line. That’s depending on your budget and – more importantly – on your needs. That is, if you can afford to wait for the
.
If you can’t wait, then, you’re left with the iPhone 15 because of the simple fact that it is already available in stores all over the world.
Personally, I find the iPhone 15 Pro Max to be the very best out there right now, but that’s just me and my mobile photography obsession speaking here. I’m not rooting for the 15 Pro Max because it’s large and has a great display, but because it packs a tetraprism 5x zoom camera.
However, in the last 4 minutes and 59 seconds (figuratively speaking) it’s no longer the iPhone 16 that we should be waiting for. Nope. It’s the iPhone 17. This is the state of the industry today – the sparkling-new device that’s coming in less than a month (and that we were obsessing about for the last year) somehow doesn’t cut it anymore. We’re already ready to get our expectations pumped up with what next year’s gadget is going to bring to the table.
The iPhone 14 was sold in the last months of 2023; that’s the same period when the Honor 90 GT was made official with up to 24GB RAM. Let me do the math for you – that’s four times as RAM in the Honor, compared with the iPhone 14 Pro.
Does that make the iPhone 14 Pro and its 6GB of RAM four times less capable than the Honor 90 GT with its 24GB of RAM?
Since you asked, no, it doesn’t.
How is that possible?
The secret is in the fact that Apple builds things differently. | Image credit – PhoneArena
Despite this seemingly unholy disparity, iPhones are still known for their smooth performance, fast speeds, and ability to handle complex tasks effortlessly. This begs the question: why do iPhones have less RAM than other phones, but are still fast and powerful? The answer lies in Apple’s unique approach to hardware and software integration, the optimization of iOS, and strategic design choices.
Before we go on, just a quick side note: think of RAM as the workspace for a device’s processor, storing data that is actively used and required for running applications and multitasking. The more RAM a device has, the more data it can keep readily accessible, allowing for faster switching between apps and smoother operation, especially when dealing with large applications or multiple processes.
In the context of Android devices, having more RAM helps accommodate the diverse range of hardware and software configurations. Android phones come from various manufacturers, each adding their custom features, skins, and modifications, which can increase memory requirements. Additionally, the Android operating system itself is designed to be flexible and customizable, supporting various hardware setups and user preferences. This versatility, while beneficial in many ways, also means that Android devices often require more RAM to handle the additional overhead efficiently.
iPhones do it their own way! | Image credit – PhoneArena
One of the most significant reasons iPhones perform so well with less RAM is Apple’s control over both the hardware and software ecosystems. Unlike Android, where the operating system is developed by Google and used by various manufacturers, Apple designs its hardware and software in tandem. This tight integration allows Apple to optimize iOS specifically for the hardware of its devices, ensuring efficient use of resources, including RAM.
This close integration means that every aspect of the device, from the CPU and GPU to the RAM and storage, works together harmoniously, reducing the need for large amounts of RAM to achieve high performance.
Also, iOS is developed specifically for Apple devices, meaning it does not need to account for the myriad of hardware configurations that Android does. This allows Apple to optimize iOS more aggressively, minimizing background processes and using RAM more efficiently. For example, iOS manages background apps differently than Android, often freezing or suspending them rather than keeping them fully active. This approach conserves RAM and reduces the load on the processor, enabling smoother multitasking and faster performance even with less RAM.
Another thing: iOS uses a dynamic memory allocation system, where the operating system automatically allocates and deallocates memory based on the current needs of the device. This system ensures that memory is used efficiently, avoiding the waste that can occur with static memory allocation.
Android does it differently
Image credit – Google
The Android ecosystem is highly fragmented, with numerous manufacturers producing devices with varying hardware configurations. This diversity means that the Android operating system must be flexible enough to accommodate a wide range of devices, each with different performance characteristics and memory requirements. As a result, Android typically requires more RAM to manage the additional overhead associated with this flexibility.
Many Android manufacturers add custom skins, features, and modifications to the base Android operating system, increasing memory requirements. These customizations often come with additional background processes and services that consume more RAM, leading to a need for larger amounts of memory to maintain smooth performance.
The main difference is that Android, unlike iOS, handles multitasking differently: it keeps more apps active in the background to facilitate quick switching between them.
8GB or 12GB RAM: what’s the difference, if the extra memory is for AI?
AI is RAM-hungry! | Image credit – Apple
More is nice; having an Android phone with lots of RAM is super nice. Using it is a breeze, especially when you’ve got some of that Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 magic to compliment it.
However, the more RAM, more fun mantra doesn’t fully apply to the iPhone.
Then why put more RAM in the iPhone 17 in the first place?
The answer lies with the two-letter abbreviation that you’re probably sick of already: AI.
See, Apple’s AI feature suite (discreetly called Apple Intelligence) requires a ton of RAM. It needs a minimum of 8GB of RAM to run and that’s why the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus (both packing only 6GB of RAM) won’t support it.
So, yes, in terms of AI capabilities, it appears to be crucial for the iPhone to go on a RAM-bulking diet. Especially when Apple has got a whole lot of catching up to do: the competition in the face of Samsung and Google, for example, is way ahead in the AI race.
However, I’m not yet convinced that everybody out there needs and uses AI – things may change in the future, but for the time being, the AI craze is more of a marketing strategy by the companies than an actual need by users.
I’m willing to bet a reasonable amount of money that 8 out of 10 people will prefer a sturdy, secure and steady iPhone over a RAM freak that costs more and can perform AI tricks.
That being said, I see a price hike in 2025 with the iPhone 17. Don’t act surprised come next September!
