| Cult of Mac

Apple drops plan to use RAM from controversial Chinese company

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Apple drops plan to use RAM from controversial Chinese company
No RAM chips from YMTC will be used in iPhone 14.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple has reportedly given up its plan to use RAM chips made by Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. in the iPhone 14 series. It apparently ran into too much resistance from U.S. politicians, including suggestions the chips would somehow be used to surveil Americans.

To be clear, the chips would not have been used in iPhones sold outside of China.

No, Apple isn’t building Chinese spy chips into iPhone 14

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Republicans warn Apple not to use Chinese memory chips in iPhone 14
iPhone 14 will allegedly have RAM chips made by a controversial company.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple will reportedly use RAM chips made by Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. in the iPhone 14 series. This set off a firestorm of complaints from U.S. politicians, including suggestions the chips will somehow be used to surveil Americans.

YMTC is partially owned by the Chinese government and has ties to the Chinese military. There have been calls for it to be added to the U.S. Entity List of companies that face import restrictions.

Here’s how much RAM the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro are packing

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6.1-inch iPhone 14 and 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus
The iPhone 14 has more RAM than the 2021 model.
Photo: Apple

All four of the newly announced iPhone 14 models reportedly come with 6GB of RAM. That’s a 50% increase for the non-Pro model over the 2021 equivalent.

While the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max are supposed to keep the same amount of RAM as their predecessors, an unconfirmed report says that they will use a faster type.

iPhone 13 didn’t get a bump in RAM

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The iPhone 13 Pro is as powerful as it is beautiful.
The iPhone 13 has many improvements over its predecessor. RAM isn’t one of them.
Photo: Apple

Apple thinks the RAM in the iPhone 12 series is enough because it reportedly didn’t include any more in the just-launched iPhone 13 models.

But this is another feature that might tempt buyers to pay extra for one of the Pro models — they sport 50% more than the cheaper versions.

iPadOS 15 gives beefy iPad apps access to more RAM

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iPadOS 15 gives beefy iPad apps access to more RAM iPadOS 15 gives beefy iPad apps access to more RAM iPadOS 15 gives beefy iPad apps access to more RAM iPadOS 15 gives beefy iPad apps access to more RAM iPadOS 15 gives beefy iPad apps access to more RAM iPadOS 15 gives beefy iPad apps access to more RAM iPadOS 15 gives beefy iPad apps access to more RAM iPadOS 15 gives beefy iPad apps access to more RAM iPadOS 15 gives beefy iPad apps access to more RAM iPadOS 15 gives beefy iPad apps access to more RAM iPadOS 15 gives beefy iPad apps access to more RAM iPadOS 15 gives beefy iPad apps access to more RAM
Powerful iPad graphics apps will have access to more RAM on iPadOS 15.
Photo: Apple

iPadOS 15 lets applications request more than the usual amount of RAM. This removes a limitation in iOS 14 that kept apps from taking full advantage of the 2021 iPad Pro models with more RAM than any of their predecessors.

Apple’s finally getting smart about iPad Pro RAM

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There’s more 2021 iPad Pro RAM than in any previous Apple tablet.
The 2021 iPad Pro offers can be configured with a whopping 16GB of RAM. Yes, 16GB.
Photo: Apple

The just-announced 2021 iPad Pro packs at least 8GB of RAM and can be configured with 16GB. The days when Apple’s tablets got an anemic amount of RAM are over.

There’s so much, Apple stopped hiding the amount. It now proudly announces how much RAM is in its latest professional-grade tablets.

Cost of 13-inch MacBook Pro RAM upgrade doubles

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Apple_macbook_pro-13-inch-with-retina-display_screen_05042020
Giving the newest base-model MacBook Pro a RAM upgrade used to be a bargain.
Photo: Apple

In the weeks after the new 13-inch MacBook Pro debuted, upgrading the RAM from 8GB to 16GB cost a mere $100. But no more. The price is now twice that.

However, this isn’t an unprecedented price for the upgrade. Quite the opposite.

This is how easy it is to add RAM to the 2019 Mac Pro

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Mac Pro ram
I want a Mac Pro, just so I can ram in some RAM.
Photo: CC iFixit

The whole point of the new Mac Pro is to make it easy to add more stuff inside it. Well, that, and to keep everything cool without sounding like a washing machine on spin cycle. The modular, standard nature of the Mac Pro’s design also means that you don’t have to pay Apple’s prices for RAM and storage upgrades. You can just buy them from somewhere like OWC or Crucial, and pop them in yourself. And I mean “pop.” It’s hard to imagine how adding RAM to the new Mac Pro could be any easier.

In fact, the hardest part might be unplugging all the cables on the back, so you can lift off the lid.