Apple fans hoping the successors to the iPhone 5 would have more temporary storage space for apps may be disappointed if rumors claiming the iPhone 6 and Plus will only have 1 GB of memory prove true.
Random access memory (RAM) provides temporary storage space for active apps. Bulky memory hogs, such as multi-tabbed browsers and games, can crowd RAM and cause devices to hang or crash.
A screenshot contains evidence suggesting Apple opted to go with 1 GB of RAM in its 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, a handset thought by many to be significantly more powerful than the 4.7-inch version.
The screenshot shows what's said to be the Memory Usage menu of an iPhone 6 Plus, which has 975-MB of temporary storage space with the remainder dedicated to iOS 8's essential processes.
For iPhone users who never had regular trouble with freezes and crashes on the handsets, Apple's rumored decision to carry over 1 GB of RAM from its last generation of smartphones will likely be inconsequential. When it comes to multitasking, iOS is about as efficient as it gets.
iOS manages apps running in the background, not currently on the screen, by allowing them to refresh with new data during periods of low activity from the user. And iOS 8 is expected to be even more efficient at multitasking, though it may require a tad more dedicated RAM space than its predecessor.
"iOS learns patterns based on your use of the device and tries to predict when an app should be updated in the background," says Apple. "It also learns when the device is typically inactive, such as during the night, to reduce update frequency when the device is not in use."
Apple says it freezes unused apps in place and boots them out of the resource pool, until users call the program back to work.
"Some apps can continue to run for a short period of time and are then set to a suspended state so they are not actively in use, open, or taking up system resources," says Apple. "They will instantly launch when you return to them."
As it goes right now, there appear to be just a few scenarios that could push 1 GB of RAM too far in an iOS environment. The most likely scenarios would be either playing a memory-intensive game while listening to music or opening several content-laden tabs in a browser and running other apps.
