These days, 8GB of RAM is the baseline for Apple devices (the minimum amount required to run Apple Intelligence.) Several insiders have already suggested the iPhone 17 Pro could see a RAM boost up to 12GB, and now Jeff Pu of GFHK Tech Research has thrown his hat into the ring — and he agrees that it’s likely.
For the past several generations, each new series of iPhone has seen an upgrade to its internals. The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max both had 8GB of RAM compared to the 6GB in their non-Pro variants, while the full iPhone 16 lineup has 8GB. A jump to 12GB for the iPhone 17 Pro suggests it could have access to yet-to-be-announced Apple Intelligence features, but it also makes the phone more future-proof.
Considering that customers are holding onto their iPhones for longer these days, that’s a good thing.
“Meanwhile iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max are expected to migrate to LPDDR5 12GB, this transition alone will contribute to a 3.5% YoY increase in smartphone DRAM content across an estimated 100 million new iPhone units,” Pu told 9to5Mac.
This would also be the first time Apple has exceeded 8GB on an iPhone. Apple products, even iPads, have traditionally been somewhat RAM-limited. Only recently did the iPad Pro make the leap to 16GB, and that’s only for models with 1TB or more of storage.
Even the MacBook lineup, arguably the only product anywhere near the same level of popularity as the iPhone, only went up to 16GB last year. Apple caught quite a bit of attention for claiming 8GB was more than enough for most people due to its silicon, but it seems the company has since conceded the point.
We could spend all day speculating on the impact another 4GB of RAM will have on the iPhone 17 Pro, but it’s impossible to draw any conclusions. Apple likely plans to expand Apple Intelligence — the company has basically said as much — and more memory would make that possible.
But more RAM will also provide snappier performance overall, and that’s a benefit we can always get behind.
