Future iPhones getting even more memory: 12GB from next year

This year’s entire iPhone 16 line-up got 8GB RAM to run Apple Intelligence features, and it looks like we can expect 12GB in future models.

A previous report suggested that iPhone 17 Pro Max would get 12GB, and it now appears that this may be true for both iPhone 18 Pro models …

8GB RAM is needed for Apple Intelligence

It appears 8GB RAM is the minimum needed to run Apple Intelligence features.

All four iPhone 16 models got 8GB, in contrast with last year’s models where the standard and Plus models got 6GB while the Pro and Pro Max got 8GB. The latter are the only older iPhones to get access to Apple Intelligence.

Future iPhones getting 12GB

Even before the iPhone 16 launch, Ming-Chi Kuo suggested that the iPhone 17 Pro Max would get 12GB next year. He said this would not be true of the small iPhone 17 Pro. If accurate, this would be the first time Apple has used RAM as a differentiator between the two Pro models.

Looking further ahead, Weibo user Mobile phone chip expert reports that at least one iPhone 18 model will switch to a new and denser chip packaging method, and that this would include 12GB RAM.

The 2nm processor A20 of the 2026 Apple iPhone will adopt a new packaging method. APTS has been changed from the original InFo to the WMCM packaging method. Memory will also be upgraded to 12GB, and the whole network will be announced 2 years in advance.

Apple chipmaker TSMC has led the way in System-on-a-Chip (SoC) technology. Instead of using separate chip packages for CPU, GPU, RAM and so on, all of these chips are integrated into a single unit. A variation on this theme is known as a multi-chip module (MCM), with TSMC expected to be first to launch the most advanced form in a 2nm chip in 2026.

Mobile phone chip expert says that we can expect this latest tech to debut in the iPhone 18 line-up, with 12GB RAM part of the package. The leaker has a respectable track record, being the first to report that the A16 chip would be exclusive to the two iPhone 14 Pro models, and that Apple was developing its own 3nm chips for its AI servers.

Likely both iPhone 18 Pro models will get 12GB

It’s unclear from the original report which 2026 models will get the RAM boost. However, Kuo has previously suggested that the 2nm process needed for the new packaging approach will be limited to the two Pro models, suggesting we can expect both to get the 12GB RAM.

However, this doesn’t rule out the possibility of the non-Pro models also getting 12GB RAM in their otherwise less-advanced chips.

Images: Lumafield/iFixit