iPhone 4S sticks with 512MB of RAM, reports say

Despite a number of improvements to the hardware within the upcoming iPhone 4S, it's looking like one component that will remain the same is the amount of built-in memory.MacRumors this morning points to a report from China-based AppVV.com, which seems to have gotten its hands on an iPhone 4S ahead of Friday's launch. The site has posted photos and videos of the device in action, including the new Siri voice assistant.

In a post over the weekend, the person with the device also notes that the device is packing 512MB of RAM versus the 1GB some had been expecting. That adds to comments made last week by the developer of the upcoming iPhone 4S-centric game Infinity Blade 2, who in an interview with Eurogamer floated the 512MB number as well.

In the days ahead of the iPhone 4S' unveiling, a report from 9to5mac correctly detailed many of the details about the Siri application that's launching as an iPhone 4S exclusive, while adding that there would be 1GB of RAM to help support the feature.

While Apple has been eager to tout the technical specifications of the iPhone 4S in comparison to its predecessor, the company has not broken with the tradition of not disclosing the amount of built-in RAM in iOS devices. RAM increases in devices like the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 have led to noted improvements in multitasking, as well as keeping more Web pages open in Safari on both of these devices.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on the amount of RAM in the 4S following last week's unveiling, saying only that all of the phone's specifications to be shared were listed on the company's product page.

We're likely to get the full skinny, including a look at the innards of the 4S at the end of the week, as is usually the case with popular gadgets through the like of iFixit and CNET sister site TechRepublic. The new phone goes on sale at 8 a.m. Pacific on Friday both at Apple Stores and through its carrier partners. Earlier today Apple said it received more than a million preorders for the new phone in the first 24 hours it was available for sale, saying it's been the most successful early sales run of a product in the company's history.