iOS apps can now be 4 GB.

[Eug]

https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=02122015a

Even more reason to choose the iPad Air 2 over the iPad Air, and to skip the iPhone 6 / 6 Plus.

 

[mmntech]

Game developers have been asking for this for awhile now. Should allow for better textures and more detailed environments. They'll finally be able to take advantage of all that processing power.

And Apple keeps chugging along with 16GB phones.

 

[Rakehellion]

D:

 

[redheeler]

Even more reason to choose the iPad Air 2 over the iPad Air, and to skip the iPhone 6 / 6 Plus.

The iPad Air 2 starts at 16 GB just like the iPhone 6/6+ and iPad Air.

 

[Eug]

The iPad Air 2 starts at 16 GB just like the iPhone 6/6+ and iPad Air.

But has twice the memory.

 

[Rakehellion]

But has twice the memory.

You won't see games using that memory for a while.

 

[Eug]

It's not like a single app has to have a 2 GB memory footprint for us to benefit from 2 GB. Even incremental increases in memory use means 2 GB will be a big benefit.

In fact, it already is.

 

[Rakehellion]

It's not like you need 2GB of memory to get the most out of your phone.

 

[ViRGE]

https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=02122015a

Even more reason to choose the iPad Air 2 over the iPad Air, and to skip the iPhone 6 / 6 Plus.

The fact that Apple shipped A8 devices with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage is practically criminal.:| At least you can get a unit with more storage, but you're stuck at 1GB for RAM.

 

[Eug]

It's not like you need 2GB of memory to get the most out of your phone.

Safari tab reloads are a significant issue even on my iPhone 5s. Bigger 3rd party apps will only make this worse. It's much less of a problem in my iPad Air 2.

 

[redheeler]

Safari tab reloads are a significant issue even on my iPhone 5s. Bigger 3rd party apps will only make this worse. It's much less of a problem in my iPad Air 2.

Agreed that it would be nice if Apple hadn't put the same old 1 GB of RAM in the iPhone 6. More RAM would allow for more apps/tabs to be stored without restarting/reloading, an issue I do encounter as well. But, how else are they going to get people to upgrade to the 6s?

Still on the 5s, will get the 6s if it has 2 GB RAM and OLED.

 

[Kaido]

Can we get Ethernet adapters for the Lightning port so we don't have to wait forever to download via Wifi? :awe:

 

[Rakehellion]

Can we get Ethernet adapters for the Lightning port so we don't have to wait forever to download via Wifi? :awe:

I seriously doubt your internet connection is faster than Wifi.

 

[mmntech]

Safari tab reloads are a significant issue even on my iPhone 5s. Bigger 3rd party apps will only make this worse. It's much less of a problem in my iPad Air 2.

Yep. Third party browsers on my iPad 3 will crash to desktop if I try to open for or more tabs.

I'm of the school where flagship phones should have at least 2GB of RAM these days. Tablets should have 4GB. I don't think there's any technical reasons why Apple is chintzy with memory. Probably just to cut manufacturing costs and fatten up the profit margins. iOS is better at managing RAM than Android is, but you're still dealing with a finite resource. It can become a big issue on the tablets if you multitask a lot.

 

[Printer Bandit]

people that complain about 1GB RAM probably live in the first world

 

[weevilone]

Safari tab reloads are a significant issue even on my iPhone 5s. Bigger 3rd party apps will only make this worse. It's much less of a problem in my iPad Air 2.

I didn't realize what a nuisance this was until I started using a Sony Z3 Compact tablet that has 3GB RAM. Now I really don't like using Safari on my older Air with the frequent tab reloads.

It's just small stuff, but annoying. I was reading some digital comics while referencing a guide for the proper reading order (cross over). Even with just a couple tabs, it reloaded and reverted to the beginning of the list each time it was viewed.

 

[mmntech]

people that complain about 1GB RAM probably live in the first world

Well, yes. We are talking about devices that cost $600+, not $99 no-name phones and tablets from Walmart.

 

[Tyranicus]

I seriously doubt your internet connection is faster than Wifi.

Unless he's using 802.11ac, this is definitely a real possibility. If internet speeds of 1Gbps are available in the little town in central Pennsylvania where I live, then speeds faster than the 300Mbps maximum of 802.11n wifi are certainly available in many places.

 

[manly]

The fact that Apple shipped A8 devices with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage is practically criminal.:| At least you can get a unit with more storage, but you're stuck at 1GB for RAM.

Agreed strongly. Apple's business model of planned obsolescence has treated my modest AAPL holdings very well, but it's shitty for customers. Of course it only works because of the extreme loyalty of the Apple faithful.

Starved RAM isn't a recent thing, going all the way back to the infamous iOS 4 launch on iPhone 3G. (And for eons before that on Mac.)

Btw the fact that app bundles can now hit 4 GB has little to do with main RAM requirements, except more assets could mean higher memory needs.

Yep. Third party browsers on my iPad 3 will crash to desktop if I try to open for or more tabs.

I'm of the school where flagship phones should have at least 2GB of RAM these days. Tablets should have 4GB. I don't think there's any technical reasons why Apple is chintzy with memory. Probably just to cut manufacturing costs and fatten up the profit margins. iOS is better at managing RAM than Android is, but you're still dealing with a finite resource. It can become a big issue on the tablets if you multitask a lot.

I don't even think it fattens margin that much anymore, it's more about making the device a brick when iOS 10 launches.

However, multitasking on iOS doesn't work the way that you imply it works.

 

[Eug]

Btw the fact that app bundles can now hit 4 GB has little to do with main RAM requirements, except more assets could mean higher memory needs.

Yes, in general as app sizes increase, so do memory needs. It's not a direct correlation, but it's a correlation nonetheless.

Furthermore, as you've indicated already, memory size is extremely important for OS updates. Remember that iDevices went with 1 GB way back in 2012. It's now 2015. iPhones are long overdue for a memory upgrade.

 

[manly]

Yes, in general as app sizes increase, so do memory needs. It's not a direct correlation, but it's a correlation nonetheless.

Furthermore, as you've indicated already, memory size is extremely important for OS updates. Remember that iDevices went with 1 GB way back in 2012. It's now 2015. iPhones are long overdue for a memory upgrade.

Apple actually downgraded the RAM when they launched the iPhone 5S.

Experts have estimated ARMv8 uses about 25% more memory than 32-bit ARM when code is recompiled. So the 1GB RAM is more like 800 MB, not counting the growth of the OS itself. (I'm assuming the new larger screen sizes would also need more RAM than otherwise, but don't know how to quantify).

As for a technical reason, the old one that was given was that "excessive" RAM results in worse battery life because the memory cells draw power to refresh. That argument isn't valid if more than 1GB is not excessive, and nobody today thinks it is.

In some respects, excessive spec whoring is dumb. For example, I question whether there's any sense at all in having 500 ppi smartphone displays but Android phone manufacturers compete in a cutthroat business where consumers seemingly buy based on a bunch of specs.

 

[ultimatebob]

Well, yes. We are talking about devices that cost $600+, not $99 no-name phones and tablets from Walmart.

I have an iPhone 6, and I've never found myself in a situation yet where I ran out of memory. It just doesn't happen.

I wish I could say the same about my old Galaxy S3. It has the same amount of memory (in theory), but I saw apps run out of memory and force quit on it all of the time. I place the blame all of the bloatware that Samsung and Verizon added to the base Android installation.

 

[Rakehellion]

Unless he's using 802.11ac, this is definitely a real possibility. If internet speeds of 1Gbps are available in the little town in central Pennsylvania where I live, then speeds faster than the 300Mbps maximum of 802.11n wifi are certainly available in many places.

The iPhone 6 does have 802.11ac. And 99.9% of people aren't on Gigabit.

 

[Rakehellion]

I have an iPhone 6, and I've never found myself in a situation yet where I ran out of memory. It just doesn't happen.

I wish I could say the same about my old Galaxy S3. It has the same amount of memory (in theory), but I saw apps run out of memory and force quit on it all of the time. I place the blame all of the bloatware that Samsung and Verizon added to the base Android installation.

This.

The Xbox 360 had less memory than that. Throwing gobs of memory at a device just to have another bullet point is as silly as the megapixel craze.

 

[Eug]

I guarantee the next iPhone will get 2 GB...

...and it needs it.

P.S. The Xbox 360 is a decade old. Back in 2005, Macs came with 512 MB RAM too. The current Xbox One has 8 GB RAM, with 5 GB accessible to games.