Entire iPhone 17 Series Rumoured to Feature 12GB of RAM

It’s rumoured that Apple’s entire unannounced iPhone 17 series will offer 12GB of RAM, largely to support Apple Intelligence.

The lastest round of rumours surrounging this year’s iPhone comes from Digital Chat Station, via Weibo. It’s said that sources within Apple’s supply chain state that the iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will all feature 12GB of RAM, a notable boost from the 8GB of RAM the iPhone 16 series provides.

Last year, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo first began speculating that only the iPhone 17 Pro Max would recieve the upgrade to 12GB of RAM. However, that was only shorltly after a seperate Weibo leak speculated all models would offer the upgrade. However, Kuo has since changed his analysis, saying that all iPhone 17 models will likely feature 12GB of RAM, depending on supply chain provisions.

If Apple’s supply chain can meet demand, it’s believed that Apple will make the final call on whether to include the boost in RAM by May of this year, ahead of production. Kuo has also stated that if some of the models from the iPhone 17 series sticks with 8GB of RAM, it’s expected that all models from 2026 will have 12GB of RAM.

Transitioning from 8GB of RAM up to 12GB of RAM will allow Apple to tap into more capable AI models on the device. With a 50 percent increase in available RAM, Apple’s more likely to run more sophisticated AI-powered tasks, with faster response times. There’s even the likelihood that Apple Intelligence would be able to multitask and perform operations in the background without slowing the performance of apps on screen.