iPhone 17 Series May Have 12GB RAM; iPhone 18 Lineup Tipped to Support Improved Memory

iPhone 17 series, which is expected to be unveiled later this year, will likely come with support for more RAM than the existing iPhone 16 lineup. The upcoming series is expected to include a base, an Air, a Pro and a Pro Max variant. A tipster has claimed that the purported smartphones will support 12GB of RAM, which is an upgrade from the 8GB of RAM that the current models are equipped with. The tipster has hinted at memory improvements that next year's iPhone 18 lineup could arrive with as well. 

iPhone 17 Series, iPhone 18 Series RAM Details (Expected)

The iPhone 17 smartphones will support 12GB of RAM, according to a Weibo post by tipster Digital Chat Station (translated from Chinese). The models are expected to be equipped with Apple Intelligence and other AI-backed tools "on a large scale." The larger RAM size is said to help with the performance of these features.

The Pro models of the lineup, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, are expected to be powered by the A19 Pro chipset, which will likely be made on TSMC's 3nm process. Coupled with 12GB of RAM, the performance of this chip is tipped to improve significantly over that of the A18 Pro SoC. The latter is currently used in iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max handsets with 8GB of RAM.

The tipster added in the post that the iPhone 18 series, which is expected to arrive in the second half of 2026, will come with support for six-channel LPDDR5X memory. This upgrade is expected to enhance the performance of the purported handsets.

The new claims about iPhone 17 and iPhone 18 memory arrive after TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, too, claimed recently that Apple was considering shipping the standard iPhone 17 with 12GB of RAM, the same as other phones in the lineup. Kuo also claimed that all models in the iPhone 18 lineup, which is not expected until the second half of 2026, will likely feature 12GB of RAM, as well.

The iPhone 17 lineup is on track to launch later this year. According to a recent report, at least one of the variants in the iPhone 17 lineup has cleared the Engineering Validation Testing (EVT) phase, which is meant to ensure that the hardware of the phone works as intended. The handsets are expected to pass the DVT (Design Validation Test) and PVT (Production Validation Test) stages before their mass production begins. These are routine tests, and the timeline suggests that the series production plans are on track for a September launch.