16 GB Starting Space

[TallManNY]

Now even Gruber is complaining that Apple was too cheap on the lowest level phone storage space. I don't think they were. 16 GB works fine for a very common usage of the iPhone. Many many people will use their iPhone as something not much more than an email reader, phone and map. They will download nearly no Apps, and what Apps they do download will simply connect them to social media. They will download no games short of a handful of small casual ones. And they won't carry music on it. They will take pictures, but those get stored in the cloud and hopefully a techy friend will show them how to get the pictures off the phone and onto their computer. For those users, this phone is sufficient; they won't push up against 16gb. And Apple has created a price point for them.

But for normal smartphone users, the 64GB is going to be plenty of space. And yes we have to pay more than flagship prices for this phone. But that is okay since this is going to be the best smartphone out there for quite some time. We are the users who bought the larger storage in earlier generations. Maybe a few extra folks will have to bump up since they aren't quite going to fit in 16GB unlike they did with their last iPhone. So those folks have to pay an extra $100. That isn't that big a deal. The iPhone has functionally gotten just a bit more expensive than when they bought their five or their four. It is still a fair price.

I think the point is that Apple has customers that have very very weak smartphone usage patterns. They are buying Apple for the simplicity and just works aspect. For them storage is nearly meaningless. They just want access to the iOS. And in this case the larger screen.

 

[nnacrumors]

I like keeping my phone clean & tidy (regardless of how much storage space I have available) instead of a cluttered mess:
- pictures get offloaded to mac on a regular basis
- around 250 songs
- around 20 apps

16GB is more than enough space for me.

 

[HiRez]

Wait until you start getting app updates with 3X graphics assets in them. If you have a lot of games, you're screwed. Oh, have fun shooting 1080p60 video and massive panoramas. Sure, you can sync photos and videos to your computer every day, but that gets unwieldy.

Gruber is absolutely right, the thing he wrote that struck me is that the original 2007 iPhone entry model had half the storage of the 2014 model. That's crazy when you consider the capabilities of the 2 devices.

 

[darngooddesign]

Gruber is absolutely right, the thing he wrote that struck me is that the original 2007 iPhone entry model had half the storage of the 2014 model. That's crazy when you consider the capabilities of the 2 devices.

The original low end iPhone was 4GB, which is a quarter of the capacity of the 2014 phone.

 

[profets]

It's true. It's become too little, even for many casual users. Sure, iPhone in 2007 started with a 4GB base, but by 2009 the cheapest new model had 16GB. This is the 6th year where the new iPhone starts with 16GB. Don't forget it's actually 13GB of usable space.

I feel like I'm surrounded by so many people with 16GB iPhones (4S, 5 and 5S, and yes this is anecdotal) that have trouble with storage. None of them much music on the device, nor many apps. It always ends up being photos & videos shot with the camera.

I know myself, with a 16GB 5s I have to import photos & videos every few weeks into iPhoto and delete them from the device.

Look at my wife's iPhone 5 storage usage yesterday - this was when I went to go check for the iOS 8 update. The update required 4.7GB of free space (mostly for temporary use), which I myself and most people here understand. But most casual users I'm sure will get more frustrated than anything. At this point, honestly I think they should have gone to 32GB, any cost associated with it would well be worth the improved customer experience.

 

[drogba]

16GB is plenty for me because I keep on top of my files and don't bog it down. That said, some people really prefer the extra space so they don't have to worry about it and just leave a bunch of files on there. For me, I'd rather just be diligent with my files and save some money.

 

[HiRez]

The original low end iPhone was 4GB, which is a quarter of the capacity of the 2014 phone.

You're right, I forgot there was a 4 GB model. But it's still insane.

 

[mantan]

While some people can diligently stay under 16 gig, the point is they have to work at doing it.

Flash memory is significantly cheaper than it was 5 years ago. There is no cost reason to having 16 gig as the base storage, especially with apps and HD video taking up much more space than 2009.

Making the base model 32 gig would have been a nice bone for their customers. But Apple isn't into the business of throwing customers a bone - they are in the business of getting as much of your money as possible. Keeping the base model at 16 creates the perception of value for that $100 upgrade to 64. It was an shrewd, calculating , (evil) genius money making move. But that's what Apple excels at.

 

[whirldy]

16GB is plenty for me because I keep on top of my files and don't bog it down. That said, some people really prefer the extra space so they don't have to worry about it and just leave a bunch of files on there. For me, I'd rather just be diligent with my files and save some money.

Same here! Getting the 12/13GB (after iOS installed). Wife's getting the 64GB iP6+. We'll use the extra $100.00 towards the *new* Mac mini (802.11ac )

 

[renesandy]

16GB was good for me until I started traveling and taking tons of pics. I was hoping to pick up a 32GB 6 but was pleasantly surprised when I saw the "free" upgrade to 64GB.