Apple iPhone 12 Performance Benchmarks and RAM Revealed

Apple this week unveiled the new iPhone 12 lineup, including the iPhone 12 mini, the iPhone 12, the iPhone 12 Pro, and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The four iPhone models share the same A14 Bionic processor, but they may differ in the amount of RAM, according to a new rumor from 9to5Mac. 

The RAM details were found in Xcode 12.1 beta, which lists the iPhone 12 models according to the RAM each phone contains.

As referenced in the beta version of Xcode, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini both have 4GB of RAM, the same as last 2019’s iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.

While the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini stayed with the 4GB of the previous iPhone, the new iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max got a boost.

According to Xcode, these Pro models both have 6GB of RAM, giving these phones a slight edge over the entry-level iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12.

The difference in RAM capacities is small, but it may be enough to affect phone performance. This difference may be why the iPhone 12 Pro models have certain abilities, like the new ProRAW photo format, that the iPhone 12 does not. It’s possible this feature and others like it may need this extra RAM to work. 

It’s not clear if this RAM difference will affect everyday performance or if it only comes into play with system-intensive apps. 

Surprising Results

Though not necessarily related to RAM, an early report may hint that the iPhone 12 Pro is not as fast as expected. Unofficial benchmark results from the iPhone 12 Pro were spotted on Geekbench. According to these results, the iPhone 12 Pro logged 1590 in the single-core test and a 3120 in the multi-core test.

In comparison, the iPhone 11 Pro reported a 1300 single-core test and a 3289 multi-core. Given how Apple is hyping the performance of the A14, it is highly unlikely that its newest phone would be slower out of the box than last year’s phone. It’s more likely that this result is an anomaly. 

If you want an iPhone 12, your time is coming soon. The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro go on pre-order starting October 16, with in-store sales beginning a week later on October 23.

The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max will follow with pre-orders for those two phones starting November 6. The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max will hit retail stores beginning Friday, November 13.

The iPhone 12 mini is the entry-level model with a base price tag of just $699. 

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]