Apple is reportedly gearing up to bring a major performance boost to its base iPhone lineup.
According to reports, the upcoming iPhone 18 could finally feature 12GB of unified memory — matching the iPhone 17 Pro series and marking a significant leap from its predecessor’s 8GB.
With the iPhone 17 Pro lineup, Apple introduced 12GB of unified memory alongside the A19 Pro chip, offering 50% more RAM than earlier models. However, the standard iPhone 17, powered by the A19 chip, remained capped at 8GB.
That could soon change. Reports indicate that Apple has asked its suppliers to ramp up production of LPDDR5X DRAM chips — the same type used in the Pro lineup — hinting at a 12GB upgrade for the base iPhone 18.
Apple’s new supply chain strategy
To meet the expected demand, Apple has reportedly approached Samsung for additional LPDDR5X chips and is also in discussions with Micron and SK Hynix. Notably, LPDDR5X memory modules are only available in 12GB and 16GB variants, making the upgrade almost inevitable.
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This supply push aligns with Apple’s long-standing pattern: introducing premium features in Pro models first, then bringing them to base variants after a year or two.
Staggered release schedule ahead
The iPhone 18 lineup might not follow Apple’s traditional September launch. Multiple reports suggest that starting with the iPhone 18 series, Apple plans to adopt a staggered release schedule.
This means that while the iPhone Air 2, iPhone 18 Pro/Pro Max, and iPhone Fold are expected to arrive in fall 2026, the standard iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e could debut the following spring.
For now, users might not notice massive performance differences from the jump to 12GB. However, analysts believe the move is part of Apple’s broader strategy to power on-device AI processing.
With Apple Intelligence and local AI features becoming more integral to the iOS experience, future iPhones with 12GB RAM could handle more advanced machine learning models and exclusive AI tools that lower-memory devices cannot.
