Samsung May Raise iPhone RAM Prices by 80% QoQ; SK Hynix Reportedly Near 100%

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20 points·walterbell··5 comments

I find it interesting, in the last couple of years Apple started to push towards higher RAM minimums in their phones - largely associated with the roll out of Apple Intelligence. But now it's looking a lot like Apple Intelligence will never be delivered and by the time they roll something out it'll be Gemini backed. So I wonder if that was kind of a waste and now they're going to get hit double for it with the sky-rocketing RAM prices. Presumably on-device inference is largely dead at this point. I can't imagine Apple releasing a device that goes backwards on RAM though.

I guess the good news for Apple is their margins are so high to begin with that they can probably swallow it for a while before pushing increases onto their consumers who will probably largely be happy that it improves the perceived status of their favoured brand

> I can't imagine Apple releasing a device that goes backwards on RAM though.

Why not? Apple does not usually make a big deal about including RAM numbers in their presentations. They don't even list it on their official specs page for their phones. Apple does not really have that much RAM in their phones, only 12GB for their 17 Pro. Some of their competitors explicitly tout 16GB.

Sure, the tech media will try to make it a big deal, but most consumers will not care if the phone performs better than their previous phones.

If this makes everyone stop buying smartphones enough to wean off social media I will start vibecoding 100%

Unlikely, at most it'll make people start buying cheaper phones instead of flagships.

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