iPhone 13 models feature the same amount of RAM as their predecessors

The iPhone 13 series has been officially unveiled and in typical Apple fashion, there’s no information about the exact amount of RAM in each model. Fortunately, the guys at MacRumors have used the good old “plist file Xcode” method to decipher the RAM amount in the iPhone 13 series.

As it turns out, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max models are equipped with 6GB of RAM, while the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini have 4GB of RAM. These numbers are exactly the same in the previous generation models, so no upgrade in the RAM department.

iPhone 13 series hardware performance

Shortly after the Apple Event ended, various reports about the performance of the new A15 Bionic chipset started to surface. One report claimed that A15 Bionic has no major CPU improvements, while another showed a 55% gain in graphics performance compared to A14 Bionic.

Things got even more complicated when users started to post Geekbench results with the test allegedly being carried out on the new iPhone 13 Pro. A mean average showed as high as a 21% increase in multi-core performance, while a more conservative approach yielded 8-9% gains.

How much RAM do you actually need in a smartphone?

It’s really easy for smartphone manufacturers to just add more RAM and make the device look better. We’ve seen it before - there are smartphones with 16GB of RAM, and this trend is here to stay.

RAM or Random-access memory is the place where applications load to allow the processor to quickly access them. The main storage of your smartphone may be fast but the RAM is even faster.

So it boils down to optimization and sheer size. Mobile games and apps are nowhere near as big or demanding as their PC counterparts. And yet, a gaming PC can do perfectly fine with 16GB of RAM. Why put 16GB in a smartphone? Well, there’s no need, actually - even on an Android device.

If you look at RAM numbers between Apple and Android you’ll see that iPhones generally have less RAM. That’s because the iOS ecosystem is tight and well-optimized - there are no bloated apps or games to fill up your RAM, no memory leaks - everything works as it should.

The point here is that you shouldn’t focus on RAM numbers alone, especially if we’re talking about iPhones. Apple omits these numbers for a reason - the company knows that they look bad compared to the Android competition but also - that it doesn’t matter much.

Our take

Back to the iPhone 13 series and the unchanged amount of RAM. The simple fact that the iPhone 6 can still run the latest iOS with just 1GB of RAM speaks volumes.

The way Apple designs its phones and software and the support cycle call for a lot fewer upgrades in the RAM department than Android for example.

Another potential reason that doubles as a benefit for the customers is the price. Apple managed to stick to the same price scheme that the company used with the iPhone 12 series, and in a world where Android flagships are pushing the $1000 threshold, this is a positive thing.

Don’t let the lack of RAM upgrades in the new iPhone 13 models discourage you. There are a lot more meaningful upgrades onboard, such as the LTPO screens with variable refresh rates and also the increase in battery life.

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