Requirement of more RAM

Do we really need more than 6GB or 8 GB of RAM in our  smartphones?

First of all What is Ram?

RAM stands for Random Access Memory. RAM consists of dynamic memory chips that can be written and rewritten with data very quickly, RAM is where data is stored before processing.

In order for a program to run it should be loaded into RAM first. Increase in RAM will make your computer function faster and efficient. RAM requires electrical power to store data which means the data stored in RAM is volatile, the data stored in RAM will be erased once the system is shutdown. Your Hard disk drives(HDD) are like long-term memory, and RAM is like short-term memory. When, CPU processes the  data, it will transfer the data into the RAM for processing. Then, after the process is completed, the output will be transmitted to hard drive. DDR3 and DDR4 RAM are used these days and DDR5 RAM are making its way to the market. When you talk of RAM we always come across what Operating system it is. A 32bit OS works on 4GB of RAM, but for 64bit OS you will require RAM more than 4GB.

Is 4GB or 8GB of RAM in laptop essential?

How much RAM you need in your system it depends on what you possess to do with it, how long you intend to keep it, and whether or not you can upgrade your memory post-purchase. 

For anyone looking for the bare computing essentials, 4GB RAM of laptop should be sufficient. Most of the programmers in IT companies uses 4gb ram laptop. With 4GB of RAM systems are able to get basic job done, assuming your job is word document editing, basic photo editing, MS office, use of several lightweight softwares and browsing text websites on Chrome. But sometimes browsing in Chrome consumes much RAM. Most computers and laptops come with at least 4GB of RAM these days. With the help of 4GB RAM, the Windows update is always time consuming. So for a upgrade 8GB of RAM is preferred.

With 8GB of DDR4 RAM, you can run more programs at once, open more files in multiple programs, usage of simple graphics programs, simultaneously editing number of photos, you can also load up more than 30 tabs as you browse the net, or play low-to-mid-end video games. Windows updates are done quickly. For App development such as using Android Studio requires  minimum of 8GB of RAM.

For Game development as well you will require minimum of 8GB to 16GB of RAM, for gamers who play high end developed games there is no need to mention that they need to upgrade to 16GB of RAM or more. 

With 16GB of DDR4 RAM, you need not to be worried about computer processing as it provides high speed functionality. You can perform many such programs with 16GB of RAM such as professional video editing, graphic designing, and hardcore gaming, Adobe Photoshop or AutoCAD, all there programs can be done with help of 16GB RAM.

Don't forget to get an Solid state drives(SSD). It really provide your system with much speed and efficiency. **Minimum of 8GB of RAM in laptop is must these days**.

IOS always comes with less RAM compared to Android?

We always have seen that iOS always comes with less RAM especially of 4GB RAM. iPhone has enough confidence to run iOS with only small memory, the reason for this is: 

Some of the Android smartphones have RAM has high as 8GB. Some have 10GB of RAM, which are programmed using JAVA or Kotlin. Due to how Java is configured, memory released by apps you close has to be recycled back to the device via a process known as Garbage Collection. It’s a process that recycles memory once an Android app is done using the memory.

Apple's iOS, on the other hand, do not requires much RAM to function quickly, iOS is programmed using the programming language 'Swift'. Due to the way iOS is built, iPhones do not need to undergo Garbage Collection. For iOS, when an app is closed, the memory or data used by the app is RAM. Hence, no need for extra RAM for Garbage Collection. What Apple does is always it tries to avoid doing any background work unless doing so improves the overall user experience.

Besides, Apple has more control over iOS than Google has over Android. Apple knows what type of hardware and devices its iOS would run on and therefore builds it to run smoothly on the devices. Android, as mentioned earlier, is built using Java and is flexible enough to accommodate a variety of hardware and manufacturer modification.

The iOS provides communication between the device and the Apple server, not just the end to end communication between the device and the service provider.

Just because it simplifies the communication process of the device itself, it only needs one port to communicate with Apple's own server, instead of the different ports of each application like Android, which indeed requires less RAM.

An Android user often complains about phone lag after some months of purchasing it but the iOS user interface (UI) runs so smooth. One of the main reason why Android is laggy is because of the way it treats UI rendering. On iOS UI rendering is done in a separate thread with real-time priority, on Android this happens in the main thread with normal priority.

iOS is optimized to run on the hardware, which is also designed and tested by Apple, and manufactured by Apple’s manufacturing partners. Android doesn’t have that level of control because the OS developers are separate from the hardware makers.

Apple’s operating systems are all much more efficient when using RAM than Android, that is iOS with 4GB RAM is equivalent to Android with 8GB RAM, in its day to day use.

Why Android needs more RAM? Is 6 GB of an ideal RAM necessary for today's smartphone?

As we already discussed Android OS is programmed using Java which contains Garbage Collection which acquires much RAM, and for working background apps and multitasking as well we require much RAM.

RAM in Android smartphones is increasing day by day. The every new moblie launches comes with amazing features including much RAM. Few smartphones which are available in 6GB RAM and more are: Samsung Galaxy Ultra S20, OnePlus 8 pro, Realme Narzo 10, Moto G8 Plus, Redmi Note 8, Vivo Y17 and many more. So is it really necessary for 6GB and more RAM? 

If there is more RAM in an smartphone then there is a possibility that your phone would keep more apps and games in memory and it won’t load when you open it again.

So as the Android smartphones keep updating, its applications would be getting better and to power them it will acquire more RAM. The way Android works as an OS, it pretty much expands according to the amount of RAM available to it. The other advantage of having a lot of RAM in the phone is future proofing. With apps and games set to stretch their functions even more to utilize the powerful hardware and half a dozen GB's of RAM in upcoming smartphones, your phone will be better placed to run these apps smoothly, for all these specific features there should be a better RAM management. 

To conclude 3GB of RAM is good for mid range and flagship devices, many people use their smartphones for limited usage only so much RAM to them is useless. It's 2020 so 4GB of RAM is the minimum you should get for the smartphones. You can get 6GB RAM phones if you want it to be futureproof. With help of 6GB RAM, multi-tasking becomes easier. For gamers 6GB RAM is heaven, you can play high end graphics games. It's surprising to see smartphones with 8GB and more RAM as made their move in the market, but 6GB RAM is more than sufficient for high end Android devices, the only reason why companies are giving 8GB ram is just a marketing strategy. 

Image credits : Unsplash