This is why the iPhone lost, only 4GB of memory
There are various ways to test the speed of a smartphone. There are benchmarks, which show the raw processor and graphics performance. This will come through in real world usage in games, app loading times, reboot times, video processing, image editing, and unlock times. Then there are so called “real world” benchmarks. These often open a number of apps, then go back and re-open those apps. This adds a test for memory.
Now, you typically wouldn’t do anything like this with your phone. However, as time goes on, you will likely want to re-open a previously closed app. Depending on what you were doing, it may not open right away, and it may need to reload. Phones with more memory are less likely to need to reload.
Apple’s iPhones have less memory than their Android phone counterparts. However, better memory management on iOS, along with Apple’s much faster A-series processors, have always made the iPhone faster than Android phones. That all changed this year. This year, Snapdragon released the 855 chip, which, while slower than Apple’s A12 Bionic chip, is close enough in speed to allow Android devices’ increased memory catch up to the iPhone.
Finally, an Android device surpassed an iPhone in the PhoneBuff’s latest “real world” style app opening test. Specifically, Samsung’s new S10+ beat Apple’s iPhone XS Max by 16 seconds. Check it out below.
The Test
The test involves opening up a number of apps, then going back to re-open those apps. This tests both the speed of the processor for opening apps and running image or video processing, as well as the ability of the phone to hold those apps and results in memory.
Apple’s 4GB of memory fails to store everything it needs in order to beat Samsung’s 8GB of memory. It may take twice the memory to do it, but the Samsung Galaxy S10+ is definitely faster in this test by a significant margin.
During the test, it’s clear that the iPhone XS Max is the faster phone. However, when it comes to storing items in memory so your phone doesn’t have to work as hard, the Samsung Galaxy S10+ clearly comes out on top. Combining the two, the Galaxy S10+ has what it takes to dethrone the iPhone XS Max.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold will have more memory and faster memory. It may be able to beat the iPhone XS Max by a wider margin.
What Does this Mean?
Well, for one, it means Apple should likely consider giving the next iPhone at least 6GB of RAM. With just a little bit more memory, the iPhone XS could have won this matchup.
For regular use, it means very little. The difference came down to 16 seconds. While going through 16 apps, that’s not a huge difference. Furthermore, the iPhone was significantly faster while booting apps and processing images and video. In everyday use, the iPhone will likely still feel faster.
However, if you’re a power user, someone who frequently goes between around 10 apps, you will definitely notice the iPhone reloading apps. This will slow down your productivity. There’s nothing more frustrating than leaving a tab or an app for a few seconds, trying to switch back, and finding that your app needs to reload everything.
To most users, the iPhone will still feel faster. However, it may come with some annoying app reloads. Because of that, Apple should consider alleviating those annoyances with more memory.
Source: Michael Potuck, 9to5Mac