iPhone 13 Pro Max 256 or 516 vs icloud storage

[vdawgs22]

Curious what most peoples preferences are when either going for more phone storage or just using the cloud & if there are any benefits/downfalls I may not be thinking of

Currently using a 256gb 12 pro max with about 100gb free but my 200gb cloud is full. I need to either increase my cloud from 200gb to 1tb or get the 512gb phone and not store my photos and messages in the cloud. If going with the phone storage also curious if anyone's had any issues losing data when removing messages and photos from cloud to only store locally

Appreciate any insight or recommendations

 

[Super Spartan]

I have an iPhone 12 Pro Max now with 256GB of space. I just checked my storage and I'm only using 55GB so not sure what's the benefit of the larger storage if everything goes to the cloud anyway and the iCloud storage is very cheap

 

[dmx]

I have a 12 Pro Max 128GB.

I use iCloud for everything — photos, messages, etc) and have never once had an issue with phone storage. 100 percent seamless.

I’ll be upgrading to the 13 PM. Leaning towards sticking with 128GB again, but considering 256… but I really don’t think I need 256.

 

[chabig]

It depends, I think, on how good your internet connection is. I have a 256GB iPhone 11 Pro and I have more than 200GB free because I'm using iCloud. That means I could buy a lesser iPhone, save money on the purchase, and I'd be fine. YMMV.

Keep in mind that if you try to store everything on the iPhone, and something happens to it, you will lose your data unless it's backed up somewhere.

 

[Super Spartan]

I have a 12 Pro Max 128GB.

I use iCloud for everything — photos, messages, etc) and have never once had an issue with phone storage. 100 percent seamless.

I’ll be upgrading to the 13 PM. Leaning towards sticking with 128GB again, but considering 256… but I really don’t think I need 256.

so you think 512GB is overkill heh? Because it's significantly more expensive

 

[KittyKatta]

Ever since iCloud Storage then I no longer buy storage upgrades. Music, Photo Archive, Movies and Files are all streamed when needed.

This gen I was tempted with getting more storage because of ProRes video but realistically then I’m not going to be taking huge 4k vid files on a device that is still crippled with a lightning port so I’m going with the base model and again use the money I save for iCloud.

 

[ipoddin]

I have a 12 Pro Max 128GB.

I use iCloud for everything — photos, messages, etc) and have never once had an issue with phone storage. 100 percent seamless.

I’ll be upgrading to the 13 PM. Leaning towards sticking with 128GB again, but considering 256… but I really don’t think I need 256.

Same. A year after having my 128gb 12PM I still have 60gb free. I take a lot of photos, raw too. I pay for 2tb of iCloud. No need to spend anything more on extra local storage, for me.

 

[scubatopy]

I was with the 12PM 256 Gb, 100 Gb still free, I'm going to buy the 13 PM 512 Gb, in preparation to the larger storage occupied by the Pro Res videos.
Ah, I have Apple One with 200 Gb iCloud - for the family.

 

[GloriousAndrew]

I currently have a 256GB 12 Pro Max. I am currently using 143GB of that 256. Since the update to Apple Music with the ability to download High Resolution Lossless audio files, my music app has been filling up. There is absolutely no way I could go below 256GB.

 

[dmx]

so you think 512GB is overkill heh? Because it's significantly more expensive

yes, way overkill. Unless you are going to be filming in ProRes (most people won’t, and I know I won’t), I would honestly get the base 128GB and pay for iCloud storage as needed.

 

[dmx]

Another reason to go with the 128gb (and use iCloud as needed)

trade in value, if you don’t want to sell your old phone privately. Apple is offering the same $790 for my 128GB 12 Pro Max, and my friends 512gb GB pro max. If you trade in a 512GB device to Apple you aren’t getting as much back compared to your purchase price.

 

[NotApplicable]

I don't use Photos, Messages, or iOS backups in iCloud for security reasons. Apple should provide an option to do fully encrypted backups/syncs of these things in iCloud. They are, after all, trying to be the "privacy-focused" tech company...

So I need 256GB to support my large photo library and iMessage history.

 

[hendsch]

It’s maybe a stupid question but the internet search didn’t find me a satisfying answer: Can I backup all of my iPhone (256 GB) with an 200 GB iCloud plan? 🤔

 

[teohyc]

It’s maybe a stupid question but the internet search didn’t find me a satisfying answer: Can I backup all of my iPhone (256 GB) with an 200 GB iCloud plan? 🤔

Only up to 200GB.

Probably yes because you're actually just backing up the files and photos, not the apps and iOS.

 

[teohyc]

I'm using 200GB iCloud shared across and iPad Pro and 2 iPhones.

All photos are stored on Microsoft OneDrive 1TB online storage instead, and accessible from non-Apple devices too.

 

[Hunter5117]

Ever since iCloud and especially since I bought the Apple One Premiere with 2tb of storage, I have only bought base level devices including 2 iPad Pros with 64gb. My iPhone 13pm I upgraded to 256gb only so I can try out the ProRes option when it comes along. If I still traveled on airplanes like I used to I might get a bigger phone for music storage but otherwise I get along just fine.

 

[hendsch]

Thanks guys! I think I’ll test the 200 GB plan and see what it’s like. 50 GB wont do the trick as my backup is about 82 GB in size.
For me I would like to ditch the Apple Arcade and take the 2 TB plan, but I don’t think that’s possible.

QUESTION: is it easy to go back to before? Did anyone tried a 200 GB plan and went back to the basic 5 GB?

 

[KFridman]

I'm a little late to the party on this thread but I'll chime in anyway. I have an iPhone 13 with 256gb. I also have 200gb of iCloud storage that I share with my wife. I've used up 88gb on my phone and there is 73gb used in iCloud. To someone who doesn't understand all of this stuff very well it seems that I could go back to the free iCloud level and store everything on my phone. Is my thinking correct or am I missing something here. And, If I did drop down on iCloud storage would everything just migrate over to my phone in the process?

 

[rdrive]

I thought if you deleted files from your phone, it also delete's from iCloud when synced. Is there a way around that which keeps all files stored in the iCloud if deleted from your iPhone?

 

[sjperformance]

256GB here for the last few years. 250GB on iCloud for family sharing. Still have 153GB left on my 14PM. I don’t need 512GB.

 

[mavis]

256GB for several years now, 2TB of iCloud shared with family. My photo library is about 400GB, and I REALLY want it to be stored locally on the phone (I can't stand waiting for videos and even photos to load) but that means I'd have to get a 1TB phone - 512GB would be basically full after syncing my photo library, and I like to have at least 100GB free for syncing other media for offline viewing.

 

[ctjack]

and I REALLY want it to be stored locally on the phone (I can't stand waiting for videos and even photos to load) but that means I'd have to get a 1TB phone - 512GB would be basically full after syncing my photo library

Yeah, most people do not understand that the storage size of the iphone and icloud storage is totally 2 different animals to be compared - one is not a substitute of another.
I would suggest you to pick-up a 512GB for example, then switch on "Icloud-Photos-Keep originals in a phone".
Wait for all the photos to appear in full size in your 512GB phone. After you are full and only have 100GB free, then turn on "Optimize storage" function - this way most of your items will be internal and it will only leniently offload the oldest items.
This option should give you smth like 450GB of dynamic storage in your iphone, meaning that the latest 400-450GB will be stored internally in addition to icloud which is good to not wait internet speeds and download circles.