6GB RAM Smartphones On The Way

Samsung has launched a new form of mobile memory which means we could soon see smartphones boasting 6GB of RAM. It appears to be a side bonus of the company working with other devices in mind.

Specifically Samsung is mass-producing a 12-gigabit low power, double data rate 4 DRAM in a 20-nanometer format. That’s a follow-up to its existing 8-gigabit model.

The upshot is that high-end smartphones will be able to use a package of four of the new chips to give a total of 6GB RAM without needing any extra space. There’ll also be a package of two chips, meaning smaller and cheaper phones could get 3GB.

Whether your average user will see much benefit from the increase remains to be seen, though it could be a boost for mobile gamers. It’s possible the effect could actually be more significant on the budget phones where getting up to 3GB would have a more noticeable benefit for everyday use.

The new chips could also be a major benefit for efforts by both Microsoft and firms using Linux-based systems to have phones that can run the same operating system as a PC and even transform into a desktop computer through a dock.

However, Samsung isn’t relying on the smartphone market to make its work on the new chips worthwhile: it forecasts longer term uses in tablets, “ultra-slim PCs” and automotive gadgetry.

There’s no confirmed timetable for the chips to appear in phones, but the use of the term “mass producing” suggests it could appear in some of the next generation of some leading phones, with the Galaxy S7 a likely candidate.