Apple has always been a bit stingy with RAM on its phones. While 12GB has become standard across Android flagships, its base iPhone models have yet to catch up. This may finally change next year. It's believed that the base iPhone 18 would finally offer the same 12GB of RAM as the base Galaxy S flagships have done for a couple of years now.It took Apple two years to see the light Apple is expected to switch up its iPhone release timelines this year. It may only launch the premium iPhone 18 models later this year. The base iPhone 18 may be launched early next year, likely around the same time as the Galaxy S27 series. Rumors indicate that the iPhone 18 would be the first base model to offer 12GB of RAM as standard. This would bring the device at par with the base Galaxy S flagship. Samsung started offering 12GB RAM as standard on the Galaxy S25 series last year. This year's base Galaxy S26 also has 12GB of RAM, while the iPhone 17 and iPhone 16 both stuck with 8GB of RAM. Apple's decision to make this move during a period where mobile RAM prices are out of control highlights the inevitability of the move. Mobile AI features are memory hungry and for Apple to deliver the kind of AI experience it wants to provide, it may be left with no other option than to finally realize what Samsung did two years ago.