Not too long ago, experts used to say that 4GB of RAM on mobile devices is more than enough. Today, we are seeing indications of upcoming smartphones with 128GB of RAM. The smartphone industry is intensely competitive and manufacturers are partaking on the fast-paced race to deliver the best device possible. They seek to differentiate themselves from the competition with the next biggest component. As a result, we are seeing one bold move after another. One big question is whether 128GB of RAM is useful or it’s just an overkill addition.
It might be useful
It is true that hardware updates may appear ambiguous in nature. They may appear to be an improvement or just an addition with little or no benefit. With more RAM, software developers can get additional working space. Software coding is quite demanding and it’s rife with issues like resource hogging, crashes, low performance, instability, security holes, you name it. Some developers even manage to make their apps worse with every latest update. With more RAM, developers are less affected by hardware constraints and they can focus on delivering more features, visual appeal and performance. Ample hardware resources will help further improvement in software development, which will impact usability in a positive way. Virtual reality and augmented reality are two technologies that may cross our mind, when it comes to significant hardware utilization. We are getting more mature implementation of VR and AR in gaming industry, marketing, and other aspects.
It might be overkill
One common argument against overpowered hardware is that software is still poorly optimized. It’s true that developers will have more freedom in delivering more capable apps. We have seen in the past that software optimizations fell short, while hardware excelled. Developers often get sloppy and careless. Due to time constraints, they could release unfinished products and plan to patch them later. For developers and manufacturers, this may seem like a win-win solution. But this arrangement would be quite expensive for consumers. They may need to spend $1000 or more for high-end devices with the latest hardware configurations. Some of these devices you can find on deal at a monthly rate from www.fonehouse.co.uk.
Eventually, we should ask ourselves, whether is there any software that would benefit from 128GB of RAM. Probably in a few years, but it’s less likely that you find one right now. Most of the time, 16GB of RAM is adequate for many purposes, even for the most demanding games in the market. You shouldn’t fix things, if it isn’t broken. You should be aware that overpowered hardware configuration could become an excuse for lack of optimization and the addition of more bloatware by phone makers.
It’s better for manufacturers and developers to optimize their solutions, instead of adding more powerful hardware and getting complacent. Android has introduced the JIT (Just In Time) feature, which allow devices to use less storage space and make smartphones boot faster. So, until developers and manufacturers perform full optimization and there’s an application that requires immense amount of hardware resources, then a smartphone model with 128GB of RAM is overkill. At the time, opinions are divided and until 128GB RAM becomes more prevalent in the market, we won’t know who is right.
