Apple’s most advanced on-device AI model in iOS 27 requires a minimum of 12GB of unified memory, meaning the standard iPhone 17 is excluded.
The next generation of Apple Intelligence introduces a new integrated model more powerful than anything Apple has offered before. While most of iOS 27‌’s AI features work on the same hardware supported today, including the iPhone 15 Pro, the top model has more stringent requirements. To run Apple’s most powerful on-device model, users will need one of the following devices:
- iPhone: iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro or ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ Max
- iPad: iPad with M4 or later with at least 12 GB of unified memory
- Mac: Mac with M3 or later with at least 12 GB of unified memory
- VisionPro: Apple Vision Pro with M5
The base ‌iPhone 17‌ is excluded because it comes with 8GB of memory, which falls short of the 12GB threshold. The standard memory requirement for ‌Apple Intelligence‌ has been 8GB since its introduction, so this is the first time Apple has raised the bar for its top-performing features on the device.
According to Apple’s press release, the new model specifically enables features like expressive voices and more advanced dictation.
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