Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Rumored to Feature 16GB RAM, Boosting AI Capabilities

Tipster Reiterates That Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra Will Ship With A 16GB RAM Upgrade, But Implies That It Will Not Be Available For The Standard Version

Samsung will likely unveil its new Galaxy S25 series early next year to take on Apple's iPhone 16 range, and just like last time, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will be the Korean giant's top-end offering. With on-device generative AI picking up the pace, it has become mandatory for smartphones with the ability to run these features to be equipped with more memory. For those who plan to upgrade to the premier model in 2025 but have doubts over the Galaxy S25 Ultra being a notable upgrade, a tipster has alleviated their concerns, saying that the flagship will feature 16GB of RAM. Reiterating the specifications from last time, tipster Ice Universe has said on X again that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will sport 16GB RAM. This should be marked as a notable change because, for several generations now, Samsung has packed its most expensive handset with 12GB RAM, while its competition has gone as far as to add a whopping 24GB of memory to their devices. This upgrade can be deemed necessary because on-device AI requires more RAM to function seamlessly. Companies like Samsung will eventually shift away from cloud-based generative AI so these features can run faster and do not require an internet connection at all times, and the only way to do this is by improving the specifications. However, a recent Geekbench 6 leak revealed that there will be a 12GB RAM variant, but at least it will be equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 that features performance and efficiency cores operating at higher frequencies. According to specifications belonging to the Galaxy S25 Ultra prototype, the base model will ship with 256GB of internal memory, while the 16GB RAM model will either sport 512GB or 1TB of onboard storage. There is no telling if Samsung will upcharge customers for this memory upgrade, but it should be noted that the company launched the Galaxy S24 Ultra this year for $1,299.99 in the U.S., making it $100 more expensive than the previous models. Thankfully, we should be greeted by a slightly changed design that involves rounded corners instead of sharper ones, with the Galaxy S25 Ultra closely resembling the Galaxy Note 7.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is again tipped to get a key spec upgrade

It looks as though the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is going to come with a serious set of specs when the Samsung Galaxy S25 series gets unveiled (probably next January) - including a bump up to 16GB of RAM. This comes from well-known tipster Ice Universe, who says it's now "100% confirmed" that the Ultra model in the range is going to come with 16GB of RAM inside. That's up from 12GB of RAM in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. We've actually heard about this bump in RAM before, back in July, and from the same source. That the claim is now being reiterated and labeled as "confirmed" gives us more confidence that we will indeed see the upgrade. As reported by SamMobile, we've also heard that the quality of the RAM modules will be getting improved as the overall amount of memory - and that should mean upgrades in terms of performance and efficiency (which means better battery life). This wouldn't actually be the first time the Ultra model in a Galaxy S series has had 16GB of RAM. The same level of memory was available in the Galaxy S20 Ultra and the Galaxy S21 Ultra (from 2020 and 2021 respectively), before the drop to 12GB. It looks as though both the Galaxy S25 and the Galaxy S25 Plus are going to get 12GB of RAM - compared to the current versions, that would be an increase of 4GB for the standard model, and the same level for the Plus model. All this extra RAM means more thinking room for on-board AI features, of course. We can expect to see plenty of them introduced with the Galaxy S25 series. The phones should show up in January 2025, if Samsung sticks to the same schedule as this year. Let's hope the increase in RAM year-on-year doesn't affect the asking price for the phone. As our Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review will tell you, the 2024 flagship handset went on sale for $1,299.99 / £1,249 / AU$2,199.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra could be the next AI powerhouse | Digital Trends

It looks like Samsung is making some major changes, inside and out, for the next Galaxy S flagship. So far, leaked renders have imagined a sharper-looking Galaxy S25 Ultra with slimmer bezels, cleaner lines, and a more boxy design. Now, according to reliable leakster UniverseIce, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will come fitted with 16GB RAM. For comparison, the Galaxy S24 Ultra offers 12GB of RAM, while the entire iPhone 16 lineup has 8GB of memory. Recommended Videos Now, Samsung won't exactly be setting any new industry standards with the Galaxy S25 Ultra and its 16GB RAM module. Phones such as the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro, REDMAGIC 8S Pro Plus, and the OnePlus Ace 2 Pro have already touched the overkill 24GB ceiling. Of course, you don't need 24GB on any "normal" smartphone at this moment, unless you need it for cracking those obvious "my phone has more RAM than your PC" jokes. But jumping from 12GB to 16GB can have some practical benefits, apart from just keeping more apps running in the background and some extra boost at gaming, as smartphone makers proudly claim. It's all about AI, probably The real beneficiary is AI, and specifically, the on-device flavor where tasks are executed by a local AI processing unit rather than offloading it to the cloud. Remember the hoopla around Google limiting Gemini Nano chops to the Pixel 8 Pro, and not extending it to the vanilla Pixel 8? Well, Android VP and general manager, Seang Chau, later confirmed that the 12GB RAM on the Pixel 8 Pro was more suited for faster and efficient local AI processing compared to the Pixel 8, which only had 8GB of RAM. Evidently, four gigs of added memory can make a lot of difference, though the performance gulf may not be as evident as jumping from an already-good-enough 12GB RAM to 16GB memory capacity. But at the same time, we are seeing AI models - including Google's own Gemini kit and Samsung's GalaxyAI bundle -- getting more sophisticated and adding more to their token bandwidth, so it's always a safe choice to pack in more RAM for future-proofing. Or as a certain Obi-Wan Kenobi would concur, having the higher ground is advantageous. "While current basic AI features use around 100MB of memory on mobile devices, LLM-based features could require up to 7GB of additional RAM," analysts at Yole Group explain. For example, the Gemini Nano model handling AI chores on the Galaxy S24 series eats up 2GB memory, as per estimates, but to effectively handle AI models with a 7 billion parameter range, 16GB of RAM is the recommended format. In fact, experts estimate that advanced LLM-based (Large Language Models) tasks could require an additional 7GB of RAM. Processing and analyzing datasets -- imagine AI assessing an image or a PDF research paper -- requires a lot of memory for computational tasks. How fast data processing happens and whether parameters are handled effectively decides how quickly the AI outputs are received. An insufficient amount of RAM can prove to be a serious bottleneck for AI tasks. And given the Galaxy AI push at Samsung, it would make sense if the company's next flagship offers 16GB of RAM for the best AI experience.