Latest iOS and iPadOS 15 Betas Allow Apps to Request Access to More RAM

[MacRumors]

Apple is taking a major stride that will allow developers to improve the performance of their apps on iPhones and iPads, by giving apps the ability to access more of a device's memory or RAM starting later this fall.

Currently, apps are limited to the amount of RAM they can use, regardless of the amount available on the device. For example, despite the highest-end M1 iPad Pro featuring 16GB of RAM, on iPadOS 14, apps are limited to only use 5GB. 16GB of RAM is the highest amount of RAM ever offered in an iPhone or iPad, and the 5GB limitation means that apps aren't able to utilize even half of what the iPad Pro has to offer.

In the second betas of iOS and iPadOS 15, released to developers yesterday, Apple is introducing a new entitlement that developers may request that will expose their apps to more memory. Apple says that this entitlement will inform the system that an app "may perform better by exceeding the default app memory limit." Apple's developer documentation doesn't specify how much extra RAM an app may be exposed to and also says this is limited to "supported devices."

Add this entitlement to your app to inform the system that some of your app's core features may perform better by exceeding the default app memory limit on supported devices. If you use this entitlement, make sure your app still behaves correctly if additional memory isn't available.

While Apple doesn't specify the amount of extra RAM an app may request, the wording of the documentation, which advises developers to use a function to "determine the amount of memory available," suggests the ceiling of memory apps may request may be relatively high.

It's unlikely that Apple will allow developers to utilize the full amount of memory on a device. While that scenario may be useful for high-end professional apps on the iPad Pro, it would significantly slow down the system and make it harder to multitask with different apps. Users of the iPad Pro, and more so recently thanks to the M1 iPad Pro, have complained that iPadOS is limiting the true potential performance of the iPad.

Despite many users' hopes, iPadOS 15 didn’t introduce any significant features that took full advantage of the hardware of the iPad, specifically the M1-powered iPad Pro. However, the ability for apps to request access to more on-device RAM will go a long way in apps being able to utilize even more of what a device has to offer.

The new entitlement is available for developers to test, but it won't be made available to apps on the App Store until this fall when iOS and iPadOS 15, alongside watchOS 8, tvOS 15, and macOS Monterey are made available.

Article Link: Latest iOS and iPadOS 15 Betas Allow Apps to Request Access to More RAM

 

[ian87w]

Cool. Less reason for people to complain about it then.

 

[haruhiko]

While that scenario may be useful for high-end professional apps on the iPad Pro, it would significantly slow down the system and make it harder to multitask with different apps.

That scenario is useful for YouTubers to post a gazillion videos about how iPadOS is so disappointing for the ad money 💰

and now, they can start to make a new one: “I was wrong about iPadOS 15”.

 

[berrymetal]

Please Procreate give me more layers!

 

[NBAasDOGG]

Yea I definitely need more RAM for Facebook scrolling on my Facebook machine.

Just give it MacOS already!

 

[Serban55]

Please Procreate give me more layers!

procreate already on the latest beta can use up to 9gb of Ram

 

[0924487]

Now apps like Baidu can do crypto mining in the background even faster maliciously. When you have those apps open, you just know that it’s using your phone to do unrelated computation. Idling on a simple web page while connected to the internet should not consume 60%+ of the CPU.

 

[iPadified]

Complaint no 1 of iPadOS 15/16 Gb model : Gone (less than a month).
I am sure we all can survive the luxury problem of having a too fast SoC in the iPP.

 

[yabeweb]

Yea I definitely need more RAM for Facebook scrolling on my Facebook machine.

Just give it MacOS already!

If all you do with the iPad is facebook, you probably do not need the pro and the ram I guess.
If you need macOS you most likely need a Mac, I use my iPad pro 12.9 (m1 256) as my only device, and do not want macOS in it, Affinity suite works like a charm, Procreate as well.
2 different OS for 2 different machines, if I were you I would requeste iPadOS to improve instead of switching to a desktop os.

 

[ian87w]

Yea I definitely need more RAM for Facebook scrolling on my Facebook machine.

Just give it MacOS already!

Wait, so you're implying that you need macOS to scroll your Facebook??

 

[WB2Colorado]

All the people who claimed they returned their iPad Pros when beta 1 didn’t allow more than 5 GB of RAM per app must feel really silly right about now 🙃

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

Yea I definitely need more RAM for Facebook scrolling on my Facebook machine.

Just give it MacOS already!

Buy a MacBook if you want macOS, it's quite simple.

 

[JayMysterio]

All the people who claimed they returned their iPad Pros when beta 1 didn’t allow more than 5 GB of RAM per app must feel really silly right about now 🙃

Silly? No.

Would they admit it? No.

Will they complain about it anyways? Yes.

It's either going to be not enough still. Or they will complain Apple should have told them Apple's plans earlier, as if Apple is obligated to do so. The point was to complain, and to make threads on complaining.

Some are still going to complain.

 

[Username-already-in-use]

That scenario is useful for YouTubers to post a gazillion videos about how iPadOS is so disappointing for the ad money 💰

and now, they can start to make a new one: “I was wrong about iPadOS 15”.

There will be some content creator dweebs who bought the iPad in May with much fanfare, returned it in June with much fanfare and no doubt will re-order it again based on this news. All the time posting 20-million videos milking those sweet sweet clicks.

 

[blackcrayon]

The next thing people will complain about is their 6 GB iPads won't get the "feature" of being able to request 8 GB of RAM because Apple is greedy.

 

[mystery hill]

If all you do with the iPad is facebook, you probably do not need the pro

Almost no one needs the Pro. They want it - for ProMotion 120hz, XDR miniLED display, better speakers, Face ID.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

Since when is there 16GB of ram in a iPhone

 

[I7guy]

All the people who claimed they returned their iPad Pros when beta 1 didn’t allow more than 5 GB of RAM per app must feel really silly right about now 🙃

Lol, I was thinking the exact same thing in exactly the way you phrased it.

 

[cupcakes2000]

Almost no one needs the Pro. They want it - for ProMotion 120hz, XDR miniLED display, better speakers, Face ID.

Speak for yourself, not ‘almost’ everyone else

 

[yabeweb]

Almost no one needs the Pro. They want it - for ProMotion 120hz, XDR miniLED display, better speakers, Face ID.

While there are few scenario where a PRO is "needed", there are some, for me the bigger size is more important than HDR,120 hz ,better, speaker, so my main reason is larger screen, but some project really get use of the mighty HW it has.

Oh I miss the iPad Air 4 Touch ID though, never liked FaceID, on ipad the camera is in the wrong position for it to work as intended at least for me, I'd take a pro with Touch ID anyday!

 

[PBG4 Dude]

If all you do with the iPad is facebook, you probably do not need the pro and the ram I guess.
If you need macOS you most likely need a Mac, I use my iPad pro 12.9 (m1 256) as my only device, and do not want macOS in it, Affinity suite works like a charm, Procreate as well.
2 different OS for 2 different machines, if I were you I would requeste iPadOS to improve instead of switching to a desktop os.

Looking at Apple CPUs vs intel, it would seem starting small and building up is a less monumental task than starting huge and trying to whittle down into something smaller. In this case, I think it is the same with iPadOS. Better to add what is really needed and highly wanted, than to cram macOS on there and deal with the problems that come with stuffing 10 pounds of product into a 5 pound bag.

 

[ian87w]

All the people who claimed they returned their iPad Pros when beta 1 didn’t allow more than 5 GB of RAM per app must feel really silly right about now 🙃

Well, most of them probably didn't own one to begin with.

 

[MauiPa]

oh snap, all that hate, just went poof

 

[Apple_Robert]

What is the purpose of Apple so tightly controlling RAM availability, when the OS doesn’t require a lot of RAM to function?

 

[UBS28]

All the people who claimed they returned their iPad Pros when beta 1 didn’t allow more than 5 GB of RAM per app must feel really silly right about now 🙃

They were hoping for Logic, Xcode, Final Cut Pro, and so on …. to finally come to the M1 iPad Pro. But it appeared Apple had no plans for it. That is why many people decided to return it.