We've already heard plenty of rumors about the iPhone 16 and its focus on AI, especially iOS 18. But several rumors claim that Apple may go further than that, perhaps even further than its rivals, by adding hardware for AI processing.

The first rumor comes from noted leaker @Tech_Reve (via TechRadar), who claims that the iPhone 16 will have additional RAM and storage capacity to make more room for AI. Analyst Jeff Pu (via 9to5Mac) also believes that the A18 Pro chipset will also power the iPhone's on-device AI.

Unfortunately, Tech_Reve's X account seems to have disappeared over the past day or so. However, we could still see what they said about the iPhone 16, and the new RAM and storage upgrades. According to the original tweet we are looking at the possibility of a base iPhone 16 with 8GB of RAM and at least 256GB of storage.

For reference, the iPhone 15 only comes with 128GB of base storage and 6GB of RAM - 8GB is reserved for the iPhone 15 Pro. iPhones typically require less RAM than their Android counterparts, due to better optimization of Apple hardware and software - thus this jump to 8GB would be a very big deal.

This means that Apple can provide a lot of AI processing on the device without having to send AI processing to more powerful cloud servers. For example, the only version of Google Gemini that can be installed on an Android phone is the Gemini Nano, and the rest of the processing is done outside the device.

The less cloud processing the better, as this conflicts with Apple's privacy philosophy. If Tech_Reve is correct, the rumor that Apple might use Google Gemini on the iPhone 16 becomes a bit less likely. Then again, Apple may have to acknowledge the fact that many high performance AI features are not feasible on mobile. We will have to wait and see for a while.

As for the A18 Pro chipset, Jeff Pu believes that many changes have been made to the chipset to accommodate Apple's on-device AI upgrades. This includes a 6GPU version of the chip with a larger die area than the A17 Pro, which could mean more transistors or specialized components to handle on-device AI.

However, 9to5Mac notes that this could also lead to more design flaws or energy efficiency and heat dissipation issues. One would hope that Apple has learned something from last year's uproar over the iPhone 15's heat generation issues.

Pu did not elaborate further other than the fact that the A18 chip is in higher demand than the A17 Pro. Rumors so far indicate that the new chip will continue to use TSMC's 3nm process, which should improve energy efficiency and performance compared to 4nm chips like the A16 Bionic. It is also said that all iPhone 16 models, not just the Pro model, will feature the A18 variant.

It is not yet clear what AI features Apple plans to offer in the iPhone 16 series, or which models will have what features. Until then, you can check out the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro hubs for the latest news and rumors.