back to article Samsung slings the skinny on its 12GB GötterDRAMmerung for next-gen smartmobes

Samsung has unveiled a 12GB cellphone DRAM module it hopes will be part of next-generation smartphones. It was way back in April 2016 that Sammy cranked out 8GB DDR4 DRAM built with a 10nm-class process, meaning something between 10 and 19nm in practice. Now it is punching out 12GB LPDDR4X (Low Power Double Data Rate 4X) DRAM …

  1. Duncan Macdonald

    Desktops ?

    If Samsung can squeeze the memory into such a small space - how long before low end motherboards again have soldered memory rather than sockets. (One or two 8GB packages with the interface changed to DDR4 instead of LPDDR4X would suffice for the majority of PC systems.)

    1. tip pc Silver badge

      Re: Desktops ?

      Just like apple does with their MacBooks?

  2. mark l 2 Silver badge

    I just don't see the need for 12GB RAM. How many apps do people really need to be running simultaneously on a phone? Also keep upping the RAM available makes developers lazy and create bloated software which uses lots of RAM. I have seen really simple apps using about 50MB of RAM, which is the same amount of RAM you could run an entire PC OS in the 1990s.

    My laptop where I do run several applications at once and also occasional spin up a VM doesn't even have 12GB, yet I have not found the need to upgrade its RAM.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      it's nothing to do with "need", everything to do with "can" and "want" :(

    2. A.P. Veening Silver badge

      "50MB of RAM, which is the same more than 50 times the amount of RAM you could run an entire PC OS in the 1990s."

      FTFY, "640 KB should be enough for everybody".

      1. Tim Kemp

        Didn't Sir Clive

        intimate that you could run a power station on a 1k ZX80?

    3. Sykowasp

      Android Q has a desktop mode, albeit it might be ready until Android R or later. Obviously some Android front-ends already support this, but having it officially in the OS and therefore supported by developers will be the game changer.

      I can see a future where docked mobiles replace casual laptop purchases. And this will be used to justify the higher mobile phone cost - you don't need that laptop anymore! Saves you $400-$1000 on a new laptop!

    4. Martin an gof Silver badge
      Happy

      50MB of RAM, which is the same amount of RAM you could run an entire PC OS in the 1990s.

      In the mid 1990s I was installing Windows 3.11, Novell networking, Word, Excel and MS Mail on machines with as little as 2MB RAM and maybe an 80MB HDD. We forget how quickly things have moved on, though admittedly most of the new machines in that company were 4MB, 120MB 66MHz '486DX :-)

      I do feel that beyond a certain point for most domestic purposes, 'more' isn't always 'better'.

      M.

    5. Down not across

      I just don't see the need for 12GB RAM.

      If you read TFA, you might have come across this:

      running more, or larger, apps in RAM at the same time, while juggling data coming in from multiple sensors and cameras, and information beaming to and from 4G and 5G networks, plus all those graphics for larger screens.

      Whether all that justifies 12GB of RAM, is of course a valid question. Quite possibly not, but for example given the current trend of multiple cameras and fancy image manipulation having plenty of RAM is only going to be a good thing.

      My laptop where I do run several applications at once and also occasional spin up a VM doesn't even have 12GB, yet I have not found the need to upgrade its RAM.

      Just because you don't need to, doesn't mean othes don't.

  3. Hooda Thunkett

    If Apple or someone really comes out with desktop class ARM processors, I could see them using this in a high-end iPad meant to take the place of a MacBook.

  4. Down not across
    Pint

    Iron Sky

    I'd just like to award thumbs up (why, of course a pint or few as well) for the excellent Iron Sky (double) reference.

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