Just a day after a noted leaker on Chinese microblogging site Weibo suggested the iPhone 17 lineup in 2025 could see an upgrade to 12GB of RAM across the board, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has claimed that the upgrade will be limited to the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
If Kuo is correct, it means the smaller ‌iPhone 17‌ Pro, the base ‌iPhone 17‌, and the all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" will stick with the 8GB figure rumored for the entire iPhone 16 lineup this year. The fourth-generation iPhone SE expected in early 2025 will reportedly also carry 8GB of RAM.
The amount of RAM in Apple's devices is currently of increased importance, as Apple has judged that 8GB is the minimum required for the Apple Intelligence features coming in iOS 18, which means only the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max of Apple's current phones will support them. The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus carry only 6GB of RAM.
While a move to 8GB across the board starting with next month's ‌iPhone 16‌ lineup will enable all new iPhones to support ‌Apple Intelligence‌ going forward, a further bump to 12GB would likely allow for even more powerful AI capabilities, but it now appears that may be limited to Apple's highest-end model in 2025.
Aside from the increased 12GB of RAM, Kuo says the ‌iPhone 17‌ Pro Max will also have an exclusive cooling system combining vapor chamber technology with graphite sheets. The other new iPhone models launching in 2025 will rely solely on graphite sheets for cooling.
