Samsung, Xiaomi, and other OEMs will be required to equip their cheap, entry-level phones with more RAM and internal storage if they want to offer Android 13 update to customers.
With Android 13, Google has updated the minimum hardware requirements needed for brands to bundle Google Mobile Services (GMS) including Google Play Store, Photos, and more. This applies to both future launches and existing devices.
All existing devices with less than 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage will not get Android 13 update while all devices in future will need to ship with at least 2GB RAM and 16GB storage, if at all brands want to launch them with Android 13.
Even Android Go devices will have to have at least 16GB of storage to run Android 13 (Go Edition), though this seems to apply only to new devices. This means a phone like the Redmi A1 with 2GB RAM and 32GB storage is technically eligible for Android 13— it ships with Android 12 Go Edition.
As per Android Enterprise expert Jason Bayton, brands won’t be able to preload GMS on devices with less than 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. Google will also be needing new Android Go devices with at least 16GB of storage. All those devices who don’t meet the requirement will not be receiving the Android 13 update.
It is not the first time Google is preventing OEMs from preloading GMS on low RAM devices. Google in 2020, after the launch of Android 11 had announced that all those devices with less than 512MB RAM will no longer be able to qualify for preloading GMS.
Previously, it had even announced that all devices launching with Android 11 or later will have to launch as an Android Go device if they feature 2GB RAM or less. Now, smartphones running on Android 12 or lower can easily run the GMS on even less than 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage.
However, with the newly announced requirements, Android OEMs will now have to offer a minimum of 2GB RAM along with 16GB storage.
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