(Credit: Angela Moscaritolo/PCMag)
Johny Srouji, Apple's SVP of hardware technologies, has confirmed that the iPhone 16 lineup has 8GB of RAM to handle the upcoming Apple Intelligence features.
In a recent interview with Geekerwan, spotted by 9to5Mac, Srouji explains that AI features required a performance upgrade.
"We look at different configurations, both for computation and memory bandwidth and memory capacity. And then we make the right trade-off and balance of what actually makes the most sense. So, Apple Intelligence was a major feature that led us to believe that we need to get to 8GB," Srouji said.
This is the first time Apple is offering 8GB of RAM for base models. Last year's iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus have 6GB of RAM, while the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max models have 8GB of RAM. The iPhone 15 Pro models are the only older iPhones that will run Apple Intelligence, which is expected to roll out next month with iOS 18.1.
Srouji also mentioned that the 8GB of RAM will enable all iPhone 16 models to run high-end AAA games, which was limited to the 15 Pro models last year. "The 8GB is going to help immensely among other applications, including gaming," Srouji said.
Apple's spec bump shouldn't come as a huge surprise considering the company's reported desire to sell 90 million iPhone 16 units by the end of this year. The iPhone 16 series is currently available for preorder, with an official launch date of Sept. 20.