What is the difference between heap and stack memory in Objective-C apps?

Updated May 17, 2026

Short answer

Stack stores local variables; heap stores dynamically allocated objects managed by ARC.

Deep explanation

Stack memory is automatically managed and very fast but limited in size. Heap memory is managed via malloc/ARC and used for Objective-C objects. Most Objective-C objects live on the heap while pointers referencing them may reside on the stack.

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