We're expecting iOS 18 to bring big AI-powered benefits for iPhone users (and likely macOS and iPadOS, too), but outside of Apple, the company may have been leapfrogged by upcoming Android flagships.
South Korean site Ajunews (thanks, WCCFTech) is reporting the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset which will likely be the processor for a number of 2025 devices could support faster RAM than could be included in the upcoming Apple A18 Pro chip.
Naturally, it's hard to tell with neither chip being out yet, but the report suggests the Snapdragon model will support Low-Power Double Data Rate 6 RAM (that's LPDDR6 for most of us). This new RAM standard is likely to be finalized prior to production later in 2024, which means it'll arrive too late for the iPhone 16.
What does LPDDR6 RAM offer?
Ajunews notes nothing is guaranteed, and if pushed back, Apple could make a play for LPDDR6 with the expected A19 Pro next year and put itself back in the lead - but what's the big deal anyway?
RAM always gets faster, and that's not different here, but the LPDDR6 potentially being offered here could be hugely beneficial for the on-device processing of large language models and other AI processes.
With the reported focus on AI for iOS 18 (and likely beyond) that could be a huge step for the iPhone platform. Given Samsung devices already offer more in the way of AI features than iPhone at present, this arms race could be a chance for Apple to catch up - or for Samsung (and other manufacturers) to steam ahead.
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