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iPhone SE (2022) When do you think devices with 4GB of RAM will struggle?

Populus

Populus

macrumors 603
Original poster
Aug 24, 2012
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Spain, Europe
Okay so, starting next week, all the upcoming iPhone and most of the iPad will come with a minimum of 8GB of RAM, a big step up from the 4 or 6GB of RAM we were used to with the iPhone 14 & 15.


So that makes me wonder if devices with just 4GB of RAM, which has been a standard for many years with the iPhone XS, 11, 11 Pro, 12, 12 Pro, 13, 13 mini & SE 3, will start to struggle at some point before losing support.

The first mainstream device with 6GB of RAM were the 13 Pro (2021) and the 14 (2022), and this year (2024) we’re having 8GB across the board.

Do you think…

a) all the devices with 4GB will lose support at once? Or we will see it in two or three waves: first iPhone XS & 11/Pro, then iPhone 14, then finally 13, 13 Pro & SE3?

b) the performance of the latter 4GB of RAM devices, such as the A15, will show big issues of low RAM?

How do you imagine this, currently perfectly capable devices, running iOS 19 or 20? Maybe without Apple Intelligence, the RAM usage is more optimized…
 
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When do you think devices with 4GB of RAM will struggle?
Click to expand...
a) all the devices with 4GB will lose support at once? Or we will see it in two or three waves: first iPhone XS & 11/Pro, then iPhone 14, then finally 13, 13 Pro & SE3?
Click to expand...
My iPhone X is definitely not as snappy in performance as my iPhone 15 PM. However, it’s far from unusable or even poor performing on iOS 16, yet no longer has supported feature software updates. My sixth generation iPad, which has 2GB of RAM and a dual core CPU — quad but only the set of performance or efficiency cores can be active at once — has lots of stalling… But… It’s also using the original battery, which is at ~27% health. And, yes, that’s a performance impacting factor. Nonetheless, it’s still feasibly usable — more on that in a battery-focused post that’s planned months down the line.

b) the performance of the latter 4GB of RAM devices, such as the A15, will show big issues of low RAM?
Click to expand...
It’s difficult to say what and how important each criteria (e.g., hardware specs/features) is when considering compatibility with future OS versions. Nonetheless, at least as of recent, Apple is drawing the cutoff at release year. For the current OS versions, that is, 2018 or thereabouts. There will always be outliers, especially with macOS due to the inconsistent Mac release schedules.
 
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What I mean is… there are a lot of devices (A12, A13, A14, A15) that came with just 4GB of RAM and now, 2 years later, we’re probably seeing 8GB of RAM across the board. My question is, how do you think this devices will hold up the future iOS iterations? Do you think the lack of Apple Intelligence will help to keep those devices fresh and snappy with just 4GB?

Obviously there’s a reason for me to ask the forum opinion about this. I’m so satisfied with my iPhone SE 3 that I’m considering getting a second one now that they are cheaper… either for a family member or for myself in case mine stops working, so… I’m not sure if it’s a long term investment. I expect it to get at least iOS 20, maybe even iOS 21 or 22, but I’m not sure if it will reach it in good condition.

That’s why I’m asking: how do you think devices with 4GB of RAM will handle the future of iOS?
 
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Populus said:
What I mean is… there are a lot of devices (A12, A13, A14, A15) that came with just 4GB of RAM and now, 2 years later, we’re probably seeing 8GB of RAM across the board. My question is, how do you think this devices will hold up the future iOS iterations? Do you think the lack of Apple Intelligence will help to keep those devices fresh and snappy with just 4GB?

Obviously there’s a reason for me to ask the forum opinion about this. I’m so satisfied with my iPhone SE 3 that I’m considering getting a second one now that they are cheaper… either for a family member or for myself in case mine stops working, so… I’m not sure if it’s a long term investment. I expect it to get at least iOS 20, maybe even iOS 21 or 22, but I’m not sure if it will reach it in good condition.

That’s why I’m asking: how do you think devices with 4GB of RAM will handle the future of iOS?
Click to expand...
• I think, Apple has generally done well in selecting OS compatibility cutoffs.
• I assume the iPhone SE (3rd generation) will be compatible with iOS 20 or even, as you mentioned, as far as iOS 22.
— The fact iOS 18 doesn’t trim iPhone model support compared to iOS 17 is a decent sign Apple is willing to stretch compatibility quite a bit.
• On the OS level, the RAM amount doesn’t appear to have a huge impact. It’s more so overall and very subjective (i.e., app usage).
— Again, anecdotally, my iPhone X and iPad 6 are rarely laggy/sluggish at the OS level UI.
• One more thing… The current Apple TV is using the A15 with 4GB of RAM. And while not identical products, iOS and tvOS are, of course, fundamentally the same. And I’d expect Apple to maintain a respectable user experience regarding performance with that hardware for at least a few more years.

In other words, I’m guessing the iPhone SE 3 isn’t the next on the chopping block, although, probably the session thereafter. And even when it can no longer officially run the latest “big” OS update/upgrade, there’s still probably a good one or two years of more than feasible use — even if you subscribe the to lack of security updates hyperbole.
 
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Populus said:
4GB of RAM, which has been a standard for many years with the iPhone XS, 11, 11 Pro, 12, 12 Pro, 13, 13 mini & SE 3, will start to struggle at some point before losing support.

The first mainstream device with 6GB of RAM were the 13 Pro (2021) and the 14 (2022)
Click to expand...
The 12 Pro has 6gb of RAM.
 
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Aside from Apple Intelligence, my 13 Pro Max is still running circles even with iOS 18. The only issues would be video edit exports and graphic intense gaming.
 
Given 3GB RAM iPhone XR supports iOS 18, 4GB devices should be fine.

Apple will remove iOS support for 4GB devices in phases, rather than for technical reasons. We see this with iPadOS 18 where iPad Pro 10.5 is no longer supported even though it has more RAM and faster A10X than iPad 7.
 
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Given that the XR (with 3GB) seems to run ioS 18, and 17, and 16 just fine enough, and devices with 2GB of RAM run iOS 16 (iPhone 8) and 17 (iPad 6) just fine, I don’t think 4GB will be a problem.
These devices Don’t have the Apple AI features, and I don’t really think there has been a show-stoppingly bad update for older devices in many many years.
iOS 9 on the 4S is really the last time I remember there being a consensus of a bad new version for an older device.

Not that you don’t notice older devices getting older of course, an iPhone 15 Pro is going to run 18 better than an XR, but as far as I can tell Apple has been doing a decent job keeping older devices running at least decently on their last update.
 
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I don’t worry about RAM. I upgrade iPhone every 6-7 years. It may not be the most snappiest iPhone by year 5, but most of them are usable. I upgraded from 7plus to 13 PM, it was amazing but my 7 Plus wasn’t unusable.
 
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Populus said:
What I mean is… there are a lot of devices (A12, A13, A14, A15) that came with just 4GB of RAM and now, 2 years later, we’re probably seeing 8GB of RAM across the board. My question is, how do you think this devices will hold up the future iOS iterations? Do you think the lack of Apple Intelligence will help to keep those devices fresh and snappy with just 4GB?

Obviously there’s a reason for me to ask the forum opinion about this. I’m so satisfied with my iPhone SE 3 that I’m considering getting a second one now that they are cheaper… either for a family member or for myself in case mine stops working, so… I’m not sure if it’s a long term investment. I expect it to get at least iOS 20, maybe even iOS 21 or 22, but I’m not sure if it will reach it in good condition.

That’s why I’m asking: how do you think devices with 4GB of RAM will handle the future of iOS?
Click to expand...
I don't think that Apple Intelligence changes the equation much (unless you want to use it). You also don't necessarily have to upgrade iOS. I stayed on iOS 15 for various reasons until now. The SE3 should become even cheaper when the SE4 launches, so I'd wait until then if you're not in a hurry.
 
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It can be hard to tell when Apple drops support for iOS updates, some years they keep the compatibility the same, some years they drop one generation, some years they drop two generations at once: i.e. iPhone 6s/7/SE 1st gen.
My bet is they'll drop the A12 devices next year. Which means I may start looking at replacing my iPad Air 3 next year.
 
Populus said:
Yeah, but that support is also highly dependent on the amount of RAM of such processor.
Click to expand...

Never seen this happening.
Mostly support is withdrawn after a certain number of years, regardless of other factors.
 
Considering the base of the system, there isn't much to demand more than 4GB. Problem is what is on top of it that make our awesome devices to get old. My iPhone 11 is old already, I can see it struggling to run apps, specially scrolling and typing.

I think Apple wish to put some IA and this will make my iPhone seems like a blackberry, so as @Apple$ said, all depends on what Apples decide to put in your device (without to ask). Happens that to drop an "old" device is good for business, one less to have to support - why not.

Based on the old stuff I have here, including a Macmini with 3 + 1 GB RAM, those 4GB devices could last for years, if Apple wish to.
 
I think Apple recognizes that the majority of their active users will be using sub-8 GB devices for many years to come. The SE 3 is still on sale and will be until Spring 2025... I can't imagine Apple will drop support for it within the next 2 years or push out a major iOS release that it can't handle.

But I also think Apple Intelligence will accelerate the culling of older devices, similar to how the Apple Silicon transition is giving the final Intel Macs a shorter lifespan. I can see the A13 iPhones getting dropped next year alongside the A12 phones, which might not have been the case if not for Apple Intelligence.
 
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N69AP said:
I can see the A13 iPhones getting dropped next year alongside the A12 phones, which might not have been the case if not for Apple Intelligence.
Click to expand...
Yeah, me too. I think the next cutoff will probably include both the A12 and A13 devices. Hopefully A14 and A15 devices will live for a couple more years…
 
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Populus said:
Okay so, starting next week, all the upcoming iPhone and most of the iPad will come with a minimum of 8GB of RAM, a big step up from the 4 or 6GB of RAM we were used to with the iPhone 14 & 15.


So that makes me wonder if devices with just 4GB of RAM, which has been a standard for many years with the iPhone XS, 11, 11 Pro, 12, 12 Pro, 13, 13 mini & SE 3, will start to struggle at some point before losing support.

The first mainstream device with 6GB of RAM were the 13 Pro (2021) and the 14 (2022), and this year (2024) we’re having 8GB across the board.

Do you think…

a) all the devices with 4GB will lose support at once? Or we will see it in two or three waves: first iPhone XS & 11/Pro, then iPhone 14, then finally 13, 13 Pro & SE3?

b) the performance of the latter 4GB of RAM devices, such as the A15, will show big issues of low RAM?

How do you imagine this, currently perfectly capable devices, running iOS 19 or 20? Maybe without Apple Intelligence, the RAM usage is more optimized…
Click to expand...
I think your question(s) make the assumption that these devices are being used as substitute computers, media devices and/or game consoles. As I do not use my devices in this manner (I use actual televisions, computers and game consoles) I have nothing to answer with.

I can say that right about now my 3GS, 4 and 4s struggle with a few basic things like email and some of my music apps. Consequently, I don't use them very much.

But my 11 Pro Max (my current primary iPhone) and my 6s Plus, which is still on an active line, don't have any real issues in the manner I use them (basic email, SMS/iMessage/light web browsing and once in a while, Google Chat). My 6 Plus, which is unlocked but mostly on WIFi, also has no issues in this regard.

So, I really don't expect my current phones to be struggling any time soon. I just do not use them in any manner that would tax their ram limits.
 
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My two youger girls both iPhone 13’s and they still feel just as snappy as brand new. Only 4gb of ram in those and definitely don’t seem to be holding them back. I don’t see 4gb being too limiting except for exclusive features in the near future
 
iPads with 4GB of RAM arguably already struggle in some situations depending on the apps being used. Webpage tabs are more likely to reset in the background, as are apps if mulitasking. iPads will probably feel the hit harder because Safari tries to load desktop versions of most websites and those versions use significantly more RAM than the mobile versions. I'm glad Apple is rumored to be making 8GB standard across the board.
 
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