Apple's next-gen A18-based iPhone 16: TSMC N3E, improved camera, more RAM for AI workloads

Apple is reportedly upgrading the minimum RAM inside the next-generation iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro smartphones so that they can better run OpenAI ChatGPT 4o, which is built-in to run new AI features that fall under the new Apple Intelligence banner.

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The new Apple iPhone 16 family of smartphones will have a new A18 processor built on TSMC's new N3E process node, more RAM, camera upgrades, and more. Apple is expecting iPhone users to have more reasons to upgrade this generation because there are RAM upgrades (finally) and upgrades across the board this time around.

In a new report from Ctee, the new trend of increasing memory capacity will help memory manufacturers like Nanya, Winbond, ADATA, TEAMGROUP, and Transcend to enjoy healthier revenues and profits. The entire fleet of iPhone 16 smartphones -- iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max -- will have 8GB of RAM, marking the first time since the iPhone X back in 2017 that Apple has increased RAM across the entire fleet of iPhones.

Industry analysts expect that once the memory capacity of iPhones is boosted, the problem of multi-tasking on your iPhone and it being "stuck" will disappear. Not only that, but the upgraded RAM capacity is required for the new ChatGPT-powered AI functions of Apple Intelligence.

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We don't know too much about Apple Intelligence just yet, but the company will detail its AI-powered features during its WWDC 2024 Developer Conference later this year. For now, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max smartphones will be the only phones -- until iPhone 16 -- that will run Apple Intelligence once they get iOS 18 updates. iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus won't run the AI-powered Apple Intelligence features.

According to a source of Ctee, the upgraded RAM across the entire iPhone 16 family is "precisely" to meet the development needs of AI applications, so the new iPhone 16 phones will fully supply Apple Intelligence technology. The upgrades that come with AI, require more RAM to run different workloads (Apple Intelligence features powered by ChatGPT from OpenAI) and more (spatial video, 8K video recording, running more apps, iOS 18 changes, etc).

Apple's new AI features use generative models running inside of the iPhone (and iPad, Mac systems) to enjoy offline AI processing. Unless the AI workloads are more complex, then they'll be shifted to the "Private Cloud Compute" or using ChatGPT, which will be executed in an external connection mode.

AI calculations are driving the 8GB RAM upgrade, while it'll be interesting to see if iPhone users will flock to the iPhone 16 with these wave of upgrades (camera, RAM, new A18 chip, longer battery life, better display, new iOS 18, Apple Intelligence and AI features, etc).

Apple will launch its new iPhone 16 smartphones in September 2024.