Last year, South Korean memory chip maker SK Hynix announced the world’s fastest RAM for smartphones called LPDDR5T, which was able to reach 9.6 Gbps speeds. Samsung has now beaten that record with an even faster LPDDR5X RAM, which can hit 10.7 Gbps, making it the world’s fastest yet.
This update comes a few years after Samsung’s 8.5 Gbps LPDDR5X RAM, representing a 25% upgrade in performance. But there are more upgrades onboard other than just faster memory.
Samsung can make 32 GB packages out of this new LPDDR5X standard, since these chips are based on a newer 12nm process, which makes them smaller, allowing for more capacity.
Samsung is marketing this RAM for AI applications as well since large language models (LLMs) that power modern generative AI like ChatGPT require a substantial amount of memory to run. This should benefit modern GPUs too such as Nvidia’s top-of-the-line RTX 4090, which is quite powerful but is limited by its 24 GB of VRAM. While Nvidia does offer professional cards with considerably more VRAM, the associated costs are staggering.
The 12nm process also brings more power efficiency to the table through which the new LPDDR5X chips save 25% more power than before and can enter low-power states for a long time. This advancement should be beneficial not only for battery-powered mobile devices but also for servers, where electricity expenses make up a substantial portion of operational costs.
Mass production for 10.7Gbps LPDDR5X RAM is going to kick off during the second half of 2024, meaning smartphones and other devices powered by this new tech should be expected by the end of the year. Samsung will be working on the next generation LPDDR6 RAM in the meantime.