The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus could get a boost to RAM – but not to 5G speeds

Pink iPhone 15 in a hand held upright
The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus only have 6GB RAM (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

The latest iPhone 16 leak contains both good news and bad news for the standard model and the iPhone 16 Plus – they could have an increase in RAM, but might not benefit from a new 5G modem.

This is according to analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong International Securities, though it’s not a new claim. Rather, Pu is reiterating things he said about the iPhone 16 line back in October. Still, this shows that three months later he’s still confident in these claims.

Specifically, Pu (via MacRumors) claims that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will have 8GB of RAM, which is up from 6GB in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. That would bring them in line with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, as well as, reportedly, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max; Pu claims the Pro models won’t be getting a RAM increase this year.

Faster 5G and better battery life

What the Pro models will apparently be getting, though, is a new Snapdragon X75 modem (again via MacRumors). This will reportedly provide faster 5G download and upload speeds than the X70 modem found in current iPhones, while using up to 20% less power.

Sadly, the standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus apparently won’t be getting this upgrade, and will instead stick with the Snapdragon X70 found in every iPhone 15 model. 

On the plus side, the standard models are at least said to be getting Wi-Fi 6E support, which would boost their Wi-Fi performance and bring them in line with the Pro models in that regard.

While Pu seems confident in these claims, we’d still take them with a pinch of salt, especially as the iPhone 16 line isn’t likely to land until September, so it’s still early days for rumors.

However, if this does all pan out then the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus could be better at multitasking than their predecessors, while the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max might be better equipped to make the most of 5G, and could offer better battery life when using 5G.

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James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.

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