Big changes could be coming in iOS 9
It's iOS, but not as you know it
The iPhone 6S could come with 2GB of RAM, double the amount found in the iPhone 6, which has been criticised by some people as too meagre.
The rumour comes from supply chain sources speaking to Taiwan's Tech News. That extra power is exciting in itself, but it begs the question of what Apple intends to do with it, given that the iPhone 6 already delivers brilliant performance. The answer may lie in iOS 9.
Forbes theorises that as Apple is unlikely to double the RAM unless it was necessary there could be a big overhaul coming to iOS 9 which would make 2GB of RAM beneficial.
Following the cycle
It's not just the possible upping of the RAM that points to major changes though, as iOS tends to follow a similar update cycle to the iPhone, with a major upgrade one year, followed by a more minor one focused on tweaks and optimisations the next.
iOS 8 delivered tweaks to the overhaul found in iOS 7, so now with iOS 9 we should theoretically be in for another massive change and having twice as much RAM in the iPhone 6S certainly supports that. Though it's not clear what form that change will take.
Of course presumably it would still have to run okay on phones with just 1GB of RAM, but with the 512MB of RAM toting iPhone 4S likely to be the next iDevice to stop receiving updates it could be that less than 1GB won't cut it.
All of this is just speculation for now and even the 2GB of RAM rumours might not pan out, especially as it's quite a lot pricier than the RAM Apple is currently using, but if this theory does turn out to be right then iOS 9 could be very exciting indeed.
Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
- Could the iPhone 6S be getting a sapphire display too?
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.