Why didnt apple increase the 3GS RAM more?

[mappyman]

I have a 3GS and its starting to show its age.

After a few days of usage you can feel it become sluggish and a little less snappy. Doing a hard reboot makes things better.

Now we know that IOS takes a lot of RAM of that 256MB DRAM which doesn't leave a lot for applications and web browsing.

RAM was so cheap, even when the 3GS was released I dont understand why apple didn't equip is from the get go with 512MB... especially when they knew the bulk of the RAM is going to be consumed by their bulky IOS.

Things are going to get worse with IOS6 now that they have started adding cr*p like facebook and twitter integration.

 

[robbieduncan]

RAM may have been relatively cheap but integrating it into the single SOC package used is and was not.

 

[pdjudd]

First and foremost, the type of memory in these devices isn't the same as the kind you get for your laptop so the costs aren't going to be all that comparable. Second, the costs may be cheaper now, but the 2gs was released years ago - the cost was undeniably higher and not only that has to be cheap enough en mass while not compromising other designs.

ETA: I should clarify, I was talking about the integrated memory system used on mobile phones wasn't the same. I was simply saying that it isn't like getting a memory chip from crucial and snapping in on like you would a computer.

 

[hobsgrg]

Also when we they were designing it they wouldn't have expected it to still being sold 3 years later, no other phone from that time is still being sold and updated

 

[Dwalls90]

I mean the phone is 3 years old. You can't fault Apple for this.

 

[wordoflife]

When the 3GS came out a few years back, 256MB was more than enough RAM. It had been upgraded from 128MB.

Right now, the 4S seems fine with 512MB but after a few OSes you'll be thinking that 512MB isn't enough too.

 

[Consultant]

I have a 3GS and its starting to show its age.

After a few days of usage you can feel it become sluggish and a little less snappy. Doing a hard reboot makes things better.

Now we know that IOS takes a lot of RAM of that 256MB DRAM which doesn't leave a lot for applications and web browsing.

RAM was so cheap, even when the 3GS was released I dont understand why apple didn't equip is from the get go with 512MB... especially when they knew the bulk of the RAM is going to be consumed by their bulky IOS.

Things are going to get worse with IOS6 now that they have started adding cr*p like facebook and twitter integration.

If you bought 3GS when it was released, you can be updated to iPhone 4S already.

If you bought 3GS recently, then you don't care about having the latest product.