Samsung is working on the Galaxy S25 Ultra to release in 2025. This isn't a surprise to anyone. What is a stunner is the latest rumor that suggests the company will offer a 16GB configuration for its top-of-the-line phone. This would double the RAM of the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Regular leak maven Ice Universe posted the rumor on X (SamMobile spotted it). The tipster didn't specifically write Galaxy S25 Ultra in their X post, but looking through their recent posts, they have been specifically talking about Samsung and the upcoming OneUI 7 update while comparing what Samsung software is capable of with 12GB of RAM in the S24 Ultra versus competitors devices from iPhone and Huawei (it's not good). Some rather vague responses in replies to their tweet seem to confirm that they are talking about the S25 Ultra.
If this rumor is true, it would blow away the 8GB of RAM the iPhone 16 Pro Max is expected to feature. That said, looking at Ice Universe's software tests and what Apple has accomplished in the past, they have been able to wring every bit of juice out of those 8GBs. Still, it is surprising that Apple might stick with that number going forward, especially with Apple Intelligence.
With Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 rumored to be the next processor in the S25 Ultra, it might require more RAM, though there have been reports that Samsung is upgrading to LPDDR6 DRAM for the flagship device. That said, there have been shockingly bold rumors that Samsung would ditch Qualcomm for a MediaTek chip, which is most likely to reduce costs (for them, not us plebes).
This would not be the first time that a Samsung Galaxy phone has featured 16GB of RAM, as the Galaxy S20 Ultra and the Galaxy S21 Ultra had versions with 16GB of RAM. However, every Ultra phone has featured 12GB of RAM since then.
Samsung will likely need to boost the RAM for the S25 line and the Ultra variant to get more use out of any current and new AI features, which are RAM and processor-intensive.
One thing that has stuck around since the Galaxy S20 is a 5,000 mAh battery that Samsung reportedly keeps for the next flagship Galaxy device. Samsung has managed to get a lot out of that battery with software tweaks. Still, larger batteries are the trend, including the recently announced Glacier battery from OnePlus, which is supposed to cram a 6,100 mAh cell into a 5,000 mAh space and includes new technology.
With all the rumored upgrades and AI integration coming with the S25 series, it wouldn't surprise us if it also needed a boosted battery to make it to our best phones list.
It's still early, so rumors may change in the next few months. We'll find out more as we get closer to a most likely January 2025 launch date. In the meantime, watch our Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hub for all the latest S25 news.
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