Whose in....no 2 GB RAM, no 6s?

[Shirasaki]

In my opinion, Apple should start using 2 GB of RAM in the next iPhone and immediately implement a set of new rules for apps and developers, ensuring consistent multitasking quality.

First things first: set up a limit of how much RAM a single app can use, both for first party and third party apps. For example, this is what Apple could (and in my opinion maybe should do):

Allocation
iOS: 1 GB RAM fixed
APPS: maximum usage of 256 MB of RAM.

If Apple implements this policy, than that means the last 4 apps in your multitasking window will always be ready to continue where you left off. 256 MB RAM is a very decent amount of RAM, considering that most apps use less.

At the same time, iOS will have a fixed amount of RAM available. Right now, iOS (on an iPhone 6 Plus) uses roughly 650 MB of RAM. That means that, in the future, there is still 350 MB of RAM left for new iOS features.

Here's a visual explanation of what I mean:

Again, in my opinion, this would be perfect. Apps get a fixed amount of RAM, there is space for iOS to grow in the future and users will enjoy a consistent multitasking experience (namely: the last 4 apps are always, without a doubt instantly available).

That is a good idea. And in fact, current apps have only a limited amount of ram available. I am not a coder so I don't know.
In my opinion, iOS ram consumption should be limited below 300MB, to ensure it can run perfectly on devices with ONLY 1GB of ram.

Use less to do more. Everyone should know and do their best to achieve this.

 

[C DM]

And, the bigger the desk, the more you can put on it.. and soon you'll need a bigger desk so you can put more on it.. and then you'll need a bigger desk..

It's a vicious cycle. What happened to being happy with what we have? I neither need nor want more RAM in my iOS devices.

That is one odd slippery slope argument.

 

[C DM]

I'm just seeing out of curiosity, If only 5 people want it they might not add it, if they see 100's of people want it they might add it.

Not really how Apple operates.

 

[joeblow7777]

I dont do that though, sometimes I am filling out a form in Safari and switch to Notes, Email, or Contacts to get something and %80 of the time when I come back to Safari the site refreshes.

That might be more of a Safari problem than a RAM problem. I don't think that Chrome refreshes so easily. At least, not that I've noticed.

 

[sunking101]

That might be more of a Safari problem than a RAM problem. I don't think that Chrome refreshes so easily. At least, not that I've noticed.

Apps refreshing is more of a problem to me than browser tabs, and using Chrome doesn't stop that. Besides, reloading happens in Chrome too and if it's any better than Safari it's only by a very small percentage.

 

[zone23]

Apps refreshing is more of a problem to me than browser tabs, and using Chrome doesn't stop that. Besides, reloading happens in Chrome too and if it's any better than Safari it's only by a very small percentage.

I though that Chrome was just more or less a skin over Safari because Apple doesn't allow stand alone browsers?

 

[Gooberton]

I currently own a 6 so I don't plan to get a 6s anyway, but the RAM wouldn't concern me. The vast majority of users (including me) don't have any issues and I don't see it as something to worry about.

By vast majority do you mean the opposite ? Unless you like to be halfway through filling something out online and check a differnt app for 1 second Come back and it fully reloads losing your entered data.yea that's not an issue at all . Roll eyes

 

[Serelus]

By vast majority do you mean the opposite ? Unless you like to be halfway through filling something out online and check a differnt app for 1 second Come back and it fully reloads losing your entered data.yea that's not an issue at all . Roll eyes

Do you remember the messaging flaw Apple recently had to address? It's because the vast majority of people were experiencing this. If something similar isn't being done by apple in your case, it's because you're not part of the vast majority. Most people in this thread simply have no idea what RAM even does in a computer in general. It's infuriating to read this kind of stuff from regular users.

 

[sunking101]

Do you remember the messaging flaw Apple recently had to address? It's because the vast majority of people were experiencing this. If something similar isn't being done by apple in your case, it's because you're not part of the vast majority. Most people in this thread simply have no idea what RAM even does in a computer in general. It's infuriating to read this kind of stuff from regular users.

I for one don't care if people don't know what RAM is, or if they only use their top-dollar smartphone for emails, calls, iMessage and Twitter. I know that my own phone has insufficient RAM and it does my head in several times per day. That's enough for me.

 

[Serelus]

I for one don't care if people don't know what RAM is, or if they only use their top-dollar smartphone for emails, calls, iMessage and Twitter. I know that my own phone has insufficient RAM and it does my head in several times per day. That's enough for me.

What is it exactly that your phone needs to do that requires more RAM?

 

[C DM]

What is it exactly that your phone needs to do that requires more RAM?

Seems like that was covered in many posts in this thread.

 

[Serelus]

Seems like that was covered in many posts in this thread.

None of the reasons in this thread requires you to have more RAM, it's the way iOS/Safari manages it's resources. Adding more RAM isn't going to resolve those problems. Once they add the 2GB of RAM, people will return with the same issue demanding they add 3 or 4.

RAM has become this pseudo-buzzword for any regular sap to ask about when they visit their local electronic store.
The other day I saw a thread in the MacBook Pro section, of a user claiming they were disappointed with Apple; Because they did not offer a 32GB RAM option for the laptop. What a joke.

 

[sunking101]

None of the reasons in this thread requires you to have more RAM, it's the way iOS/Safari manages it's resources. Adding more RAM isn't going to resolve those problems. Once they add the 2GB of RAM, people will return with the same issue demanding they add 3 or 4.

RAM has become this pseudo-buzzword for any regular sap to ask about when they visit their local electronic store.
The other day I saw a thread in the MacBook Pro section, of a user claiming they were disappointed with Apple; Because they did not offer a 32GB RAM option for the laptop. What a joke.

So it's cool that the iPhone 5 and iOS7 manages resources MUCH better than the iPhone 6 and iOS8? Backwards for the win?

I can't do many of the things I used to do with my old iPhone 5 and I'm sorry but I need more RAM. As for the 32GB RAM thing, has it ever crossed your mind that the person uses a lot more RAM than you, and also that they want to future-proof their expensive purchase? It isn't unheard of to use silly amounts of RAM with certain desktop applications.

 

[C DM]

None of the reasons in this thread requires you to have more RAM, it's the way iOS/Safari manages it's resources. Adding more RAM isn't going to resolve those problems. Once they add the 2GB of RAM, people will return with the same issue demanding they add 3 or 4.

RAM has become this pseudo-buzzword for any regular sap to ask about when they visit their local electronic store.
The other day I saw a thread in the MacBook Pro section, of a user claiming they were disappointed with Apple; Because they did not offer a 32GB RAM option for the laptop. What a joke.

It's also been said a fair bit in this thread that it's not just RAM but a combination of things, like optimizations and improvements of how iOS does things. But just one or the other won't get the full job done. So, yes, just throwing RAM will only improve things so much and more is needed, but increasing RAM from 1 GB is certainly needed at this point as well.

Using the logic you bring up there wouldn't have been a need to go to 1 GB from 512 MB or to 512 MB from 256 MB, and yet all those things happened.

 

[cynics]

None of the reasons in this thread requires you to have more RAM, it's the way iOS/Safari manages it's resources. Adding more RAM isn't going to resolve those problems. Once they add the 2GB of RAM, people will return with the same issue demanding they add 3 or 4.

RAM has become this pseudo-buzzword for any regular sap to ask about when they visit their local electronic store.
The other day I saw a thread in the MacBook Pro section, of a user claiming they were disappointed with Apple; Because they did not offer a 32GB RAM option for the laptop. What a joke.

You are correct, issues of apps reloading can never be solved by adding more RAM. Because you'd only need to open more apps until the the furtherest background apps start to get purged.

However we are at a point now that casual users can sometimes notice this as an issue. Heavier users are burdened by it.

Apple has never been a company to add hardware unless they absolutely need it. Enter the iPad Air 2 with 2gb of RAM. And imo the iPad Air 1 is a prime example of pushing specs too far, the iPad 3 was an even better example. Don't think for a second they only added more RAM to the iPad because customers said they should. This applies to their entire product line.

And the Air 2 is a breath of fresh air after owning and returning the Air 1. There were a few times where I was literally about to break my Air 1 after an app I had been working on for an hour plus would refresh by switching to another app then switching back.

 

[Applefan4]

The reloading on my 6+ is horrendous. Sometimes media rich sites reload or crash as I'm scrolling through them. I can be reading something in Safari, go reply to a text/whatsapp, go back and the page reloads.

I hope 6S fixes these issues as I really enjoy the iOS and iPhone in general, it's a shame the phone can't seem to handle multi tasking at all.

 

[sunking101]

The reloading on my 6+ is horrendous. Sometimes media rich sites reload or crash as I'm scrolling through them. I can be reading something in Safari, go reply to a text/whatsapp, go back and the page reloads.

I hope 6S fixes these issues as I really enjoy the iOS and iPhone in general, it's a shame the phone can't seem to handle multi tasking at all.

Careful, many will have you believe this doesn't happen and that you're just 'trolling'.
My 6+ reloads as I'm reading a newspaper article too, and I can forget about switching to an app and then coming back to where I was. It's a disaster. The sad thing is that previous iPhones I've owned didn't do this, so it's a massive downgrade for me. I so wish that I'd skipped this series as the old i5 was a much better phone for my purposes.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

Why is it that I can type messages and then exit and come back and it stays open?

I can't get it to mess up like u so your phone is at fault, not all phones.

Mine works.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

Careful, many will have you believe this doesn't happen and that you're just 'trolling'.
My 6+ reloads as I'm reading a newspaper article too, and I can forget about switching to an app and then coming back to where I was. It's a disaster. The sad thing is that previous iPhones I've owned didn't do this, so it's a massive downgrade for me. I so wish that I'd skipped this series as the old i5 was a much better phone for my purposes.

Ok so far we have established

1: A majority of users don't have lag or problems with their 6+. We even made a poll to prove that.

2: Reloading only happens if you have tons of apps and tabs open.

Yet here you go on with your charade claiming you're not trolling yet rehashing old lies we already pointed out in other threads.

Here, I made a video even proving it doesnt happen on a normally functioning phone.

Either reinstall your phone and leave it clean with no garbage, or sell it and stop using iPhones!

Just sell your phone!!! Why do you still have it if you hate it so much!? Your not gonna get us to not enjoy our phones...

Everything you said has been proven wrong. Please just sell your iPhone 6+ and stop trying to convince us there is something wrong with our beloved devices? lol.

This is a place is frequented by cool funny smart rich people who actually enjoy these things to enjoy talking about them. If you don't like the phone I can't understand why you haven't quietly sold it yet or complain about it on a forum where people agree with your views!??

 

[RodDavies]

I currently own a 6 so I don't plan to get a 6s anyway, but the RAM wouldn't concern me. The vast majority of users (including me) don't have any issues and I don't see it as something to worry about.

^THIS. Never have I had an issue with not enough RAM. I'd genuinely be interested in WHY this is so important to some people, and I DO appreciate it is. I just don't see the reason. It's not like I do any video editing on the phone, nor Garageband creation, nor in fact, terribly much photo editing. I have never had a problem playing music, whilst simultaneously taking/making calls, cruising the web, checking my way on Maps and opening and creating email and messages. WHAT else could I be doing to be putting such a drain on the RAM that I NEED 2gb? Serious question. And again, appreciate others apparently do have valid reasons, I would just love to hear them.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

^THIS. Never have I had an issue with not enough RAM. I'd genuinely be interested in WHY this is so important to some people, and I DO appreciate it is. I just don't see the reason. It's not like I do any video editing on the phone, nor Garageband creation, nor in fact, terribly much photo editing. I have never had a problem playing music, whilst simultaneously taking/making calls, cruising the web, checking my way on Maps and opening and creating email and messages. WHAT else could I be doing to be putting such a drain on the RAM that I NEED 2gb? Serious question. And again, appreciate others apparently do have valid reasons, I would just love to hear them.

Well first you'd have to be doing something you normally do on a Mac on your phone!

Yeah I know I usually write all my message board posts on my Mac with full keyboard but you would have to be in a situation where you only have your phone. --Even tho its not really intended to do this stuff on it.

Then, you would need to not only write a message, but need to also access other stuff maybe from notes to paste into the message while writing.

Then you also need to open up all your big apps, garageband, huge games, lots of open tabs because thats the only way to get it to refresh.

Then you need to get away from the message you're compiling for awhile and go in other apps, (even tho messages complied on iPhone are usually short and simple in nature) you have to fumble around outside the Safari tab long enough for it to refresh the tab!

If you forgot to copy the text before leaving the Safari app (knowing you have 20 apps in memory) then boom, your day is ruined and you come on MacRumors every day and say the iPhone 6+ is trash.

PS... this sometimes happened on my iPhone 5 and 4 and 3G too but somehow those phones were still better than the 6+ with their smaller screens and shorter battery.

 

[ardchoille50]

Well first you'd have to be doing something you normally do on a Mac on your phone! ...

"Well, there's the problem" - Adam Savage, Mythbusters

I wonder how much it would help to state that a cell phone is not a desktop computer and should never be expected to perform as if it were.

 

[RodDavies]

Well first you'd have to be doing something you normally do on a Mac on your phone!

Yeah I know I usually write all my message board posts on my Mac with full keyboard but you would have to be in a situation where you only have your phone. --Even tho its not really intended to do this stuff on it.

Then, you would need to not only write a message, but need to also access other stuff maybe from notes to paste into the message while writing.

Then you also need to open up all your big apps, garageband, huge games, lots of open tabs because thats the only way to get it to refresh.

Then you need to get away from the message you're compiling for awhile and go in other apps, (even tho messages complied on iPhone are usually short and simple in nature) you have to fumble around outside the Safari tab long enough for it to refresh the tab!

If you forgot to copy the text before leaving the Safari app (knowing you have 20 apps in memory) then boom, your day is ruined and you come on MacRumors every day and say the iPhone 6+ is trash.

PS... this sometimes happened on my iPhone 5 and 4 and 3G too but somehow those phones were still better than the 6+ with their smaller screens and shorter battery.

Interesting. I write all my message board messages either in Notes and cut and paste or directly in, as in this instance, Macrumors sure on my phone. Not had an issue. Don't play games. IPad surely better for this anyway? Nope, not had these issues. IPhone 6+ is brilliant for me.

 

[Serelus]

So it's cool that the iPhone 5 and iOS7 manages resources MUCH better than the iPhone 6 and iOS8? Backwards for the win? I can't do many of the things I used to do with my old iPhone 5 and I'm sorry but I need more RAM.


As for the 32GB RAM thing, has it ever crossed your mind that the person uses a lot more RAM than you, and also that they want to future-proof their expensive purchase? It isn't unheard of to use silly amounts of RAM with certain desktop applications.

I am sorry to here you device is not functioning as it should compared to previous devices. I don't think this is acceptable either, but claiming Apple should add more RAM will NOT resolve this issue. Developers are largely in charge of what their app does after being frozen in the background for certain periods of time, this is what causes the issue for some people and not for others.

As a deverloper, running 2 and sometimes 3 VMware stations at once I can assure you he/she does not use more RAM than I. Future proofing is fine, but claiming you're "disappointed with Apple" is ridiculous. If you really really require that much more RAM then you should be able to afford a desktop workstation that does the job properly.

You are correct, issues of apps reloading can never be solved by adding more RAM. Because you'd only need to open more apps until the the furtherest background apps start to get purged.


However we are at a point now that casual users can sometimes notice this as an issue. Heavier users are burdened by it.

Apple has never been a company to add hardware unless they absolutely need it. Enter the iPad Air 2 with 2gb of RAM. And imo the iPad Air 1 is a prime example of pushing specs too far, the iPad 3 was an even better example. Don't think for a second they only added more RAM to the iPad because customers said they should. This applies to their entire product line.

And the Air 2 is a breath of fresh air after owning and returning the Air 1. There were a few times where I was literally about to break my Air 1 after an app I had been working on for an hour plus would refresh by switching to another app then switching back.

It's also been said a fair bit in this thread that it's not just RAM but a combination of things, like optimizations and improvements of how iOS does things. But just one or the other won't get the full job done. So, yes, just throwing RAM will only improve things so much and more is needed, but increasing RAM from 1 GB is certainly needed at this point as well.

Using the logic you bring up there wouldn't have been a need to go to 1 GB from 512 MB or to 512 MB from 256 MB, and yet all those things happened.

Like I said above, the interactivity in the app and how the developer has set things up plays an important role in the refreshing of the app. This problem is NOT with the RAM, not currently at least. Also there's apps with memory leaks, there's Safari where you have to take into account that javascript isn't built to be frozen in the background and that when safari is forced to do this and whatever code was running WILL be refreshed because it's asking the device to continue running code from halfway through. It doesn't work that way and so it does the only thing it knows by refreshing the page. This especially happens often with pages that are ad-rich or have a lot of javascript loaded on to it. Explaining why bobby did not experience the problem with his device.

Edit: Sure guys if you have enough apps open, at some point your RAM will be filled up. But this can be done with any amount of RAM, right now the vast majority of people is NOT experiencing issues that has anything to do with a lack of RAM. It might seem so, but it's just iOS. From where I stand currently iPhones specifically, do NOT need more RAM. This is coming from a heavy user, I test certain apps under extremely unrealistic workloads to see how they perform. iPhone does a fine job handling these tasks.

 

[iamMacPerson]

I'm in! whats with the 6+ downscaling thingy? I dont see it in demo sets at Apple stores.

Read this article. It explains things quite well. Basically, iOS renders the display at 1242x2208 then downsamples that on the 6 Plus so it fits on the 1080x1920 display. No other iPhone has done this before.