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of their smartphone, this increasingly important term might not mean much.

What is RAM?

Three iPhones on a blue and red background running Apple Intelligence

This is how RAM appears in a PC motherboard

Manufacturers typically dont market RAM in the same way they do SoCs and other features.

The exception isApple, which calls RAM unified memory.

Why does AI need a lot of RAM?

RAM in a PC motherboard

This is how RAM appears in a PC motherboard

Thebest Honor phones, for instance,lean on Google Cloud for many of their AI features.

However, there are three incentives for manufacturers to keep AI on-equipment.

The first is independence from internet connection, allowing users to use AI features even when offline.

Google Pixel 9 Pro lifestyle images

The Pixel 9 Pro launched on September 4 with 16GB RAM

The second is improved responsiveness and load times that arent dependent on the strength of an internet connection.

The third is security; on-equipment AI processing enhances data privacy by minimizing data transmission.

It tracks that were seeing some of thebest phonescome with more RAM.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 hands on

RAM is essential for multitasking.

This is almost certainly to allow the entire iPhone 16 series to use Apple Intelligence features.

How much RAM do I need?

TheiPhone 16series launched with 8GB of RAM following Apples Its Glowtime event on September 9.

a photo of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6

The feature-packed Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 boasts 12GB of RAM

Other phones carrying 8GB of RAM include the mid-rangeGoogle Pixel 8aand the lower-end variant of theNothing Phone 2a.

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