Apple confirms every iPhone 16 model will have 8GB of RAM on board, matching the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max
Nearly a week after the big reveal of the iPhone 16 series, Apple has finally confirmed one of the key specs of these new flagship phones: all models in the series will come with 8GB of RAM.
As noted by 9to5MacApple CEO Johny Srouji confirmed the 8GB amount in an interview with GeekerwanFor some reason, Apple doesn’t list RAM in the official spec sheets for its iPhones, so it usually takes some detective work to determine how much memory these phones have.
A few days ago, code spotted in an official Apple developer tool suggested that all iPhone 16 models would indeed come with 8GB of RAM, and now we have confirmation. Last year, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max came with 8GB of RAM, while the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus had to make do with 6GB.
That means it’s an upgrade over the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus — but the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max don’t get the extra RAM this year. It also means there’s less to differentiate between the standard and Pro models.
Specifications compared
The lack of a RAM boost is a little disappointing, especially since Apple Intelligence is about to roll out: AI tasks are memory-hungry, especially if the processing is happening on the device itself, so extra RAM is certainly a benefit here.
It also means that Apple’s phones lag far behind their Android rivals when it comes to this particular spec. The recently launched Google Pixel 9, for example, comes with 12GB of RAM, and while the Samsung Galaxy S24 has 8GB of RAM, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra ups that to 12GB.
These raw specs don’t necessarily tell the whole story, however: since Apple has complete control over every aspect of the iPhone’s design and architecture, it can often make optimizations and tweaks that compensate for the lower-end specs. Battery capacity is another example of this: iPhones can often match their rivals in terms of battery life, even with smaller batteries.
With iOS 18 rolling out tomorrow and Apple Intelligence coming soon after, it remains to be seen how that 8GB of RAM affects software performance. In the meantime, check out our iPhone 16 hands-on review.