The iPhone 4S Appears to Have 512MB RAM

[Xenomorph]

After seeing iPhone 4s in use with 300+ MB of free RAM (compared to my 3GS will less than 100 MB), 512MB doesn't seem too bad.

However, "only" 512 MB RAM does seem like the 4S's only negative. More than 512 MB RAM may not be needed now, but what about when iOS 6 comes out?

Also, it is awesome that a device with only 512 MB RAM will still kick the ass of every Android device out there even if they have twice as much (or even more) of RAM.

 

[scar4711]

If the Siri has a dedicated chip...

If the Siri has a dedicated chip... could there be another 512mb of ram reserved just for Siri?

Guess we will just wait for the teardown to see.

 

[Four oF NINE]

So long as it works

who cares? It's just a spec number anyway.

 

[Winter Charm]

Or not... how are you supposed to tell with some of the posters? I have seen comparable things written and have been what the poster really thought.

Yeah. Someone who's fluent in sarcasm will always use the smiley to let others know that they are speaking sarcasm. When they talk normally, they will refrain from using that smiley so people can still take them seriously.

If you're going to be sarcastic, please use the

 

[arn]

This is only logical, since the use of an A5. Apple uses a SOCs (A4, A5) with stacked on RAM so to build an iPhone 4s with 1GB they would have to make a new version of the A5.
Listening to all the rumors on "tech" sites about the new iPhone, you come to realize, that most of their staff has not very much knowledge about technology, possibilities and economic decisions.

iPad 1 = A4 with 256MB RAM
iPhone 4 = A4 with 512MB RAM

so it's not locked in stone just because it's an A5.

arn

 

[jkichline]

As a developer

So, the amount of RAM does not matter to user experience. Is this a new low for Apple fan rationalization skills?

I'm an iOS developer. Without trying to sound like a fan boy, I can say that iOS does more with less RAM than the competition. It take a LOT for me to crash my app and run it out of memory. Part of that reason is how iOS manages memory and allows developers to have fine-grain control over everything in memory at any given moment. It also notifies the developer when things are running low on memory so you can take action (like pull things out of RAM like large images).

As a real-life scenario... we make an app for an amusement park that features an high-resolution map and GPS. The map will display at full resolution on any iOS device we have, even though they go as low as 256MB of RAM. However, a high-end Android device will crash even though it has 1GB of RAM because it cannot handle more than a 16MB image buffer. What this means is, even though the device has 1 GB of RAM, for this particular scenario, it can't handle more than 16 MB of uncompressed bitmap data. It reminds me of when companies would put 4GB of RAM into a 32bit Windows laptop that could only use 2.5 GB of that RAM. But it fooled the user into thinking it was really powerful.

So, to quote the long standing wisdom of the ages... Size doesn't matter, it's how well you use it that counts

 

[blackcrayon]

After seeing iPhone 4s in use with 300+ MB of free RAM (compared to my 3GS will less than 100 MB), 512MB doesn't seem too bad.

However, "only" 512 MB RAM does seem like the 4S's only negative. More than 512 MB RAM may not be needed now, but what about when iOS 6 comes out?

Also, it is awesome that a device with only 512 MB RAM will still kick the ass of every Android device out there even if they have twice as much (or even more) of RAM.

Yes, for future updates it does seem like more would've been nice. But remember that even the 3GS gets iOS 5, and it has neither the RAM nor the CPU of the iPhone 4 or 4S.

I ate dinner the other night with a friend of mine who has a T-Mobile G2x. I was making him mad - my iPhone 4 was dramatically smoother moving around in the browser, rendered complex pages faster, was faster in javascript, etc. And that's with only 1 lower clocked core. Unless Ice Cream sandwich makes some major gains, i think the iPhone 4S is going to keep up or exceed any current Android phone in terms of performance.

 

[F123D]

After browsing this thread, I can't tell what is or isn't sarcasm anymore..

 

[Electrified]

So you have to buy a new device whenever they release a future iOS update that requires more RAM. It's Apple way.

 

[a.gomez]

not sure why Infinity Blade developer gets so much air time - I finally checked that game out and it is a glorified TAP, TAP game.

as for the 512 ram - iOS does 1 thing at a time - suspends most everything else... you really do not need that much ram to run a Mickey Mouse OS

 

[lilo777]

It does matter but the overall user experience remains quite good, no? The apps open up quickly and the whole phone is speedy. iPad 2 is blazing fast overall compared to Android tablets with 1GB RAM.

A more pertinent question would be why you keep spending so much time here and other various internet forums writing things about the platform you seem to hate with passion.

It does. Just not as good as on modern phones.

 

[hobo.hopkins]

As others have said, I don't think the specific amount of RAM is particularly relevant. What is relevant is how well the operating system and new features work on the new iPhone, and I expect them to operate well.

 

[kas23]

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If the Siri has a dedicated chip... could there be another 512mb of ram reserved just for Siri?

Guess we will just wait for the teardown to see.

I think you are correct here. I believe no one found any mention or hint of Siri in the iOS 5 GM. It has to be somewhere. It may even have it's own dedicated chip, RAM, and storage. This would truly restrict it's use on the iPhone 4S.

 

[lilo777]

I'm an iOS developer. Without trying to sound like a fan boy, I can say that iOS does more with less RAM than the competition. It take a LOT for me to crash my app and run it out of memory. Part of that reason is how iOS manages memory and allows developers to have fine-grain control over everything in memory at any given moment. It also notifies the developer when things are running low on memory so you can take action (like pull things out of RAM like large images).

As a real-life scenario... we make an app for an amusement park that features an high-resolution map and GPS. The map will display at full resolution on any iOS device we have, even though they go as low as 256MB of RAM. However, a high-end Android device will crash even though it has 1GB of RAM because it cannot handle more than a 16MB image buffer. What this means is, even though the device has 1 GB of RAM, for this particular scenario, it can't handle more than 16 MB of uncompressed bitmap data. It reminds me of when companies would put 4GB of RAM into a 32bit Windows laptop that could only use 2.5 GB of that RAM. But it fooled the user into thinking it was really powerful.

So, to quote the long standing wisdom of the ages... Size doesn't matter, it's how well you use it that counts

As you understand all well, your buffer size example has nothing to do with RAM. RAM size comes into play in much simpler scenarios - like tabbed browsing.

 

[lilcosco08]

2nd of all the iPhone 4S's ram is clocked at 533mhz.
IDIOTS, READ THE WIKIPEDIA! IT SAYS 512MB RAM on the IPHONE!

Since when is wikipedia a reputable source?

 

[blackcrayon]

So you have to buy a new device whenever they release a future iOS update that requires more RAM. It's Apple way.

Pretty sure that's the "computing device way". New OS versions often require more RAM. And since there aren't many mobile phones around with expandable RAM...

 

[douten]

After seeing iPhone 4s in use with 300+ MB of free RAM (compared to my 3GS will less than 100 MB), 512MB doesn't seem too bad.

However, "only" 512 MB RAM does seem like the 4S's only negative. More than 512 MB RAM may not be needed now, but what about when iOS 6 comes out?

Also, it is awesome that a device with only 512 MB RAM will still kick the ass of every Android device out there even if they have twice as much (or even more) of RAM.

Though a legit concern we must remember that ios5 is able to run on 3gs still, which only have 256mb. I don't think Apple just develop their os and then let the ram accomidates how much it needs, but it's a lot more of meeting half way. Either way 4s should still be working for another 2-3 iOS update~ (2 would be enough for me

 

[gloryunited]

Apple do not want their (potential) users to think too much about specs and numbers.

Other phones out there also have 512MB RAM.
Other phones out there also have 8-megapixel camera.
Other phones out there can also record HD 1080p video.

But people still buy and use and love their iPhones. They have faith in Apple to strike the right balance in making the phone so "It just works."

 

[WeegieMac]

not sure why Infinity Blade developer gets so much air time - I finally checked that game out and it is a glorified TAP, TAP game.

as for the 512 ram - iOS does 1 thing at a time - suspends most everything else... you really do not need that much ram to run a Mickey Mouse OS

Amusing coming from someone with a Galaxy Tab, which has possibly the worst touchscreen response time and appalling UI performance on the market in which it tries to compete.

 

[dethmaShine]

I am not a spec whore. But I would definitely appreciate the extra RAM.

I am not asking them to put a quad-core inside the iPhone4S but asking it to be more future proof which isn't a bad thing at all.

iOS 5 definitely asks for more RAM as compared to iOS 4 + now we have Siri. Keeping applications in the RAM is important for better multi-tasking and efficiency.

On another note, we have applications like iMovie and other graphic intensive applications for the iPhone. There will be more powerful and memory hungry applications in the future. I would want my iPhone to have sufficient RAM to run those. But now as I know, it won't.

I don't know why Apple always holds it back when it comes to RAM.

 

[blackcrayon]

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I think you are correct here. I believe no one found any mention or hint of Siri in the iOS 5 GM. It has to be somewhere. It may even have it's own dedicated chip, RAM, and storage. This would truly restrict it's use on the iPhone 4S.

Well, don't forget that we have the iPhone *4* GM. Not the iPhone 4S GM. All of the code could simply only be in that version of the firmware.

 

[fertilized-egg]

iPad 1 = A4 with 256MB RAM
iPhone 4 = A4 with 512MB RAM

so it's not locked in stone just because it's an A5.

arn

It should be added that the RAM really isn't part of the A4/A5 chip. They are packaged together but the RAM isn't integrated into the SoC circuitry.

 

[MacAddict1978]

Well, color me puzzled at the Siri exclusion. Someone mentioned maybe a microphone tweak, but I'm not buying that. Not as a deal breaker.

The iPhone doesn't do true multi-tasking so it really doesn't need the extra memory because mostly everything is just suspended. Android devices keep things running (and draining your battery) so they do need more memory.

I would have though Siri would be doing heavy multitasking and require extra memory.... apparently not!

BOO.

So now I go back to my second though.... will Apple release Siri in the App store for older devices after Siri exits beta? They have done this with the iPod touch after updates gave new features not included with it's original software.

I'd pay $5 for Siri.

Though, if they did this, the beta period would seem convenient. Release Siri as a stand alone app a few months after they just sold crap loads of 4S-es

 

[chrmjenkins]

iPad 1 = A4 with 256MB RAM
iPhone 4 = A4 with 512MB RAM

so it's not locked in stone just because it's an A5.

arn

And it's not really inconvenient to produce a different package with a different RAM amount seeing as they the quantities are in the millions either way.

 

[bushido]

512 mb isnt much at all

i'm running iOS5 on my iPhone 4 and i have only 282 mb left even after reboot and all apps but mail and phone closed. when i have apps "frozen" in the background which according to apple isnt taking any ressources its even dipping below 100 mb. that's why i always close all my apps from the multitask thing which is annoying with lots of apps open.

i was hoping for 1GB so i dont have to close those damn apps all the time one by one