The base iPhone 18 is likely getting a bump in specs to become an excellent successor to the iPhone 17

Apple surprised the industry last year when, alongside the redesigned iPhone 17 Pro models, it also unveiled a base model that surpassed expectations. The standard iPhone 17 has sold incredibly well as a result, and the iPhone 18 is likely going to follow the example set by its predecessor.

Apple made the iPhone 17 excellent

Sales figures for the iPhone 17 series show that the base model has performed beyond expectations in markets around the world. This, in addition to the popularity of the Pro models due to the redesign, has led to the iPhone 17 lineup becoming one of the most well-received phones that Apple has ever made.What helped the iPhone 17 particularly stand out from previous standard models were the following three upgrades:

• A 120 Hz ProMotion display
• Much better ultra-wide camera
• And a higher starting storage option

The iPhone 18 will likely have more RAM

While the base iPhone 18 might not see as many new upgrades — the entire lineup is less revolutionary than the iPhone 17 series — it will most likely feature more RAM. Realistically, we can expect a bump up to 12 GB of RAM from the current 8 GB that is found on the iPhone 17.
Other than that, the design, display, and cameras are not expected to see any major changes. Of course, a newer and faster chip will be present in the iPhone 18.

Why? Siri AI

So why can we expect the iPhone 18 to ship with 12 GB of RAM? Because apparently, the new Siri AI requires that amount of RAM for on-device processing. Understandably, Apple users are not pleased.

It doesn’t seem like all new Siri AI features will need 12 GB of RAM, thankfully. Additionally, older phones will likely use cloud processing instead if they don’t have enough memory.

However, it does mean that “Built for Apple Intelligence” phones have, once more, been left behind. Apple might be able to get away with that, but there will be a ton of backlash if the upcoming iPhone 18 didn’t support Siri AI either.

So the phone will probably come with 12 GB of RAM despite the current memory crisis which is ironically being caused by demand for AI processing.

The iPhone 18 is ages away

We most likely won’t know how much RAM the standard iPhone 18 will have for a very long time. If reports about Apple’s new release schedule are correct, then the base model will come out early next year alongside the iPhone 18e and the iPhone Air 2.

This year will only see the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the new foldable iPhone Ultra.