Apple's Most Powerful On-Device AI Now Requires iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone Air
Apple's most advanced on-device AI model in iOS 27 requires a minimum of 12GB of unified memory, meaning the standard iPhone 17 is excluded.
The next generation of Apple Intelligence introduces a new on-device model more powerful than anything Apple has shipped before. While most iOS 27 AI features run on the same hardware supported today, including iPhone 15 Pro, the most capable model carries stricter requirements. To run Apple's most powerful on-device model, users will need one of the following devices:
- iPhone: iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, or iPhone 17 Pro Max
- iPad: iPad with M4 or later with at least 12GB of unified memory
- Mac: Mac with M3 or later with at least 12GB of unified memory
- Vision Pro: Apple Vision Pro with M5
The base iPhone 17 is excluded because it ships with 8GB of memory, falling short of the 12GB threshold. The standard memory requirement for Apple Intelligence has been 8GB since its introduction, so this marks the first time Apple has raised the bar for its most capable on-device features.
According to Apple's press release, the new model specifically enables features including expressive voices and more advanced dictation.
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