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ramses2005

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 30, 2010
72
3
Colombia
Hello. I just bought a new iPhone yesterday. I would like to know what is the actual capacity of the 16Gb iPhone, including that i already have installed iOS 6. I read somewhere it was about 14.8Gb but i dont really know. I got 12.8 just right off the box. I want to know if i do any restore process to my phone it will go up to the 14gb or the actual capacity.
 

spyguy10709

macrumors 65816
Apr 5, 2010
1,007
659
One Infinite Loop, Cupertino CA
Hello. I just bought a new iPhone yesterday. I would like to know what is the actual capacity of the 16Gb iPhone, including that i already have installed iOS 6. I read somewhere it was about 14.8Gb but i dont really know. I got 12.8 just right off the box. I want to know if i do any restore process to my phone it will go up to the 14gb or the actual capacity.

16GB is actually 14.8GB because of Gigabyte vs Gigabyte. Read about that issue here.
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/09/gigabyte-decimal-vs-binary.html

After the real capacity of 14.8GB, there needs to be some room for the operating system. Essentially 12.8 is the exact right capacity.
 

LostSoul80

macrumors 68020
Jan 25, 2009
2,136
7
To be exact, 16 GB means ~14.901 GiB. Being optimistic and assuming the system will take ~1.5 GiB (iOS 6 should be that big), you'll have a little more than 13.3 GiB (will be read as GB on the phone) available to use.
 

GodWhomIsMike

macrumors 6502a
Sep 24, 2007
580
2
It's a completely free exchange, rite?

Most carriers have a 14 day return policy. I would personally just return it, and cough up the extra money for the higher capacity phone. The ONLY reason I am waiting for the new iPhone (I have the 4s) is because 16GB gets used up in a blink of an eye with these newer iPhones.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
Most carriers have a 14 day return policy. I would personally just return it, and cough up the extra money for the higher capacity phone. The ONLY reason I am waiting for the new iPhone (I have the 4s) is because 16GB gets used up in a blink of an eye with these newer iPhones.
not everyone needs more space especially at the extra cost (which also includes an extra restocking fee that a lot of carriers now have on exchanges of this sort).
 

GodWhomIsMike

macrumors 6502a
Sep 24, 2007
580
2
not everyone needs more space especially at the extra cost (which also includes an extra restocking fee that a lot of carriers now have on exchanges of this sort).

I wish I could go back in time and swap out to at least a 32GB iPhone. Being that the iPhone 5 is now EOL, I need to wait another two months to trade up to the newest model.
 

Menel

Suspended
Aug 4, 2011
6,351
1,356
Most carriers have a 14 day return policy. I would personally just return it, and cough up the extra money for the higher capacity phone. The ONLY reason I am waiting for the new iPhone (I have the 4s) is because 16GB gets used up in a blink of an eye with these newer iPhones.
False, 16GB versions hold a lot. Tons of apps, several playlists, buncha photos. Plenty.

7uvudemu.jpg


I wish I could go back in time and swap out to at least a 32GB iPhone. Being that the iPhone 5 is now EOL, I need to wait another two months to trade up to the newest model.
You obviously don't know what EOL means. End Of Life. Let me help.

"End-of-life (EOL) is a term used with respect to a product supplied to customers, indicating that the product is in the end of its useful lifetime and a vendor will no longer be marketing, selling, or sustaining a particular product and may also be limiting or ending support for the product"

Still being marketted. And probably will for another 2 years if 3GSand 4 are any indication.
Still being sold. And probably will for another 2 years if 3GSand 4 are any indication.
Still being supported. And probably will for another 2 years if 3GS and 4 are any indication.

Will not meet even one criteria for EOL status for 2 years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 

Merkie

macrumors 68020
Oct 23, 2008
2,119
734
Storage manufacturers use a base unit of 1000 for showing the capacity. This means that a 16GB is actually 16,000,000,000 bytes. This calculates to 16*1000^3/1024^3 = 14.9 GiB. Take away some space for the OS, and you're left with 13.47GiB.
 

Plutonius

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2003
9,032
8,404
New Hampshire, USA
not everyone needs more space especially at the extra cost (which also includes an extra restocking fee that a lot of carriers now have on exchanges of this sort).

The cost of the device is minimal if you compare it to what you are paying service providers. Don't skimp on the storage.
 

0dev

macrumors 68040
Dec 22, 2009
3,947
24
127.0.0.1
Total capacity on my 16GB iPhone 4 on the latest iOS 6 is 13.7GB. I expect the iPhone 5 will be the same.
 

Merkie

macrumors 68020
Oct 23, 2008
2,119
734
The cost of the device is minimal if you compare it to what you are paying service providers. Don't skimp on the storage.
It's not minimal for everyone ;). And in the end, $100 to be saved remains $100 to be saved, whether you spend $10, $100, or $1000.
 

Plutonius

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2003
9,032
8,404
New Hampshire, USA
It's not minimal for everyone ;). And in the end, $100 to be saved remains $100 to be saved, whether you spend $10, $100, or $1000.

If you have to worry about saving $100, I really wouldn't get a smart phone. Get an iPod Touch and a pre-paid cell phone and you will save lots of money.

Besides, would you get a 21" TV to go along with your entertainment system ? You would save money so it must be good ?
 

Merkie

macrumors 68020
Oct 23, 2008
2,119
734
If you have to worry about saving $100, I really wouldn't get a smart phone. Get an iPod Touch and a pre-paid cell phone and you will save lots of money.

Besides, would you get a 21" TV to go along with your entertainment system ? You would save money so it must be good ?

It's not worrying. It's the weighing of pros and cons: is 16GB or 32GB extra worht $100 to me? For many people, it's not.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
The cost of the device is minimal if you compare it to what you are paying service providers. Don't skimp on the storage.
Why paying anything extra for something you don't need? If you need it or think you might need it, then if the cost difference is fine for you then it's great. But if you have no need for it then you would just be wasting that extra money for nothing really.
 

Plutonius

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2003
9,032
8,404
New Hampshire, USA
Why paying anything extra for something you don't need? If you need it or think you might need it, then if the cost difference is fine for you then it's great. But if you have no need for it then you would just be wasting that extra money for nothing really.

The problem is, that for most people, you are stuck with the hardware for multiple years. Everyone I know with a 16GB iPhone, bought it because it was the cheapest and is now complaining that they are stuck with it and it's too small.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
The problem is, that for most people, you are stuck with the hardware for multiple years. Everyone I know with a 16GB iPhone, bought it because it was the cheapest and is now complaining that they are stuck with it and it's too small.
And everyone I know who got a 16 GB phone is still perfectly happy with it, with most of them having at least a few gigs free, if not about half the available space. So, what sense would it make for any of those people to spend more money on something they don't need at all? None. It all depends on personal needs/wants, and those are different for everyone.
 

Plutonius

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2003
9,032
8,404
New Hampshire, USA
It all depends on personal needs/wants, and those are different for everyone.

Agreed but most people don't know their needs before purchasing and it's much better to err on the side of having too much.

Unless you have used an iPhone with 16GB and found it met your needs, get at least a 32GB iPhone and play it safe.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
Agreed but most people don't know their needs before purchasing and it's much better to err on the side of having too much.

Unless you have used an iPhone with 16GB and found it met your needs, get at least a 32GB iPhone and play it safe.
You can have a fairly good idea depending on your typical use of a phone (whichever you had/have until the point of a new iPhone) and any other devices in everyday life. There are certainly quite a few people who will know they will likely not use the phone to store music (or much music), or movies/shows, etc. They don't really care about games and know there are likely at best a few applications they will end up using. Not much guessing is really needed to know that there's no chance or little chance at best that anything more than the minimum 16 GB would be needed. I certainly know of at least a few people like that where there's no doubt at all of that. Getting a 16 GB is playing it safe for people like that.

Sure, if you have no real idea or aren't fairly sure, you should give it some more thought, but if you are fairly certain, then you are pretty much all set.
 
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