Samsung just announced that they’ve begun producing 4 gigabit (512 MB) LPDDR3 mobile DRAM. Said RAM is built on a 20 nanometer process, it should deliver speeds of 2,133 megabits per second per pin, and it consumes 20% less energy than Samsung’s “older” 30 nanometer RAM. The best part about these new chips is that phone makers can stack four of them on top of each other in a single package, thus saving precious space on a smartphone’s motherboard. Once stacked, four chips will be just 0.8 mm tall, which should give you an idea of how small this stuff is.

Key question: When will you be able to buy a smartphone that uses these new RAM chips? I have no clue. They’ve only now just started, so it’s going to take some time to ramp. If I had to make a bold bet, I’d say you’ll probably see this stuff inside the Note III, which should be announced in early September.

Looking ahead, these high density memory chips should have you start thinking about smartphones with 4 GB of RAM. Think about it, both the GS3 and the GS4 have 2 GB of RAM. Why wasn’t there an upgrade in this year’s model? Because Samsung is going to need a 64 bit compatible processor to address all that memory. ARM’s 64 bit Cortex A53 and Cortex A57 are at least a full calendar year away, so I wouldn’t be surprised if 2014’s GS5 also had 2 GB of RAM.

We’ll just have to wait and see. Samsung could do something freaky and release a bunch of 3 GB smartphones. Rumor has it that’s what we’ll see in the next Note, though I’m skeptical.