Google updates minimum hardware requirements to bundle GMS on Android 13 devices

Budget-friendly Android devices with less than 2GB RAM and 16GB storage might soon become a thing of the past. With Android 13, Google has updated the minimum hardware requirements that devices must meet to bundle Google Mobile Services (GMS). The company now requires OEMs to offer at least 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage if they wish to bundle GMS on a device running Android 13 or later.

According to Android Enterprise expert Jason Bayton (via Mishaal Rahman), OEMs can no longer preload GMS on new devices with less than 2GB RAM. Google also requires all new Android Go devices to have at least 16GB of storage. In addition, existing devices that do not meet these requirements will not receive the Android 13 update.

This isn’t the first time Google is preventing OEMs from preloading GMS on low RAM devices. Following the launch of Android 11 back in 2020, the company announced that devices with less than 512MB RAM would no longer qualify for preloading GMS. At the time, it also specified that all phones launching with Android 11 or later must launch as an Android Go device if they featured 2GB RAM or less.

With the updated requirements in place, Android OEMs will now have to offer a minimum of 2GB RAM and 16GB storage if they wish to bundle GMS on devices running Android 13 or later. However, OEMs will still be able to bundle GMS on Android 12 devices with less than 2GB RAM. Since budget-friendly Android devices typically do not launch with the latest version of Android, it might be a while before OEMs stop selling devices that do not meet these requirements.

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