LPDDR6 RAM: Faster mobile RAM to be launched in 2024

The mobile main memory LPDDR, which is used in notebooks, tablets and smartphones, for example, is getting faster. The responsible JEDEC Solid State Technology Association has apparently approved the new LPDDR6 standard at a meeting, which is due to be launched in the third quarter of 2024.

LPDDR6 RAM: Faster RAM for notebooks and smartphones

JEDEC is currently in the process of defining the new memory standards that will be used in RAM bars and graphics cards in the future. Following the presentation of the GDDR7 memory standard on March 5, which will power graphics cards with a bandwidth of up to 192 GB/s in the future, the new LPDDR6 RAM for notebooks and mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets has now apparently been agreed upon.

The new Low-Power Double Data Rate (LPDDR) RAM bears the version number 6 and succeeds LPDDR5X, which was introduced in 2021. One year after the DDR5 standard for PCs. As the website ETNews and analyst Revegnus via X both report, JEDEC apparently agreed on the new LPDDR6 standard at a meeting in Lisbon, Portugal.

The new standard is set to be launched in the third quarter of 2024, but is currently still in the finalization phase, meaning that no official key data has yet been revealed.

However, it can be assumed that the new mobile RAM will not only significantly improve performance, but also energy efficiency. The focus of AI calculations on smartphones or notebooks in particular places completely new demands on RAM, while data throughput could even double with DDR5 at 6,400 MT/s.

LPDDR6 RAM probably not until 2025

The new LPDDR6 RAM could therefore achieve a maximum data rate of up to 12,800 MT/s. Or even more. Or even more: around four years ago, Samsung even held out the prospect of up to 17,000 MT/s, although this would be more conceivable for the successor in the form of LPDDR6X – after all, this would be double the rate of the current LPDDR5X RAM.

However, we will probably find out more details in the coming days and weeks. Even though LPDDR6 RAM is set to launch in the third quarter of 2024, the faster memory is not expected to find its way onto the mass market until next year.

Qualcomm is expected to unveil the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 SoC in October or November, which is rumored to already be equipped with the new memory. The first smartphones are then expected in early 2025. How and what we can expect in the notebook segment, however, is still completely unclear.

SK Hynix and Samsung are the main possible manufacturers of the new mobile working memory, as Micron has not listed LPDDR6 on its recently published roadmap and is therefore likely to be out of the running.