Apple’s next-generation iPhone 18 could deliver one of the biggest under-the-hood upgrades in years without asking buyers to pay more for it. According to a new report in Digitimes based on information from South Korea’s KB Securities, Apple plans to equip the standard iPhone 18 with 12GB of RAM, a significant jump from the 8GB found on the current-generation iPhone 17. The additional memory is expected to support Apple’s most advanced on-device AI model and upcoming Siri capabilities, while the starting price is reportedly set to remain unchanged.
If true, this would be a rare piece of good news for smartphone buyers at a time when many flagship devices have seen multiple rounds of price increases over the past few months without any equivalent spec bump.
iPhone 18 expected features
The RAM upgrade appears to be tied to Apple’s AI ambitions. During WWDC 2026, the company revealed that its current most powerful on-device AI model enables more natural Siri voices and substantial improvements to system-wide dictation accuracy. Apple also confirmed that these features require 12GB of unified memory. At present, only the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max meet that requirement. The standard iPhone 17 is left out because of its 8GB RAM configuration.
That could change with the iPhone 18. According to the report, Apple plans to bring 12GB of RAM to the entire iPhone 18 family, creating greater feature parity between standard and Pro models. An earlier report from Korean publication The Bell had also suggested that the iPhone 18 would receive a 50 percent memory increase over its predecessor.
The upgrade would also help Apple keep pace with Android rivals. Almost all premium Android phones from Samsung, OnePlus, Realme, OPPO, Xiaomi and Vivo already ship with 12GB or even 16GB of RAM, particularly as AI features become a bigger selling point.
iPhone 18 expected price
The more (good) surprising part of the report is that Apple may not increase pricing despite the memory upgrade. KB Securities claims Apple has asked memory suppliers Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron to increase shipments of LPDDR5X RAM chips and is prepared to absorb the higher component costs rather than pass them on to consumers. If that happens, the iPhone 18 could retain the same USD 799 starting price as the current model. The iPhone 17 is priced at Rs 82,900 in India, and got a minor Rs 3,000 price bump from its predecessor when it launched. The most important upgrade in the spec sheet at that time was the 120Hz LTPO screen, up from 60Hz.
Retaining the existing starting price would stand out in today’s smartphone market. All brands except Apple have raised prices in recent months due to higher component costs, tariffs and growing investments in AI hardware. Even Apple’s own competitors have pushed flagship prices higher, blaming rising memory prices for the increase.
For buyers, the report is encouraging but still worth treating with caution. The iPhone 18 is not expected to launch until 2027, with current reports suggesting Apple will release the iPhone 18 Pro models and its first foldable iPhone in late 2026, followed by the standard iPhone 18, iPhone 18e and next-generation iPhone Air in the first half of 2027. If true, this would bring the iPhone 18 at par with all Android rivals in terms of basic specifications, and no price increase means it’s definitely worth waiting for.
