Base iPhone 18 likely to feature 9GB RAM, leak suggests

Apple's lower-end iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e models, expected to launch in March or April 2027, will feature 9GB of RAM, up from 8GB in the current iPhone 17 generation, according to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

This is an exceptional step for Apple since the company generally employs similar RAM in all its models.

However, having 9GB of RAM causes a conflict since, according to WWDC 2026, Apple's top-of-the-line on-device AI capabilities that are expressive Siri voices and improved accuracy for system-wide dictation cannot be performed without 12GB of RAM.

For the base models powered by A20 chips, Apple plans to employ six dies with 1.5 GB of RAM each, bringing their sum up to 9 GB, while for now iPhone 17 models have four dies with 2 GB of RAM each (8 GB).

The iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and foldable iPhone will retain 12GB using eight 1.5GB dies on the A20 Pro chip.

Kuo's report is part of a trend by Apple to reduce costs on its regular models amid a memory shortage in the semiconductor industry.

With a limited amount of RAM, both the iPhone 18 and 18e will feature Apple's latest 2 nm A20 processor, offering 15% greater speed and 30% more energy efficiency compared to the existing 3 nm A19 processor.

Increased processing speed can partially compensate for the lack of RAM, yet the capacity of the processing system alone is not enough to overcome memory shortages.

The iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max, and foldable iPhone launch in fall 2026 with full 12GB support, while base models arrive three to four months later in spring 2027.