A new report says Apple’s “iPhone 6s” will likely boast 2GB of RAM, and will possibly include a pre-installed Apple SIM, allowing users to select a carrier on their own, right out of the box.
A person familiar with Apple’s future product plans, who has provided reliable information in the past, indicated to AppleInsider that the so-called “iPhone 6s,” and presumably the Plus version as well, will in fact be upgraded to 2 gigabytes of RAM. Apple has used a single gigabyte of RAM in its iPhone lineup dating back to the iPhone 5, which launched in 2012.
Apple had launched the third-generation iPad with Retina display with 1GB of RAM in a custom A-series CPU before the iPhone 5 release, and may be following the same path again, as the iPad Air 2 launched last fall with 2GB of RAM embedded in its custom A8X chip.
The same source told AppleInsider that Apple is considering shipping its next-generation iPhone with the Apple SIM pre-installed, much as the iPad Air 2 did last fall, allowing customers to sign up for mobile plans from any participating carrier directly from the Settings app, allowing then to switch providers at any time.
Putting the Apple SIM in the iPhone would likely meet with much resistance from wireless carriers. Even those carriers who signed on for Apple SIM support in the iPad Air 2 placed limitations on the SIM when the iPad wasn’t purchased directly from Apple, and Verizon refused to participate in the program at all.
If Apple does decide to ship its next-generation of handsets with the Apple SIM installed, carriers are still likely to require handsets purchased directly them to be locked to their network, while iPhones purchased from Apple would allow customers to pick and choose their carriers and plans at will.
Although the above changes are certainly logical, and feasible, this is all at the rumor stage, and the report should be treated as such.
