and that has always been the case.
And Apple is hoping to drive more people to buy the larger phone by these choices as it provides higher margins.
 
‘Pro’ and ‘Max’ are just names. Besides other considerations like size, you need to think how to allocate limited supply/more expensive components, and usually people who are willing to pay more align with people who want the biggest display. Makes total sense to me.
Of course they are just names but in a marketing perspective you want to be clear to your customers. That is marketing 101 since marketing is raising perception of X through communication.

And when something is marketed as Y and something else also is marketed as Y, it is entry course text book that these should equal each other unless clearly different, such as screen size. Otherwise it is bad communication and therefore bad marketing.

There is no limited supply of RAM nor is it expensive. This rumor is either false or they are making a weird decision.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rogifan
It might just be me. But if Apple claimed the additional RAM was to support REAL multi-tasking on the iPhone instead of AI, I would find the prospect of more RAM much more interesting.
"Real" multitasking is more limited by battery than by RAM.
 
Why are they so illogical? The ’Pro’ refers to the innards, the ’Max’ to the screen size and therefore battery. Why are they having different cameras and now RAM between two Pro models? It’s irritating. It’s dumb. And you don’t want to buy products from a dumb company.
It's not dumb, it's maximizing profits. But I agree that consumers should hold them to higher standards and vote with their wallet here.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: DOD250
MR users don’t care about UX, only specs 😂😂
It depends... do you remember when steve j. told "nobody cares about specs" when on the other side intel was pushing new processors every day? that was the mantra and everybody followed it... now it has changed, the new marketing dept. instruction say "specs are important"...
 
And Apple is hoping to drive more people to buy the larger phone by these choices as it provides higher margins.
I'm sure that is the motive behind it, but that doesn't suddenly make a larger phone appealing if the person doesn't like larger phones. We are in an era now where everything is goijg up in price and many are looking to save money, not spend more and mobile phones are often the first thing to be rationalised, hence why users generally keep phones much longer than they did 5 or so years ago.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CatalinApple
The issue with just throwing more and more memory at the problem creates a situation where only the flagship Android models perform reliably. You can’t rely on app developers to code efficiently. That said, if 8 GB is the minimum for Apple Intelligence then I would prefer 12 GB across the board for more headroom and future proofing.
Sure. Right now people with new iPhones 15 that aren’t Pro models won’t have access to Apple Intelligence features. That’s absurd.

This is all planned by the most anticompetitive company of my lifetime. And Tim’s willing to work with political enemies to get his way and ensure AAPL prospers at the cost of everyone except massive shareholders and the executive team.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DOD250
ok let's hear it - tell me all your horror stories of how your iPhone ran out RAM in the middle of doing something?

AFAIK, that isn't an actual thing on iPhones that are less than 3-4 years old.
 
  • Like
Reactions: The-Real-Deal82
Android phones need it. iPhones manage things better and have note optimised OS. The chip is what matters.

The chip doesn’t matter as much as RAM in the long run. Especially when we’re keeping our phones for longer. I’m still on my 11 Pro and keeping iOS updated over the years and I think it’s safe to say the practical processing usage have plateaued for a while now.

RAM though is clearly not enough. The camera app sucks up a lot of RAM. Safari can’t keep multiple tabs loaded.
 
I find it incredibly annoying that MR releases/shares rumors about future iPhones before the next iPhone (in this case, 16) is released. Feels kind of disrespectful to the unreleased iPhone, IMHO.
I fully understand you. But when the rumors of the to be introduced iPhone 16 are true, there is sadly little to write about. It’s sad to have to use the iPhone 17 from more than a year away to get some excitement. But even when the rumors of the iPhone 17 become truth, it doesn’t make me excited. It’s also sad to see that google’s new pixel 9 pro have started to be better looking than an iPhone pro. Considering it’s a lot cheaper than the iPhone Pro and offers enough RAM and excellent photography. My next phone might be a Pixel Pro.
 
The chip doesn’t matter as much as RAM in the long run. Especially when we’re keeping our phones for longer. I’m still on my 11 Pro and keeping iOS updated over the years and I think it’s safe to say the practical processing usage have plateaued for a while now.

RAM though is clearly not enough. The camera app sucks up a lot of RAM. Safari can’t keep multiple tabs loaded.
As Apple is using the term Pro in its devices, it can’t be crippled or handicapped by RAM. It cost Apple very little to offer more RAM per iPhone. Same with the overheating from their microprocessors. What’s the use of a very fast microprocessor when it throttles and slows down when using it.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.