Apple Limits Its Most Advanced On-Device AI to iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air

*The new model in iOS 27 needs at least 12GB of unified memory and will not run on the base iPhone 17.*

Apple unveiled the next generation of Apple Intelligence at WWDC, including an updated Siri. The most powerful on-device model carries hardware requirements stricter than those for the rest of the iOS 27 AI features.

Most Apple Intelligence functions continue to work on iPhone 15 Pro and later. The top-tier model, however, demands a minimum of 12GB unified memory. Apple lists the supported devices as the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. The standard iPhone 17 ships with 8GB and is therefore excluded.

On other platforms the same rule applies. iPads must carry an M4 or newer chip with 12GB memory. Macs need an M3 or later with the same memory floor. Vision Pro support starts with the M5 model.

Reactions / counterpoints

No third-party commentary has appeared yet. The two reports agree on the memory threshold and the excluded base iPhone 17.

Why it matters

Owners of recent but non-Pro iPhones will miss the strongest local model even after buying the latest software. The split keeps the heaviest compute on devices Apple sells at higher prices while still allowing lighter AI features on older hardware.

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Sources:

• 9to5Mac
• MacRumors

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