AppleInsider Staff
As expected, Apple appears to have bumped the available RAM in its latest handsets from 1 to 2 gigabytes while doubling that for the new jumbo iPad Pro, the numbers seemingly confirmed by a clever application of Xcode's iOS simulator.
Developer Hamza Sood made the discovery by running a small test application containing three images, which are included or excluded dynamically based on the amount of RAM available. Though the app was run in the iOS simulator, the results should be identical if run on a device.
The original iPhone packed just 128 megabytes of RAM, doubling that for the 3Gs and again for the iPhone 4. The iPhone 5 was the first to receive 1 gigabyte, a number which did not change for the 5s, 6, or 6 Plus.
Apple did switch from LPDDR2 to LPDDR3 for the iPhone 5s and 6, making the memory slightly faster. It's not clear yet if the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus continue with LPDDR3 or if they've switched to memory compatible with the nascent LPDDR4 specification.
The iPad, meanwhile, hit 1 gigabyte with the iPad 3 in 2012. That was finally increased to 2 gigabytes with the iPad Air 2, though — Â like the iPhone — Â the tablet did switch to speedier LPDDR3 in the interim.
Adding 4 gigabytes of RAM to the iPad Pro could be a sign that Apple anticipates heavy use of side-by-side multitasking on the larger device.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
33 Comments
This bodes well for creative use of the iPP. I remember watching one of AI's videos where an Adobe guy opened a 50 megapixel image and did a quick retouching demo. Seemed to work great, no lag I could see. Between the improved CPU, GPU & RAM the iPP should be a reasonably well-equipped device.
This bodes well for creative use of the iPP. I remember watching one of AI's videos where an Adobe guy opened a 50 megapixel image and did a quick retouching demo. Seemed to work great, no lag I could see. Between the improved CPU, GPU & RAM the iPP should be a reasonably well-equipped device.
Now the ball is in the developers' court to make apps to take advantage of it
What?! Only 4GiB! But that's half of 8GiB. What's the point of 64-bit if it doesn't have at least 8GiB. Even cheap laptops under $400 have 8GiB RAM. Typical Apple always skimping out when another 4GiB of RAM only costs 12¢ more¡
[quote name="SolipsismY" url="/t/188216/apples-xcode-ios-simulator-shows-2gb-ram-for-iphone-6s-6s-plus-4gb-for-ipad-pro#post_2775880"]What?! Only 4GiB! But that's half of 8GiB. What's the point of 64-bit if it doesn't have at least 8GiB. Even cheap laptops under $400 have 8GiB RAM. Typical Apple always skimping out when another 4GiB of RAM only costs 12¢ more¡[/quote] Thanks for pointing out that 4gb is half of 8gb. We would have never guess. Good job.
[quote name="gilly33" url="/t/188216/apples-xcode-ios-simulator-shows-2gb-ram-for-iphone-6s-6s-plus-4gb-for-ipad-pro#post_2775884"] Thanks for pointing out that 4gb is half of 8gb. We would have never guess. Good job.[/quote] Should have I gone with, "Only 4GiB! But that's [I]less than[/I] half of 8GiB," to make to my sarcasm more clear?