Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

The iPhone 4S Appears to Have 512MB RAM

If the 4S runs well on only 512 MBs, then it should show that it's not just how much RAM you have, it's how you use it as well.

This reminded me of the saying "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."

I must have a really dirty mind because I also just thought of the sayings "It's not the size of the rise, but the motion of the ocean" and "It's not the size of the stick, but the magic in the wand." :p
 
Doesnt need more. My bionic had a gig and 600 was free nearly all the time.

Garbage phone that thing was....
 
Abyssgh0st said:
Until Apple re-does their multitasking (let's be honest, it's pretty terrible) they really have no reason to add more RAM.
Click to expand...

Why is it terrible?

I love when I hit my home button it saves the exact state of my app. When I come back, it's right where I left it off. Why is that terrible? It's multitasking for everyone because it's easy to understand.

Think Different dude.
 
MarlboroLite said:
Apple has always been stingy with RAM ... I have no idea why they do this or why they have such an aversion to increasing the memory capacity of their devices .
Click to expand...

I agree that Apple is needlessly stingy about the RAM capacity. I guess there's some battery or size compromise as well as cost ramification from adding more RAM, especially as A5 has RAM in the same "packaging." But still, that's pretty bad considering future upgrades might require even more RAM. :(
 
MarlboroLite said:
Apple has always been stingy with RAM--whether it's in their computers or iStuff. And when they have offered extra RAM on their computers they gouge for it. I have no idea why they do this or why they have such an aversion to increasing the memory capacity of their devices when the costs clearly drop every year while the necessity of the boost goes up every year.
Click to expand...

RAM is quite expensive. Apple has the advantage that the software is made for the hardware. They can cut costs because the devices run perfect with less RAM. Take the iPad 2. It only has 512 MB of RAM, but competitors have 1GB or more, yet the iPad does not lag of any kind. This also makes it hard for competitors to beat Apple's price setting on the iPad.
Android is made for general devices, so the hardware needs to be adjusted to the software. The software might have more capabilities than the hardware, so there is more power and memory needed to achieve the same thing.
 
Eager Beaver said:
Guys keep asking about the ram, and it's an easy question to answer -
All the other new high end smartphones come with 1g ram, and their advertisers let EVERYONE know.

Now when you have another company FINALLY introduce their new high end smartphone, and they refuse to post the ram specs anywhere, you can bet ALOT of money that it only has a paultry 512, and NOT 1gig -

Hope that straightens things out for some of you -
Click to expand...



Just like I said on the other thread before this one started -
 
laynemoseley said:
Why is it terrible?

I love when I hit my home button it saves the exact state of my app. When I come back, it's right where I left it off. Why is that terrible? It's multitasking for everyone because it's easy to understand.

Think Different dude.
Click to expand...

I think he doesn't completely understand how multitasking works, only the UI.

Apple's multitasking is just fine. But the UI for it... blows chunks.
 
So the only things different between the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4s are:


-- new processor
-- new camera

-- new software


Otherwise pretty much exactly the same as the iPhone 4 (at least the Verizon version of the iPhone 4).


Apple must be making a killing on these things (profit margin).
 
The RAM used in these phones is not like your PC RAM.

This one actually comes inside the A5 CPU package itself and is very low power and fast. It's also much more expensive than your typical RAM stick.
 
Abyssgh0st said:
Until Apple re-does their multitasking (let's be honest, it's pretty terrible) they really have no reason to add more RAM.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's terrible; I think a lot of it depends on how the software developer handles it. Some make good use of it and program their apps to utilize it correctly, while some (for example, Tom-Tom) don't.
 
FWIW: another spec that hasn't changed is that the iPhone 4S only supports 2.4GHz 802.11N Wi-Fi and not 5GHz - same as the iPhone 4.
 
Omg! They blew it! I'm canceling my pre-order and buying a Nexus Prime!

Since when have Apple customers cared more about specs than the actual experience?
 
arbitter said:
RAM is quite expensive. Apple has the advantage that the software is made for the hardware. They can cut costs because the devices run perfect with less RAM. Take the iPad 2. It only has 512 MB of RAM, but competitors have 1GB or more, yet the iPad does not lag of any kind. This also makes it hard for competitors to beat Apple's price setting on the iPad.
Android is made for general devices, so the hardware needs to be adjusted to the software. The software might have more capabilities than the hardware, so there is more power and memory needed to achieve the same thing.
Click to expand...

On chip RAM may be expensive but RAM for my MBP was $50 for 8GB.
 
That's a real shame. Playing a song in the iPod app at the same time as Infinity Blade already causes some pretty bad slowdown due to lack of RAM. That will only get worse (and Infinity Blade has taken a 5 fps hit in iOS5 as it is!)

Phazer
 
peterdevries said:
I see in your signature that you have an Iphone 4, which also has 512 Mb RAM.

I'm really interested, so please do not take this as an attack, but what is the reason to go for Samsung if the iPhone4S does not have 1Gb. What will you not be able to run on the iPhone4S?
Click to expand...

I assumed it was sarcasm. If not, I too, would be curious and want to be voted down...
 
byke said:
As I have said before, I believe the RAM is limeted to help prolong battery performance.
Click to expand...

The opposite is actually usually true. The more RAM you have, the less often you have to reload data from scratch, especially via costly 3G network operations. This is why I think the iPhone 4 had more RAM than the original iPad, the iPad is usually connected to WiFi and has a larger battery, plus, they needed to fit under a certain price point.

I would be disappointed if the iPhone 4S had 512MB of RAM, because that means using Siri would kick more stuff out of RAM, and you'd be reloading apps more frequently.

Even today, the only official way we knew how much RAM was in the iPhone 4 is because Apple told us in a WWDC session. Barring that, you have to take the phone apart and look at the chips. You can't tell with some magical API that reports how much RAM is left for you to use. Plus, I also feel like the system would continue to reserve RAM for both Siri and other suspended apps, such that as a developer, you don't get any more RAM than you did on the iPad 2.

We'll see when iFixIt does a teardown. If it's only 512MB, I would really hope that the iPad 2 gets Siri eventually.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back