The Pixel 10 has received a decent specifications bump compared to last year, with Google adding its first 3nm Tensor G5 to the entire lineup, but in the memory department, the company’s base model continues to ship with 12GB RAM. Of course, the company was probably counting on eagle-eyed individuals to find out the remaining tidbits of its newest flagship series. For this year, you cannot utilize the entire aforementioned RAM for your daily activities because the company has allocated 3GB of it for AI-related operations. Now, if you think that is a terrible decision, read on to find out why Google went with this approach.
The Pixel 10’s RAM allocation for AI is more aggressive than what Google did with the Pixel 9
What the Pixel 10 series lacks in performance compared to the competition, Google has ensured its devices have an edge in AI-related operations. Sadly, for that, the company requires a small amount of RAM for the Tensor NPU and AICore. As reported by Android Authority, the Mountain View giant has taken a different route in terms of how much memory it requires for the Neural Processing Unit, and it is something that is completely opposite to what it did with the Pixel 9. For the latter, all applications had access to that 12GB memory, with the operating system loading the required amount of RAM into the AI model when necessary.
Now, as evidenced by the image below, whether users appreciate the change or not, 3GB of RAM is allocated for the aforementioned tasks, and if you are wondering why Google made this change in a span of a single smartphone generation, here is the honest answer for you. Those who had a propensity for leveraging Google’s AI features might have noticed a delay when firing them up on the Pixel 9, and that is because it would take a while for them to be loaded on the available memory. Now, this operation will be instantaneous, making the Pixel 10 more responsive for these kinds of tasks.
Here is how much memory Google’s Tensor NPU requires / Image credits – Android Authority
Unfortunately, not enough apps will be open in the background now, meaning you have to opt for the Pixel 10 Pro, which ships with 16GB RAM, to obtain that flexibility. Then again, casual users can easily get through the day with the remaining 9GB of memory on the Pixel 10, and if Google continues to push software updates that will improve the operating system’s RAM usage efficiency, even the base model will suffice. For now, you can order the Pixel 10 from Amazon and get a free $100 gift card in the process if you think that you will be more than alright with that 12GB RAM count.
On the other hand, if you are one of those power users who appreciates a memory upgrade, you will have already set your sights on either the Pixel 10 Pro or the Pixel 10 Pro XL, with each purchase granting you a $200 gift card for no extra charge.