Google's Gemini Intelligence requires 12GB RAM and Nano v3, excludes Pixel 9 and Galaxy Z Fold 7

Google's new Gemini Intelligence platform has hardware requirements that exclude the Pixel 9 series and Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7, according to specifications disclosed on Google's developer pages.

Hardware requirements

Gemini Intelligence requires:

• Flagship chip
• 12GB or more RAM
• Gemini Nano v3 or higher support
• AI Core compatibility
• Minimum 5 Android OS upgrades
• 6 years of security updates (at least quarterly)
• Meeting quality thresholds for crash rates and device performance

What Gemini Intelligence includes

The platform encompasses Google's most advanced on-device AI features for premium Android devices, including intelligent autofill, Gboard's "Rambler" voice-to-text system, generative UI widgets, and "Create my Widget" functionality.

Device compatibility split

Google's developer documentation lists devices by Nano version:

Gemini Nano v3 devices (Gemini Intelligence compatible):

• Google: Pixel 10 series (all models)
• Samsung: Galaxy S26 series
• OnePlus: OnePlus 15, 15R
• OPPO: Find X9 series, Find X8 series, Reno 14/15 Pro variants
• Vivo: X200T, X200 series, X300 series
• Honor, iQOO, Motorola, Realme flagship models

Gemini Nano v2 devices (currently excluded):

• Google: Pixel 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, 9 Pro Fold
• Samsung: Galaxy Z Fold 7, Galaxy Z TriFold
• OnePlus: OnePlus 13, 13s
• Xiaomi: 15 series, 17 series
• OPPO, POCO, Realme, and Vivo mid-to-high-end models

The documentation specifically addresses Gemini Nano's Prompt API support. Whether devices can upgrade from Nano v2 to v3 through future software updates remains unclear.

Implications for future devices

The 12GB RAM requirement contradicts recent leaks suggesting the Pixel 11 base model would drop to 8GB of RAM, indicating those reports may be inaccurate or that the base Pixel 11 would not support Gemini Intelligence.

Google states Gemini Intelligence will debut on Pixel and Samsung Galaxy devices later in 2026, with reports indicating the Galaxy Z Fold 8 will be the first device to launch with the features.

What this means

Google is creating a performance tier for on-device AI that excludes devices less than one year old, including its own flagship Pixel 9 series. The Nano v3 requirement suggests significant architectural changes from v2 that cannot be backported through software updates alone. This creates a fragmented Android AI ecosystem where premium features require the latest hardware generation, potentially accelerating upgrade cycles for users seeking cutting-edge AI capabilities. The 12GB RAM minimum also signals that on-device multimodal AI has real computational requirements that cannot be efficiently compressed to lower-spec hardware.