Kuo: Next Year's Upgrade to 12GB RAM Will Be Limited to iPhone 17 Pro Max

Just a day after a noted leaker on Chinese microblogging site Weibo suggested the iPhone 17 lineup in 2025 could see an upgrade to 12GB of RAM across the board, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has claimed that the upgrade will be limited to the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

iPhone 17 Pro Max Smaller Dynamic Island Feature 1
If Kuo is correct, it means the smaller iPhone 17 Pro, the base ‌iPhone 17‌, and the all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" will stick with the 8GB figure rumored for the entire iPhone 16 lineup this year. The fourth-generation iPhone SE expected in early 2025 will reportedly also carry 8GB of RAM.

The amount of RAM in Apple's devices is currently of increased importance, as Apple has judged that 8GB is the minimum required for the Apple Intelligence features coming in iOS 18, which means only the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max of Apple's current phones will support them. The ‌iPhone‌ 15 and 15 Plus carry only 6GB of RAM.

While a move to 8GB across the board starting with next month's ‌iPhone 16‌ lineup will enable all new iPhones to support ‌Apple Intelligence‌ going forward, a further bump to 12GB would likely allow for even more powerful AI capabilities, but it now appears that may be limited to Apple's highest-end model in 2025.

Aside from the increased 12GB of RAM, Kuo says the ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ Max will also have an exclusive cooling system combining vapor chamber technology with graphite sheets. The other new ‌iPhone‌ models launching in 2025 will rely solely on graphite sheets for cooling.

Related Roundups: iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones Coming Soon

Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released by the end of next week. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

New iPad Pro Has Six Key Upgrades Beyond M5 Chip

Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more. With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
iPhone Siri Glow

Some Apple Employees Have 'Concerns' About iOS 26.4's Revamped Siri

Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings. iOS 26.4 will...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
m4 macbook air blue

M5 MacBook Air Coming Spring 2026 With M5 Mac Studio and Mac Mini in Development

Thursday October 16, 2025 3:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year. Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...
maxresdefault

Here's How the iOS 26.1 Transparency Toggle Changes Liquid Glass

Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...

Top Rated Comments

N69AP Avatar
15 months ago
Differentiating the Pro models this way doesn't motivate me to spend more on a Pro Max. It means I would either settle for the cheaper iPhone 17 or not upgrade at all.
Score: 76 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThailandToo Avatar
15 months ago
In another six to eight years it will catch up to where good Android phones have been - now at 16GB plus on flagship Android devices - more than a MacBook has!!! Forced obsolescence is good for GREEDY TIM!
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
15 months ago
Come on, this is Apple. Everyone knows this is true. The other report about 12GB for all iPhone 17 was pure fantasy.

This is the same company that puts 8GB RAM in M3 MacBook Pro.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sc00ba Avatar
15 months ago
Nice one Tim, just p**s your customers off more and more, every year, with each new novelty phone release?.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KoolAid-Drink Avatar
15 months ago
I find it incredibly annoying that MR releases/shares rumors about future iPhones before the next iPhone (in this case, 16) is released. Feels kind of disrespectful to the unreleased iPhone, IMHO.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aows Avatar
15 months ago

Majority of the customers don’t care about RAM in their phones
Oh, iPhone 15 and 15 Plus owners are going to care about that pretty soon, when they realize their months-old phones can’t run Apple Intelligence.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)