diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/features/7840.md b/changelog/unreleased/features/7840.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6bfb8f8750f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/features/7840.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- Optimized memory usage in Directions API model classes by interning frequently occurring strings in JSON.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/gradle/dependencies.gradle b/gradle/dependencies.gradle
index 779b72c7c91..a7a3c5fc97f 100644
--- a/gradle/dependencies.gradle
+++ b/gradle/dependencies.gradle
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ ext {
 
   version = [
       mapboxMapSdk              : '10.18.1',
-      mapboxSdkServices         : '6.15.0',
+      mapboxSdkServices         : '7.1.0',
       mapboxNavigator           : "${mapboxNavigatorVersion}",
       mapboxCommonNative        : '23.10.1',
       mapboxCrashMonitor        : '2.0.0',