iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, Could Feature A 12GB RAM Bump For More Multitasking Headroom, Better Gaming And On-Device AI Capabilities

Apple introduced the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max last year with 8GB RAM, making it the first time since the iPhone 14 lineup that the company exceeded the 6GB RAM limit. However, with on-device AI and other features being extremely memory-intensive, the company will have little choice but to introduce an upgrade. Sadly, those waiting impatiently for the iPhone 16 launch will be disappointed as one analyst predicts that 12GB RAM will debut on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Apple is also exploring increasing the storage, starting with the iPhone 16 series; company might retain those configurations for the iPhone 17

The iPhone 16 might be the first recipient of Apple’s upcoming AI-powered software suite, but Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu believes that those wishing to elevate their experience when it comes to RAM should wait for the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. As reported by AppleInsider, the 2025 models could see their specifications go from 8GB RAM to 12GB RAM, resulting in a slew of improvements, starting with multitasking. The increased memory count will allow apps to be stored in RAM when minimized and restored in the exact same state that the user left it in.

Additionally, running on-device AI requires gobs of memory, with an earlier estimation stating that Android smartphone makers would eventually have to start offering 20GB RAM as standard to comfortably run Large Language Models (LLMs) locally. Apple has been reported to be working on a way to run these LLMs using the device’s flash memory instead of RAM. Unfortunately, from the looks of it, the Cupertino giant still has a ton of progress left because the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max may feature that 12GB RAM upgrade.

On-device AI also requires a ton of internal storage with fast read and write speeds to perform trillions of calculations per second. This might be why Apple could introduce Quad-level cell (QLC) NAND flash to the iPhone 16, as this technology