iPhone 7 Plus has one new feature Apple forgot to mention

It appears that the iPhone 7 plus has 3GB of RAM, more than any other iPhone released to date.

Just like previous years, Apple chose not to wax lyrical on the amount of memory installed in its new iPhones. But it seems that the iPhone 7 Plus may have been quietly upgraded to 3GB of RAM, trumping the 2GB of RAM that appeared in last year’s iPhone 6S Plus.

Why do we think this? Firstly, a Geekbench test of the iPhone 7 Plus has surfaced, which lists the iPhone 7 Plus as having ‘2998MB’ of memory – that’s 3GB(-ish). What’s more, a listing on TENAA also puts the iPhone 7 Plus down as having 3GB of RAM. TENAA is China’s electronics certification board, and is the local equivalent of America’s FCC.

t’s worth noting that while we’re not entirely sure yet, the iPhone 7 probably won’t share the 3GB RAM upgrade. Apple’s ‘Plus’ models typically feature a higher memory count to help justify the leap in retail pricing.

Apple is now finally treading into Android territory with its RAM. Most Android flagships now ship with anywhere from 3GB to 6GB of RAM, whereas Apple has historically tended towards more conservative amounts. However, don’t forget that direct comparisons shouldn’t be made between the two platforms. Because Apple only produces a single phone running a single OS with a custom-built processor, the company can majorly optimise its systems, which means the iPhone can run smoothly even with comparatively lower RAM than an Android equivalent.

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were announced on Wednesday, and are now available to pre-order in the UK and elsewhere.

Apple issues global iOS update

Apple issues global iOS update after attempt to use spyware activist's iPhone

The spyware took advantage of three previously undisclosed weaknesses in Apple’s iPhone to take complete control of the device with the tap of a finger

A botched attempt to break into the iPhone of an Arab activist using hitherto unknown espionage software has triggered a global upgrade of Apple’s mobile operating system, researchers said Thursday.

The spyware took advantage of three previously undisclosed weaknesses in Apple’s iPhone to take complete control of the devices, according to reports published Thursday by the San Francisco-based Lookout smartphone security company and internet watchdog group Citizen Lab.

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Both reports fingered the NSO Group, an Israeli company with a reputation for flying under the radar, as the author of the spyware.

“The threat actor has never been caught before,” said Mike Murrary, a researcher with Lookout, describing the program as “the most sophisticated spyware package we have seen in the market”.

The reports issued by Lookout and Citizen Lab outlined how an iPhone could be completely compromised with the tap of a finger, a trick so coveted in the world of cyberespionage that in November a spyware broker said it had paid a $1m dollar bounty to programmers who’d found a way to do it. The weaknesses could allow hackers to take control of targeted iPhones to spy on calls and messages.

Apple said in a statement that it fixed the vulnerability immediately after learning about it.

In a statement which stopped short of acknowledging that the spyware was its own, the NSO Group said its mission was to provide “authorized governments with technology that helps them combat terror and crime”.

The company said it had no knowledge of any particular incidents.