This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
Google Pixel 10 Pro. | Image by PhoneArena
One of the many things that differentiates the vanilla variant of a Pixel phone from its Pro sibling is the amount of RAM it features. Pro models often come with more RAM. On the Pixel 10 lineup, for instance, the base Pixel 10 has 12 GB of RAM, whereas the Pixel 10 Pro comes with 16 GB of RAM.
However, that practice may change this year, as there are rumors that the Pixel 11 Pro is going to ship with 12 GB of RAM just to ensure that the phone's pricing does not exceed the sweet $999 figure for buyers. If true, then is Google taking this harsh call intentionally, or is there any external force that is driving the decision? Here's everything you need to know.
Chipflation is to blame
You must have heard the word "inflation," but "chipflation" is the new term that has been trending recently, especially in the tech industry. Similar to inflation, which refers to the increase in prices of different products, chipflation is the term given to the increase in semiconductor component (RAM, chips, and more) prices recently.
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But what exactly is causing microchip and semiconductor prices to rise so sharply? It's AI.
As it turns out, all AI data centers are hungry for memory. They require massive amounts of RAM to function. And as we all learned in our school economics class, if demand for a product exceeds its supply in the market, the price of that product will eventually go up.
There's literally limited manufacturing capacity for high-quality chips and RAM. Furthermore, many big players like HP and Lenovo are reportedly reserving RAM from suppliers. All this is ultimately causing what the experts are calling chipflation.
The psychological sweet spot of $999
Renders of Google Pixel 11 Pro. | Image by Android Headlines
Even giants like Google are not immune to the sudden surge in RAM prices. That's why there are reports that the company might be in a dilemma over whether it should raise phone prices to offset the increased RAM costs or pursue some other cost-cutting measures to maintain the same pricing.
It is believed that Google might go with the latter option and ship the Pro models of its upcoming series with 12 GB of RAM instead of 16 GB. All this will likely be done so that the pricing of the phones remains almost similar to their predecessors.
For instance, the Pixel 10 Pro is available at $999, and the tech giant will likely hope to launch its successor at a similar price. I believe the $999 range has become a sweet psychological spot for premium phones. If any device is priced above this, it is considered an ultra-premium phone.
It's worth noting that Samsung has increased the prices of the Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus by $100 over their respective predecessors. The former is available for $899 (up from $799), and the latter costs $1,099 (up from $999).
That basically means that if Google launches the Pixel 11 Pro at the same price as last year, it might have an advantage over Samsung in terms of pricing. But it's also worth considering that the South Korean giant has bumped the base storage up to 256 GB this year. So, the latest Galaxy phones offer more storage for just a $100 price increase and without any reduction in RAM.
What should Google do?
There's a big issue with downgrading the RAM, though
12 GB isn't that bad, to be honest. The Pixel 10 ships with the same amount, and the device handles pretty much all tasks very smoothly (though I have been experiencing some issues with it since the March update). But the main concern here isn't how the phone performs today, but how well it will perform a few years down the line.
The launch of features like Magic Cue, Camera Coach, and more makes it almost certain that Google is heavily invested in AI. And as I mentioned above, all AI-driven tasks require a significant amount of memory to function. While the currently available AI features run smoothly on 12 GB of RAM, I'm not confident that Google's future AI capabilities will perform as well on a 12 GB device as on a 16 GB one.
The company currently offers up to seven years of updates for its smartphones. That means the Pixel 11 series, which could be introduced sometime in August this year, would receive updates until 2033. Considering how exponentially AI features are scaling recently, I highly doubt that 12 GB of RAM will be able to handle AI tasks even after a couple of years, let alone survive until 2033.
If you're getting a Pro model, you'd expect it to handle all future features without any hiccups. But that might not happen if we see a RAM downgrade this year.
If AI agents become more deeply integrated into Pixel phones as core features, 16 GB of RAM will ultimately become the baseline for smooth performance. Using them on a device with anything less could feel like a nightmare, as you might experience frequent slowness and stuttering.
Increase the price or offer less RAM: what should Google do?
That's a really tough decision for the company to make. As mentioned above, Samsung increased the price of two of its latest S-line phones to offset rising RAM costs. While not officially confirmed, some believe the titanium body was ditched for aluminum in the S26 phones to negate those RAM prices.
If the Mountain View giant were to ask me, I would advise it to take the middle ground by introducing two storage variants for its Pro models: a 12 GB RAM variant that comes with 128 GB/256 GB storage and a 16 GB RAM variant that comes with 512 GB/1 TB storage. Launch the 12 GB option at $999 and the higher storage variant at something around $1,099. This would feel like a natural storage upgrade ladder and would allow the brand to cater to both normal and power users.
The lesser storage model would be best for everyday users who don't care much about RAM and just want a premium phone at a familiar price that can handle the AI tasks that are currently available. The higher storage option could be best for power users who want to keep their Pixel 11 Pro for a long time and give higher priority to its performance and really want to use the advanced AI features that will be launched in the future.
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Aman Kumar is a tech news writer with a long-standing passion for smartphones. Aman specializes in everything smartphones, from AI features like Pixel’s Camera Coach to understanding ideal hardware combinations. He loves breaking down complex features in a simple, clear way and hopes manufacturers bring back bold designs like the Nokia N-Gage. When he’s not writing, he’s either gaming on PUBG or talking fitness as a dedicated gym enthusiast.
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