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Traditional memory is insufficient. Devices compatible with Apple Intelligence have at least 8GB of RAM - 6GB for ensuring smooth running of daily applications, and an additional 2GB for running LLM on the client side.
The most surprising thing at this year's WWDC may not be iOS 18, but AI: Apple Intelligence.$Apple (AAPL.US)$AI: Apple Intelligence.
However, the official statement is that Apple Intelligence will only support iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad and Mac devices with M1 or subsequent chips.
Translated: currently in all iPhones for sale, only the iPhone 15 Pro series supports Apple Intelligence, including the 15 and 15 Plus released at the same time are not supported! However, the iPad Pro released three years ago can!
Why does this happen?
Recently, the well-known analyst Guo Mingzhen analyzed that from this, it can be inferred that the key to whether to support Apple Intelligence should be the size of DRAM, not AI computing power (TOPS).
The problem is with the memory, not the computing power!
Parameter-wise, the computing power of the M1 chip is about 11 TOPS, while the computing power of the A16 chip is about 17 TOPS. However, the minimum DRAM of the M1 is 8GB, and the maximum is 16GB, which is higher than the 6GB of the A16. As for these extra 2GB, they are likely to be the "key" to the problem. Guo Mingzhen speculated that:
"Therefore, the current AI LLM of Apple Intelligence on the client side requires about 2GB or less of DRAM."
Furthermore, Guo Mingzhen stated that another way to verify Apple Intelligence's demand for DRAM is:
"Apple Intelligence uses client-side 3B LLM (should be FP16, M1's NPU/ANE has good support for FP16), which, after compression (using a hybrid configuration of 2-bit and 4-bit), requires about 0.7-1.5GB of DRAM reserved for the operation of Apple Intelligence's client-side LLM."
Compared with the 16GB or even 24GB "large" DRAM that is common in Android smartphones, Apple devices usually provide less DRAM, mostly no more than 6GB. For old models like the iPhone 13, the DRAM is only 4GB.
Therefore, many analysts believe that Apple's setting of a 2GB "memory barrier" may promote consumers to "upgrade" to old devices, and in the upcoming iPhone 16 series models, Apple may provide higher DRAM options.
Guo Mingzhen said:
"In the future, Apple Intelligence's client-side AI will definitely be upgraded (most likely to 7B LLM), which will require larger DRAM to operate.
It is worth watching whether Apple will use this as a product differentiation strategy for high and low-end models.
Editor/tolk