Samsung Galaxy S24 could crush iPhone 15 on RAM — but don't ask about the charging speeds

A render of the Galaxy S24 Ultra from the back in black
(Image credit: Technizo Concept)

The Samsung Galaxy S24 may have much more RAM to play with than either the Galaxy S23 or the new iPhone 15, new leaks show. But we're also hearing Samsung may be sticking with its aging charging technology for this new Galaxy phone.

We'll start with the positive. As posted by leaker Revegnus, there will allegedly be 12GB RAM versions of the S24 and S24 Plus (albeit only on the more expensive models with additional storage) and a default of 16GB RAM on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, in line with previous rumors).

Currently, the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus offer a meager 8GB of RAM, with the Galaxy S23 Ultra offering 8GB by default but 12GB in its higher storage versions. More RAM on the S24 series, or at least the option of it, would make for a great upgrade over the already excellent S23 line-up. It would pair nicely with the alleged 2TB storage option for the Galaxy S24 Ultra Samsung may also be introducing too.

With this RAM upgrade, the Galaxy S24 series would compare strongly against the newly-announced iPhone 15 series. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus use just 6GB RAM

While you can't directly compare the way iPhones work with the way that Android phones do, more RAM should mean superior multi-tasking on the new Samsung phones.

Revegnus also mentions the chipsets that these new Samsungs may use. Apparently, Samsung may use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset in all Galaxy S23 Ultras around the world, while the S24 and S24 Plus may use a mix of Snapdragon and Exynos chips depending on where they're sold. 

This is different from the Galaxy S23 series, where all models use a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip in all regions. It also doesn't match with Samsung's previous system of offering Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S phones in the U.S., but Exynos-powered ones elsewhere either, so we can't rely on precedent to help support Revegnus' leaks.

No charging upgrade looks likely

In less positive news, we may not see any change to Samsung's current charging tech with the arrival of the Galaxy S24 series. As spotted by MyFixGuide, certification for the S24 series from 3C, the Chinese mobile device regulator, shows the standard Galaxy S24 will offer up to 25W wired charging, and the S24 Plus and S24 Ultra up to 45W charging.

An alleged list of Samsung Galaxy S24 charging specs from Chinese regulator 3C

(Image credit: MyFixGuide/3C)

In case you're not familiar with the Galaxy S23 series' specs, these are the same speeds that the current crop of phones offer. So it appears Samsung won't be upgrading that for another year, leaving the Galaxy S24 as one of the slowest-charging smartphones on the market once again.

This missing upgrade could prove especially annoying if Samsung does indeed implement a stacked battery design to increase the capacity of their phones. More milliamp-hours to fill means even longer charging times, unless Samsung's made other charging performance changes that haven't leaked yet.

Also, the 3C certification notes that there won't be any chargers included in the box with the Galaxy S24 series. Samsung stopped doing this with its phones a couple of years ago so that's not much of a surprise, although it would provide its phones an edge over the iPhone 15, which is confirmed to not come with chargers, and likely the Google Pixel 8 too.

We imagine Samsung's going to stick with a February launch for the Galaxy S24. With other rumors claiming these phones will feature displays with fully adaptive refresh rates on all models, extra brightness for at least the Ultra and Plus models, and Ultra-exclusive upgrades like a 144Hz refresh rate, a 50MP telephoto camera and titanium side rails like the iPhone 15 Pro, it looks like Samsung's answer to the iPhone 15 series, and the upcoming Google Pixel 8 series, will still be effective even without increased charging speeds.

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Richard Priday
Assistant Phones Editor

Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.

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