Apple chip boss finally confirms how much RAM is in iPhone 16 and 16 Pro

iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max
(Image credit: Apple)

We're almost a week out from the Apple Glowtime event that finally lifted the lid on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models, and many have been curious about how much RAM is in each device.

It's perhaps more interesting this year because Apple has previously mentioned a certain RAM threshold is why iPhone 16 can run Apple Intelligence features while the iPhone 15 can't, but a new interview with Apple's Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies, Johny Srouji, has confirmed the amount in each of the new phones.

Geekerwan spoke with Srouji (thanks 9to5Mac), who explained the rationale behind packing 8GB of RAM into all iPhone 16 models.

我们采访了苹果芯片背后的男人——Johny Srouji! - YouTube 我们采访了苹果芯片背后的男人——Johny Srouji! - YouTube
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Johny Srouji on 8GB of iPhone RAM

“Our goal is to build the best products, delivering the absolute best user experience. As it relates to Apple Intelligence, DRAM is one aspect. And when we look at what we’re building, whether it’s silicon, hardware, or software, we don’t want to be wasteful in many ways," Srouji explains.

"We have lots of data that tells us what is going to enable a certain feature, and Apple Intelligence is one of those very, very important features that we want to enable."

"And 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 also notes how 8GB of RAM will help other facets of the iPhone experience, including "high-end, AAA-titled games".

He also extolled the virtues of Apple's efficiency cores, pointing to single-thread performance throughout the Apple lineup.

“When you look at the single-thread of performance core across all of our silicon, it’s the absolute best in the industry. We’re leading the industry. If you look at the efficiency cores, same, we’re at the absolute best. We’re leading in a big way."

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Lloyd Coombes
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Lloyd Coombes is a freelance writer with a specialism in Apple tech. From his first, hand-me-down iMac, he’s been working with Apple products for over a decade, and while he loves his iPhone and Mac, the iPad will always have his heart for reasons he still can’t quite fathom. Since moving from blogging to writing professionally, Lloyd’s work can be found at TechRadar, Macworld, TechAdvisor and plenty more. He’s also the Editor in Chief at GGRecon.com, and on the rare occasion he’s not writing you’ll find him spending time with his son, or working hard at the gym (while wearing an Apple Watch, naturally). You can find him on Twitter @lloydcoombes.