The Pixel 10 ships with 12GB of RAM, but you’ll only ever have about 8GB available for your apps and games. That’s because, as Android Authority discovered, Google is carving out roughly 3.5GB exclusively for its Gemini-powered AI framework. It’s a permanent, AI-only memory partition (in technical terms, “unevictable”), and it keeps the Nano model and AICore service resident in RAM at all times.
What services can use what memory?
It turns out some people actually do use AI
On paper, this isn’t new. The Pixel 9 Pro had a similar setup, with 2.6GB reserved for AI out of its 16GB pool. But this is the first time the restriction is hitting the base model, meaning Pixel 10 buyers are losing a quarter of their advertised memory before the phone even boots.
Why? Because instant AI is the pitch. Features like real-time voice translation, live call summaries, and Pixel Journal don’t feel magical if they take 10 seconds to spin up. And since AI models weigh several gigabytes each, the only way to keep them fast is to keep them always loaded in RAM. Google is betting that seamless AI will matter more to users than the headroom for a few extra apps.
For now, that bet is probably safe. Eight gigs of usable system memory is still plenty for 2025 workloads. You can bounce between Instagram, Chrome, Gmail, and even a heavy 3D game without seeing reloads. And honestly, most people never noticed the difference between 12GB and 16GB in last year’s phones, either.
Here’s the rub: looking to the future
But the Pixel 10 isn’t just a 2025 phone. It’s also a 2031 phone, according to Google’s seven-year update promise. And that’s where things get messy. By the end of its support cycle, it’s entirely possible that today’s “spare” 3.5GB will feel like a luxury we can’t afford to lock away. Apps keep getting heavier, multitasking expectations keep growing, and the OS itself will inevitably demand more resources. Future Android and app devs might assume 12GB means 12GB for system use, but Pixel 10 owners will be stuck with less.
Google’s decision isn’t indefensible. If you lean on Gemini daily, having its Nano model always on tap is a clear win. But the company’s marketing still feels a little slippery. When the spec sheet says “12GB RAM,” consumers reasonably assume that means 12GB of system memory — not 8.5GB plus a secret AI tax.
The truth is, this is as much a messaging problem as a hardware one. Google could have flipped the narrative: “12GB for your apps plus 3.5GB for AI.” That framing makes the Pixel 10 sound more capable than its rivals instead of less. Instead, we’re left asking if seven years from now, the Pixel 10 will feel artificially constrained by a decision made for today’s AI hype cycle.
Because right now, everything’s fine. But the long game? That’s where this restriction could really sting.
- SoC
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Google Tensor G5
- RAM
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12GB
- Storage
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128GB / 256GB
- Battery
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4970mAh
This striking-looking addition to the Pixel line offers a slew of Gemini features, an 5x telephoto lens, and seven years of updates, making this a smartphone that will last you a while.
