iPhone 18e leaks reveal specs hike for 2027 launch

With a new version of the lower-priced “iPhone e” series coming out every year, Apple often changes features and specs as component prices decline.

Apple plans to release the iPhone 18e next March, and one of its expected upgrades is surprising, given the cost and availability of the component involved. According to two top analysts, Ming-Chi Kuo of Taiwan’s TF International Securities and Jeff Pu of GF Securities, Apple will increase the RAM on the iPhone 18e from 8GB to 9GB.

Apple requires iPhones to have at least 8GB of memory to support Apple Intelligence, while 12GB is required for advanced features such as enhanced AI dictation and Expressive Siri voices.

This memory increase is notable because high demand for AI data centers has caused a global shortage of DRAM chips for smartphones, which has subsequently driven up prices.

The primary reason for this shortage is that the three largest memory makers—Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix—have shifted their production focus to High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) chips rather than standard DRAM.

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Standard memory chips, such as DRAM, are mounted flat on a circuit board next to the processor. HBM chips, on the other hand, stack memory dies vertically to create a wider data path, providing much more bandwidth while using significantly less power.

The latest generation of these chips, HBM4, doubles the number of data pathways compared to earlier iterations. This enables data transfer rates exceeding 2-3 TB per second, which are required to train advanced AI models.

Beyond memory, the iPhone 18e is expected to feature a 6.1-inch OLED display with a resolution of 1170 by 2532 and a 60Hz refresh rate. It will reportedly use the new 2nm A20 processor and may come with 256GB or 512GB of storage.

The back of the phone will house a single 48MP camera, while the front camera is rumored to be 24MP.

Going from 8GB to 9GB of RAM may not sound like a massive leap, but it will help the phone run Apple Intelligence more smoothly on the device instead of relying on the cloud.

The standard iPhone 18, which is also expected next March, should similarly feature 9GB of RAM, up from the 8GB used in previous base models.