But FP6 is meant to be a long-lasting device, they announced to support and update its software for a period of 8 years.
Of course, we can only try to extrapolate future memory requirements from the past. Eight years ago, FP2 was the most recent Fairphone device, which had 2GB of RAM. Today, the baseline is 8GB for an up-to-date Smartphone, while older devices with 4GB might still useable (e.g. FP3).
From this, one could expect that RAM requirements have roughtly tripled in 8 years time, so in 8 years the baseline might be 24GB already, while 12GB might be still useable. Also, upcoming AI requirements might increase memory usage.
To be on the safe side, I would still prefer min. 12GB, better 16GB for a long-lasting Smartphone purchased today.
Yeah, but in the last four years there there was no real increase in memory and no need.
AI is also something that will probably not change anything, since there is no sign of any upcoming of local AI, which is understandable, since there is no money in it.
Another point is power consumption.
Therefore it is quite possible, that phones have reached similar points, desktop computers have reached a while ago.
With raw computing speed only slightly improving, RAM need will also increase only very slowly.
I’d also feel more comfortable with 12 or 16 GB of RAM, but I’m not too worried about it (and I’m the kind of person who bought a 32 GB laptop in 2018, just to be safe): The Google Pixel 10a comes with 8 GB and is guaranteed to receive updates until 2033. That means even the maker of Android is confident that 8 GB will be sufficient for the next seven years. Anything beyond that — and all our predictions about whether RAM requirements will rise or stagnate — is basically metaphysics.
