The iPhone 16 lineup has 8GB of RAM, from the base model to the 16 Pro Max, and it’s all thanks to Apple Intelligence. Apple VP of hardware tech Johny Srouji confirmed as much in an interview with Geekerwan, published yesterday, that 9to5Mac spotted.
Srouji explained in the interview that “DRAM is one aspect” when it comes to deciding hardware characteristics needed for Apple Intelligence, saying that the feature “led us to believe we need to get to 8GB.” He added that the extra RAM would also “help immensely” for tasks like high-end gaming on devices.
Apple hadn’t previously stated how much RAM the iPhone 16 line has, but MacRumors discovered references to the 8GB number in Xcode after the phones were announced. Apple, which isn’t the only hardware maker that has recently boosted RAM to offer AI, has said that iOS 18 won’t bring Apple Intelligence to the iPhone 15, which only has 6GB of RAM, when the feature set launches. Apart from the iPhone 16 line, the iPhone 15 Pro will be the only other phone that supports it.
Aside from that, Srouji spends the roughly 17-minute interview discussing the company’s hardware performance philosophy, characteristics of the A18 chips in the new phones, Apple’s approach to thermal design, and iPhone 16 and 16 Pro video and image processing.