3 ms·

I don’t follow the Android world, so I’m out of my depth. I saw this announcement but I’m not sure what the big deal is. Is it just that it makes it hard/impos

by MBCook 4y ago

I don’t follow the Android world, so I’m out of my depth. I saw this announcement but I’m not sure what the big deal is. Is it just that it makes it hard/impossible to make super cheap Android phones by raising the minimum BoM? 2GB is the minimum RAM for iOS 16 as well, so this doesn’t seem crazy. If they said 4GB or 6GB I would understand better.

scarface74 4y ago
But the cheapest iOS device is $429. You can find cheap unsubsidized Android phones for less than $100.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
ThrowawayR2 4y ago
2GB is also the minimum RAM for Windows 10 (64-bit x86) and that's a full fledged desktop OS with much more capability than a smartphone OS. I think what people are wondering is how the much more constrained application environment on a phone has become that demanding of system resources?
- rosywoozlechan 4y ago
  > Windows 10 (64-bit x86) and that's a full fledged desktop OS with much more capability than a smartphone OS Given all the fancy things phones can do nowaydays, talk to satellites, crash detection, gyroscopes, GPS, all in a tiny form factor while managing battery life and a massively powerful camera, I'd argue desktop has maybe less capability than a smartphone OS
  - blep_ 4y ago
    All of those things are implemented as dedicated hardware, though. There is no GPS process looping and reading individual bits out of the air to assemble them into GPS packets. People regularly do all of these things on tiny microcontrollers with no OS.
- Gigachad 4y ago
  I really don’t believe the statement that Windows is much more advanced than Android and iOS. And the experience of using windows with 2GB ram is absolutely abysmal. Really 8gb is the minimum for anything acceptable. Microsoft just cares a lot less about user satisfaction so the windows minimum is the absolute minimum possible to boot on while the android minimum is the minimum required to not hate using the phone.

by MBCook 4y ago

scarface74 4y ago

But the cheapest iOS device is $429. You can find cheap unsubsidized Android phones for less than $100.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

ThrowawayR2 4y ago

2GB is also the minimum RAM for Windows 10 (64-bit x86) and that's a full fledged desktop OS with much more capability than a smartphone OS. I think what people are wondering is how the much more constrained application environment on a phone has become that demanding of system resources?

rosywoozlechan 4y ago
> Windows 10 (64-bit x86) and that's a full fledged desktop OS with much more capability than a smartphone OS Given all the fancy things phones can do nowaydays, talk to satellites, crash detection, gyroscopes, GPS, all in a tiny form factor while managing battery life and a massively powerful camera, I'd argue desktop has maybe less capability than a smartphone OS
- blep_ 4y ago
  All of those things are implemented as dedicated hardware, though. There is no GPS process looping and reading individual bits out of the air to assemble them into GPS packets. People regularly do all of these things on tiny microcontrollers with no OS.
Gigachad 4y ago
I really don’t believe the statement that Windows is much more advanced than Android and iOS. And the experience of using windows with 2GB ram is absolutely abysmal. Really 8gb is the minimum for anything acceptable. Microsoft just cares a lot less about user satisfaction so the windows minimum is the absolute minimum possible to boot on while the android minimum is the minimum required to not hate using the phone.