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32GB vs. 64GB iPhone 5S: Which Did You Buy and Why?

Z

zer06ame

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 28, 2010
43
1
I picked up a 32GB Space Grey 5S from VZW on Friday and am struggling with determining if I should return it for a 64GB model.

I upgraded from a 16GB 4S which I absolutely hated dealing with. I didn’t keep my music on it because I found resyncing every other day to be annoying and I felt pretty constrained. Since I have unlimited LTE I’m aware I can stream all of my music, but don’t know how well this works in theory.

To upgrade I’ll essentially be paying $141 total ($100 for model, $35 restocking fee, and 6% sales tax) but am having a hard time rationalizing it without knowing for a fact I’ll use over 32GB (reasonably; I could fill the 64GB if I wanted to but don’t need movies on the go).

So, which model did you purchase and what was your reasoning?
 
B

bidwalj

macrumors 65816
Feb 16, 2007
1,056
136
i picked up a 32 this time. I had a 64gb iphone 5. the extra space I had was filled with movies I never watched, pics I never looked at. I did a cleaning and was well below 32gb. The resale of the 64 isnt that great either.

Unless you need the space and can fill it with stuff you will actually use, I don't see why you need to upgrade to the 64.
 
D

deraj090

macrumors regular
Feb 18, 2010
196
0
See, I'm the opposite. I picked up the 16GB having come from the 64GB 4s. I only did this because of availability. I kept very limited music on mine, and stream most of my content -- but I realized quickly that 16GB isn't remotely enough. Working on exchanging it for a 32GB, at Best Buy -- having limited luck.

I may return, and wait for more inventory, but I feel that may be a hassle too -- especially since I already sold my 4s 64GB ($359), so I'd be going back to like a Samsung Captivate or something along those lines, in the meantime.

Is there a $35 restocking fee everywhere?
 
Z

zer06ame

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 28, 2010
43
1
deraj090 said:
See, I'm the opposite. I picked up the 16GB having come from the 64GB 4s. I only did this because of availability. I kept very limited music on mine, and stream most of my content -- but I realized quickly that 16GB isn't remotely enough. Working on exchanging it for a 32GB, at Best Buy -- having limited luck.

I may return, and wait for more inventory, but I feel that may be a hassle too -- especially since I already sold my 4s 64GB ($359), so I'd be going back to like a Samsung Captivate or something along those lines, in the meantime.

Is there a $35 restocking fee everywhere?
Click to expand...

I'm sure other carriers have their own restocking fees (I think AT&T is $36?) but VZW specifically is $35.

I don't think Best Buy has a restocking fee since they removed them across their departments about two years ago. They receive a monthly kickback from the carrier on your monthly plan for upgrading/activating which is why they're so heavily focused on mobile now (I think 1% of your bill).

I've found the 64GB easy to find in my area but I also have 3 VZWs within 5 miles of my house and two Apple Stores within 15 miles :)
 
O

OVERTASK

macrumors 6502
Sep 17, 2013
400
200
∞o
I got the 64 simply because it was the only one in stock. I am using 6gb on my 16 now so I don't really need the space.
 
Blueline29

Blueline29

macrumors 68020
Jun 16, 2009
2,468
960
Saint Augustine, FL
64. I take a lot of photos and like to carry a decent-sized music library with me, so 64 is about the minimum I want to have. I was actually hoping for a 128 this time around, but 64 will do in the meantime.
 
B

billycuth

macrumors 6502a
Jul 31, 2010
754
75
I finally got a 64GB.

I was on a 16GB, and I had to compress all of my music and even then it didn't fit. So I had to pick a small selection to keep on hand at all times. And forget having all of my apps on it at the same time.

I have 2 little boys and 1 was in school last year. I couldn't even record events because I had no room for it., even though I religiously dump pics/vids previously taken.

Right now I have 20 GB left with my music uncompressed and all of my apps back. That should be plenty of room for me to grow into. The 5s has to last me at least a few years so I wanted to make sure I had space.
 
R

rml4uk

macrumors member
Jun 3, 2008
81
0
I got a 64gb Space Gray because our AT&T business rep put a 64gb on hold for me instead of the 32gb I requested. They gave me a $100 credit though because of their "mistake". I'm not complaining :)
 
Kariya

Kariya

macrumors 68000
Nov 3, 2010
1,820
10
32GB. Came from a 16GB 5 and got fed up having to manage my syncing and dumping heavy games and movies. To me 64GB isn't worth it unless you get a good deal for it. Its resale value is also terrible. 32GB is the sweet spot IMHO.
 
J

juliainor

macrumors member
Sep 12, 2009
75
0
I had a 32 GB 5 and got a 64 GB 5s. Honestly, I was planning to get the 32 GB but they didn't have any in stock and I decided to go ahead and get the 64 GB instead of waiting. I know, I know.

But I'm actually really glad I did. My phone was never *quite* full before, but I couldn't put all the music on that I wanted. Now I added a good amount of my older music and I'm enjoying having so much more musical variety with me all the time.

Since they gave me $325 for the 32 GB iPhone 5 I was trading in, it made bumping up to the 64 GB all the more tempting.
 
Namji

Namji

macrumors 6502a
Aug 13, 2010
627
20
I don't have a 5S yet but when I do I will get a 64gb.. I went to all the local VZW and they only had a 32 gb space grey when I asked for a 64 gb space grey.. I have 1,000 + music and I love to take pictures and keep them on me everywhere I go... my current iPhone 4 with 32 gb has 6 gb left of storage.. so I plan to get the 64 gb..
 
phillyphill

phillyphill

macrumors 6502
Apr 23, 2010
259
0
lorton
I had the 16g vzw iPhone 5 traded that in today and got the 5s 32gb. A great deal since they give you $300 for an iPhone and a 32g iPhone 5 is $300 and i have unlimited data still. I figured id take more pictures with this phone or at least attempt to.
 
afinch1992

afinch1992

macrumors 6502
Sep 13, 2012
396
16
Phoenix, AZ
Got the 64 because of availability and the fact I filled my 16gb 5 in less than 3 months. Extrapolate that through a year to the 6 and the 64gb was much easier to accept.
 
wickerman1893

wickerman1893

macrumors 6502
Dec 16, 2008
468
0
The 64GB was the only one availably on launch day. It was purely an impulse buy at the moment, however I WILL be able to find a use for all the space. I already have about half of it taken up. It will also have a higher resale value.
 
Statusnone88

Statusnone88

macrumors 68000
Jun 19, 2010
1,565
807
32 because I have only 10GB of music and I watch all my movies on Netflix so I really had no need for so much space.
 
E

Eallan

macrumors 6502
Sep 12, 2007
279
16
32 with about 14 GB available. I stream all my music. It's pretty much photos and apps. I've never watched a movie on my phone.
 
OafTobark

OafTobark

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2011
349
94
I was pressed into getting a 64gb, as that's all they had in GOLD (#2 in line)

With iTunes Match, Spotify, and Dropbox... my media does not take up much room. The only reason that justifies is that I will be able to shoot and hold onto a lot more HD video, and the room for future 64-bit apps.
 
Clix Pix

Clix Pix

macrumors Core
Oct 9, 2005
20,724
45,932
8 miles from the Apple Store at Tysons (VA)
Last year when I was in line to get the iPhone 5 I wanted the 64 GB, as I'd always had the maximum capacity, but it was unavailable by the time they got to me. I'd been hanging out in line for hours by that point and did not want to go home empty-handed, so compromised and took a 32 GB. Although it was fine throughout this past year I still had to do some adjusting periodically in order to make space when I wanted to add something new. This year, although I hadn't really intended to do so, I did find myself buying an iPhone 5S and indeed it was the 64 GB this time. No more compromising!
 
M

Melodeath

macrumors 6502a
Dec 9, 2009
580
48
I have a 32GB 4s, and even though it is completely filled up to the point where I can't even update to iOS7 (you need 3.1GB free), I decided to get the 5s as 32GB for a couple of reasons. 1) Price. 2) Over half of the space on my phone is taken up by audio recordings I've made, which i will just not bring over to the 5s. Or rather, I will restore from backup on the 5s, but then delete the recordings since they're on my 4s anyway.
 
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