iPhone 16 could finally get a RAM upgrade, but Pro could keep another key upgrade exclusive

We’re days into 2024, and there’s going to be a new iPhone to look forward to this year in the form of the iPhone 16. The latest leak suggests that Apple could finally grace the iPhone with more RAM with the launch of the iPhone 16, but a modem upgrade could be on the cards only for the iPhone 16 Pro.

According to analyst Jeff Pu (via Macrumors), the base iPhone 16 could finally get 8GB of RAM, compared to the base iPhone 15’s 6GB of RAM. The iPhone 15 Pro models already have 8GB of RAM, so they stick with the same for the iPhone 16 Pro models.

In the same vein, the base iPhone 16 could also make the jump to Wi-Fi 6E finally. The iPhone 15 Pro already has Wi-Fi 6E support.

The iPhone 16 Pro, instead, could get an upgrade to the Qualcomm Snapdragon X75 modem, as Jeff Pu notes (via Macrumors). The base iPhone 16 could retain the Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 modem, which is present on iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models.

We already see the Snapdragon X75 modem in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, so Android flagships will retain their comfortable spec lead this year, too. This new modem supports the “5G Advanced” standard, which is said to include AI and ML enhancements for improved 5G performance, alongside faster 5G download and upload speed. Apple is said to advertise the 5G Advanced support on the iPhone 16 Pro models.

Regarding the RAM situation, Android smartphones handle multitasking and other processing differently from the iPhone. Android flagships also have more multitasking features such as split screen and the like. So, it’s not a direct spec-to-spec comparison.

Note that these are still early rumors at the end of the day. Apple has made no announcements to that end, and we’ll find out about these features officially on launch day, which is still a good nine months away.