Yesterday a rumor claimed all iPhone 17 models would come with 12GB of RAM, as opposed to 8GB on the iPhone 16 family. Today, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has chimed in with some clarificaations. According to him, only the iPhone 17 Pro Max will have 12GB of RAM, whereas the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Slim will get 8GB, just like the next iPhone SE).
With this in mind, Apple is likely to turn
enhanced on-device AI capabilities into a major selling point specifically for
the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and not the entire range. The Pro Max will also get an
upgraded cooling system combining vapor chamber technology with graphite
sheets. The rest of the iPhone 17 family will use graphite sheets alone, just
like previous models.
Kuo says the Pro Max currently accounts
for almost 40% of iPhone sales, which means it's Apple's revenue and profit
leader among hardware products. And that is why the differentiation strategy -
keeping the best specs for the Pro Max - is likely to continue.
