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Your next smartphone may have as much RAM as your laptop, thanks to Samsung

Published Dec 23rd, 2014 4:40PM EST
Samsung 4GB RAM Smartphone Chips

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Even if you don’t like Samsung’s phones, you should still appreciate the company as a whole. Why? Because as even Apple will admit, it’s a great components supplier and its displays, processors and other hardware are first-rate. Now PhoneArena brings us word that Samsung has just announced it has started mass production of its 4GB LPDDR4 mobile DRAM modules, the first smartphone modules ever to offer 4GB of RAM. 

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To get some perspective on what this means, consider that it will give future smartphones as much RAM as what you find on many laptops — the entry-level Surface Pro 3, for instance, also features 4GB of RAM.

“By initiating production of the 20nm 8Gb LPDDR4, which is even faster than the DRAM for PCs and servers and consumes much less energy, we are contributing to the timely launch of UHD, large-screen flagship mobile devices,” explains Joo Sun Choi, Samsung’s EVP of memory sales and marketing. “As this major advancement in mobile memory demonstrates, we will continue to closely collaborate with global mobile device manufacturers to optimize DRAM solutions, making them suitable for next-generation mobile OS environments.”

We still don’t know what the first devices will be that will feature these modules although it’s a very good bet that next year’s Galaxy Note 5 will have them. The Galaxy S6 is also a possibility, although we don’t know yet exactly where that device is in terms of its production cycle — it’s entirely possible that it’s already too far along to have the new RAM modules installed.

At any rate, this is definitely something to keep an eye out for and it will make our smartphones more powerful than ever before.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.