Updated at 6:44 p.m.: Samsung informed MacRumors that the original report of The Elect is “completely incorrect” and that the “details are wrong”. While The Elect has withdrawn its report entirely, we are leaving our original article intact below for reference to ensure clarity of the situation.
Apple is reportedly planning a significant change to its iPhone hardware design by moving to a discrete memory enclosure to improve AI performance on the device.
Samsung, one of Apple’s main suppliers of memory components, has begun research to accommodate this change at Apple’s request, according to a new report from Korean. The Elect. This change will mark a departure from the current package-on-package (PoP) method, in which low-power double data rate (LPDDR) DRAM is stacked directly on the system-on-chip (SoC). Starting in 2026, DRAM will be packaged separately from the SoC, which should significantly improve memory bandwidth and enhance the iPhone’s AI capabilities.
The current PoP configuration was first introduced in the iPhone 4 in 2010 and favored since then for its compact design. Stacking memory directly on top of the SoC minimizes the physical footprint, which is particularly important for mobile devices where space is limited. However, PoP packaging imposes constraints that limit its suitability for AI applications, which require faster data transfer rates and greater memory bandwidth.
With PoP, the size of the memory package is limited by the size of the SoC, which limits the number of I/O pins and therefore limits performance. The move to discrete packaging will allow the memory to be physically separated from the SoC, allowing more I/O pins to be added. This design change is expected to increase the data transfer rate and the number of parallel data channels. Separating the memory from the SoC also allows for better heat dissipation.
Apple previously used discrete memory packaging in its Mac and iPad product lines, but later moved to memory-on-package (MOP) with the introduction of the M1 chip. MOP reduces the distance between memory and SoC, thereby reducing latency and improving energy efficiency. For the iPhone, adopting low-profile packaging may require other design changes, such as shrinking the SoC or battery to create additional space for the memory component. It can also consume more power and increase latency.
Additionally, Samsung is reportedly working on next-generation LPDDR6 memory technology for Apple, which is expected to offer two to three times the data transfer speed and bandwidth of the current LPDDR5X. A variant under development, LPDDR6-PIM (Processor-in-Memory), integrates processing capabilities directly into memory. Samsung would collaborate with SK Hynix to standardize this technology.
The changes could appear starting with the “iPhone 18” devices of 2026, provided that Apple can overcome the engineering challenges of miniaturizing the SoC and optimizing the internal configuration.