iPhone 18 to get a big RAM upgrade as Apple doubles down on AI: Report

Apple has long been rumoured to postpone the launch of the iPhone 18 and bring it alongside the iPhone 18e next year. However, a new report has given us a peek at what could be the big updates coming to the base Apple flagship.

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will launch the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e next spring. The bigger news from Kuo, however, is that both phones are set to get a RAM upgrade and could come with 9GB of RAM using a 1.5GB × 6-die configuration, up from the 8GB (2GB × 4 dies) found on their predecessors.

While the RAM implementation seems unusual, if this arrangement turns out to be true, it will still mark an upgrade for the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e, allowing both devices to run Apple Intelligence tasks more smoothly. These phones are said to run on the A20 chipset based on a 2nm process.

Kuo also noted that the three iPhones launching in September, the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone Ultra/Fold, will all come with the A20 Pro chipset, which previous leaks suggest could bring as much as 15 percent faster performance and 30 percent better power efficiency.

Additionally, Kuo noted that iOS 27 will bring "tighter system-level integration with Apple Intelligence." Notably, the latest version of iOS was unveiled by Apple at the company's WWDC 2026 conference earlier this month, alongside major upgrades including a revamped Siri, AI-powered features in the Camera and Photos apps, a dedicated Siri chatbot app and more.

Many of the new AI features also run on-device, which requires not only a powerful processor but also a sufficient amount of RAM. Apple confirmed after the WWDC keynote that some of the advanced on-device AI features will require a minimum of 12GB of RAM. This means that while they should run fine on the iPhone 17 Pro models and the upcoming iPhones launching in September, the standard iPhone 17 does not support them, and even its successor may not.

What to expect from the iPhone 18?

The iPhone 18 could come with the same display dimensions as its predecessor, but the standard model could get a slimmer Dynamic Island, which we could first see on the iPhone 18 Pro models in September. Moreover, Apple is also tipped to bring a brighter display to the iPhone 18.

The iPhone 18 lineup is rumoured to feature Apple's second-generation C2 modem with support for faster mmWave 5G connectivity. The modem is also expected to support the company's privacy-focused Limit Precise Location feature, allowing users to reduce the amount of location information shared with mobile carriers.

In terms of optics, Apple could upgrade the selfie camera on the iPhone 18 to a 24MP sensor. Meanwhile, Apple could simplify the Camera Control button on the standard iPhone 18 by removing capacitive touch support and relying solely on pressure sensing.

Reports also suggest that the iPhone 18 could use a lower-spec display, a version of the A20 chip with fewer GPU cores, and share more components with the iPhone 18e in order to keep manufacturing costs in check.