iPhone 4S rumored to offer 512MB RAM instead of 1GB
Despite early rumors to the contrary, TUAW is reading reports from around the Internet that the new iPhone 4S will use 512MB of RAM memory, not the full 1GB many had hoped for. In terms of specs, this falls right in line with the iPad 2's 512MB of LPDDR2 RAM, per that device's iFixit tear-down.
Reports of the 512MB RAM first surfaced from the developers of Infinity Blade on a Eurogamer.net interview with Chair Entertainment creative director Donald Mustard. Now, AppVV states the same (translated) in a thread linked to by MacRumors.
So what does this mean to you? As a rule, the more memory you have onboard, the greater room any application has to work with for memory-intensive assets like graphics, audio, and video. Apps can run more smoothly, and you run into fewer memory-related crashes.
The iPad 2 has been no slouch in performance, however. Its 512MB has provided superb interaction, and while more memory is often better, it's unlikely the 4S will suffer from not delivering a full GB of RAM.
We will all know for sure soon after iFixit gets its geeky little hands on a unit for a full tear-down, presumably within a few days of this Friday's ship date.
