iPhone 11 Pro 256GB or 512GB?

[whwang]

Hi,

I hope this was not asked before.

I am using a 6s now, and am ready to upgrade to an 11 Pro Max. I am deciding what storage space to get. At this moment, the 64GB space in my 6s is nearly completely full. In particular, there are 12GB of music and 22GB of photos. I do not expect the amount of music to grow by a lot. However, the space required for photos is definitely going to expand. The question is, by how much?

My idea is, if on average an iPhone 11 Pro picture is X times larger than an iPhone 6s photo, then I will need at least X times more space in my new 11 Pro if I am going to use it for a comparably long period. But then, what’s X? 4? 6? 8?

Any idea, or suggestions on deciding which one I should get?

 

[m0sher]

It’s ok

Here is a thread already started that will give you an idea what members think about this very question

64GB or 256GB?

Hard decision. I mean Pro 11

forums.macrumors.com

Boils down to your personal phone use.

if you like to download music and videos for those times of non reception for what ever reason, then go 256.

Otherwise, 64 was enough for those that didn’t have that need, in general.

 

[whwang]

Thank you for the comments and for pointing me to that thread. A very useful read.

It looks like most people feel 64GB is sufficient if cloud storage is involved. Unfortunately I haven’t made up my mind going to the cloud. With my past usage pattern, 64GB is not enough for my 6s. So I think 64 GB won’t be enough for my future 11 pro. All my music is from my CD collections, and I do not expect the collection to grow very fast (if it grows at all). On the other hand, I take lots of photos, and I expect to take even more given 11 pro’s significantly enhanced photographic capabilities. Currently it’s the photos that are giving my 6s the storage crisis. So I want to avoid this on my 11 pro.

The enhanced photo capabilities of 11 pro’s camera must come with a large file size. I tried to google and find if there are any file size comparisons for 11 pro vs older models, but did not have luck. This should help me to more accurately estimate what storage space I am going to need, 256GB or 512GB.

 

[The Game 161]

256GB is enough for me...i have about 188GB left on my storage.

 

[uecker87]

It blows my mind how people need so much storage on a mobile device. Here I am with my launch 64GB XS Max and I currently have over 38GB free.

I stream music. I backup my photos to the Cloud. As long as you have good internet at home and a sufficient mobile data plan, I don't understand the need for someone to have everything locally on their device. And you typically don't regain the additional cost for the larger storage variants during trade-in or on the secondary market.

Oh well - different strokes for different folks. Ha.

 

[markp-a]

Off load your photos to an external hard drive and go with the 64 gb or the 256.

 

[Freida]

It blows my mind how people need so much storage on a mobile device. Here I am with my launch 64GB XS Max and I currently have over 38GB free.

I stream music. I backup my photos to the Cloud. As long as you have good internet at home and a sufficient mobile data plan, I don't understand the need for someone to have everything locally on their device. And you typically don't regain the additional cost for the larger storage variants during trade-in or on the secondary market.

Oh well - different strokes for different folks. Ha.

iCloud is not free (the 5GB is not enough), security, having control over your content etc.
I hate the idea of iCloud for many reasons so I will always go for ondevice storage. I have control of my backups etc. I control everything. Unlike iCloud.
iCloud goes down - you don't have access and we all know that happens with Apple throughout the year.

the 200GB tier will pay for the difference between 64 and 256 and will also increase my resale value so in the long run I win.

So back at you, I really don't understand the need to have everything in the cloud where you have no control over it.

 

[tripleburst]

If it's just music and photos you're concerned about storing, 256gb is more than enough. Even if you don't use icloud, it would be wise to back up your photos to a hard drive or something. Don't want to lose all those moments in case you lose your phone (knock on wood).

 

[max2]

512 GB so you can store a lot 4k movies and tv shows on it.

 

[PBz]

Hi,

I hope this was not asked before.

I am using a 6s now, and am ready to upgrade to an 11 Pro Max. I am deciding what storage space to get. At this moment, the 64GB space in my 6s is nearly completely full. In particular, there are 12GB of music and 22GB of photos. I do not expect the amount of music to grow by a lot. However, the space required for photos is definitely going to expand. The question is, by how much?

My idea is, if on average an iPhone 11 Pro picture is X times larger than an iPhone 6s photo, then I will need at least X times more space in my new 11 Pro if I am going to use it for a comparably long period. But then, what’s X? 4? 6? 8?

Any idea, or suggestions on deciding which one I should get?

I kind of struggled with this decision as well. My XR had about 100GB used and my IPP 11 the same. My IPP is 512.

I have almost 8K photos on my iPhone and almost 800 videos. They are a mix of photos taken with my cameras and the iPhone. I did take about 50GB of photos in Italy but have those saved to a drive on my iCloud.

I went with the 256 GB 11 Pro Max. The way I look at it is I will never keep ALL vacation photos on my phone as I don’t want to scroll through them. I will keep the wants I want and the ‘others’ that will likely never get edited or used. My thought is that it is unlikely that I will DOUBLE my usage from 105 GB on my phone (total) to 210 in a year or two. I will likely upgrade the phone in 1-2 years. The price jump to 512 was just not worth it, to me.

IF.. IF.. IF, I happen to break 200GB of usage in the next year I can A. Upgrade early or B. Sell the 256 to fund the 512. Or C.. store extras on the iCloud until I get the 512.

 

[Razeus]

I currently have the 512 XS Max, but will get the 11 Pro Max in 256GB. I keep ALL my music, photos, and videos on my phone, but I find that it's a pain to sort through it all. So I'll be making a subset of my media which will basically be the "best of the best" (probably like 1/3 of my collections) to keep on my phone.

 

[pika2000]

Hi,

I hope this was not asked before.

I am using a 6s now, and am ready to upgrade to an 11 Pro Max. I am deciding what storage space to get. At this moment, the 64GB space in my 6s is nearly completely full. In particular, there are 12GB of music and 22GB of photos. I do not expect the amount of music to grow by a lot. However, the space required for photos is definitely going to expand. The question is, by how much?

My idea is, if on average an iPhone 11 Pro picture is X times larger than an iPhone 6s photo, then I will need at least X times more space in my new 11 Pro if I am going to use it for a comparably long period. But then, what’s X? 4? 6? 8?

Any idea, or suggestions on deciding which one I should get?

The iPhone 11 photo file sizes are actually smaller than the 6s because the 11 uses HEIF image compression. Videos recorded by the camera take up less space as well as the 11 uses HEVC video compression.

How many years have you been using your 6S? And you have not even filled up 64GB yet. So I doubt you'll magically fill up more than 64GB on the 11. Whatever it is, start your new phone fresh instead of from a backup. That way, you are not installing old apps that you don't even use anymore.

128GB would be ideal, but Apple is the master of upselling, so 256GB is the only option if you want the Pro.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I had a 512 GB XS Max - had my 96GB (used 120GB after processing) iCloud Photo database and 50+GB of other data (music), etc... It was about 180GB used if I remember right.

Decided to save some $ and get a 256 11 Pro Max. I have iCloud Photo Optimize Storage on and am now only using 40GB of my 256GB storage. (Haven't downloaded my offline music yet).

I've really culled what I've kept on my phone. -- sitting at 37.9GB right now.

 

[pika2000]

iCloud is not free (the 5GB is not enough), security, having control over your content etc.
I hate the idea of iCloud for many reasons so I will always go for ondevice storage. I have control of my backups etc. I control everything. Unlike iCloud.
iCloud goes down - you don't have access and we all know that happens with Apple throughout the year.

the 200GB tier will pay for the difference between 64 and 256 and will also increase my resale value so in the long run I win.

So back at you, I really don't understand the need to have everything in the cloud where you have no control over it.

Are you sure about that? How often do you actually backup your photos? What if your broke your phone tomorrow? Are you confident enough that you have the discipline of doing a daily backup (plus another backup to another medium other than your computer)?

How often did iCloud go down? Are you confident that your backup media will be more reliable than iCloud servers?

 

[BigMcGuire]

Are you sure about that? How often do you actually backup your photos? What if your broke your phone tomorrow? Are you confident enough that you have the discipline of doing a daily backup (plus another backup to another medium other than your computer)?

How often did iCloud go down? Are you confident that your backup media will be more reliable than iCloud servers?

Yep, this is what switched me to iCloud. I used to be the iTunes to external disk, duplicated guy till..... I lost my phone right after a few days of vacation (phone died) and ... I hadn't backed it up. Yep, lost all my photos I took.

iCloud went on after that and I've been using it for years now. Taking a photo and having it instantly available on all my devices (my Macbook has originals downloaded then saved to external Time Machine and CCC disks) ---- is just priceless. I gladly pay $9.99 for 2TB for my whole family to have iCloud. We use over 270GB.

 

[staggerlee41]

Thank you for the comments and for pointing me to that thread. A very useful read.

It looks like most people feel 64GB is sufficient if cloud storage is involved. Unfortunately I haven’t made up my mind going to the cloud. With my past usage pattern, 64GB is not enough for my 6s. So I think 64 GB won’t be enough for my future 11 pro. All my music is from my CD collections, and I do not expect the collection to grow very fast (if it grows at all). On the other hand, I take lots of photos, and I expect to take even more given 11 pro’s significantly enhanced photographic capabilities. Currently it’s the photos that are giving my 6s the storage crisis. So I want to avoid this on my 11 pro.

The enhanced photo capabilities of 11 pro’s camera must come with a large file size. I tried to google and find if there are any file size comparisons for 11 pro vs older models, but did not have luck. This should help me to more accurately estimate what storage space I am going to need, 256GB or 512GB.

I'm in the same position, although not in a position to purchase a new phone. My music library is extensive from CD's and digital downloads and I take lots of photos. My iPhone 8+ with 256 is good for me. I have tons of pictures--though I do use Cloud for photos, tons of music on it and still plenty of room left on it. I won't have to be concerned with space. If I were upgrading today, I'd opt for another 256 I think. If disk space is that much of a concern, I generally air on the side of caution and go with the largest available assuming the pricing is in line with what I'm comfortable with.

If this helps, I currently have 192 of 256GB used 139 of which is music. Photos are 2.85 GB.

 

[tothemoonsands]

If it’s within your budget, go for the 512GB. You can easily fill it between photos, games, full music library download, podcast downloads, the list goes on.
Think about what your needs will be in 1-2 years! If you think 256GB will be sufficient, that’s great! Go with the minimum amount you need since you will surely upgrade your phone again in the future and storage will likely be cheaper at that time.

 

[uecker87]

iCloud is not free (the 5GB is not enough), security, having control over your content etc.
I hate the idea of iCloud for many reasons so I will always go for ondevice storage. I have control of my backups etc. I control everything. Unlike iCloud.
iCloud goes down - you don't have access and we all know that happens with Apple throughout the year.

the 200GB tier will pay for the difference between 64 and 256 and will also increase my resale value so in the long run I win.

So back at you, I really don't understand the need to have everything in the cloud where you have no control over it.

Whoa. Someone took offense to my message. I said at the end "different strokes for different folks." I actually don't use iCloud. I bounce back and forth from iPhones and Android devices, so I use Google Photos (yes privacy worries and all - if Google wants to spy on me and my family, go ahead. We aren't that interesting).

I use the free version of Google Photos where they "compress" my pictures and videos, but I have never noticed anything extreme - and if I captured something amazing that I want in its full glory, I grab it from the device I shot it in. I have my pictures and videos on every device of mine - my wife's iPhone also backs up where I can see her photos too. Even on my cheap-o Fire Tablets.

The one thing you seem to not mention is that I can also back up full quality photos to my Mac or PC if needed. Just because I use a cloud solution for the majority of my backups doesn't mean I can't save special photos/videos on the device or another machine. I mean, do I really need to keep full quality photos and videos of memes and other random crap I decided to save/snap a picture of? 90% of the stuff I take pictures of is probably worthless to me a day or two after I took it.

Again - people have different use cases. Sorry you don't agree with mine, apparently. But you do you.

 

[Freida]

Are you sure about that? How often do you actually backup your photos? What if your broke your phone tomorrow? Are you confident enough that you have the discipline of doing a daily backup (plus another backup to another medium other than your computer)?

How often did iCloud go down? Are you confident that your backup media will be more reliable than iCloud servers?

I do backups fairly often (around every 10 days) and there really isn't anything that I can't afford to lose in those days. If I do I go and do backup on the day which is what I did yesterday with my computer as well. Sometimes I get very important files and I do back up straight away. So yeah, iCloud is not worht it for me as I prefer to control everything. That way I know where and when. Its easier this way
[automerge]1570736594[/automerge]

Whoa. Someone took offense to my message. I said at the end "different strokes for different folks." I actually don't use iCloud. I bounce back and forth from iPhones and Android devices, so I use Google Photos (yes privacy worries and all - if Google wants to spy on me and my family, go ahead. We aren't that interesting).

I use the free version of Google Photos where they "compress" my pictures and videos, but I have never noticed anything extreme - and if I captured something amazing that I want in its full glory, I grab it from the device I shot it in. I have my pictures and videos on every device of mine - my wife's iPhone also backs up where I can see her photos too. Even on my cheap-o Fire Tablets.

The one thing you seem to not mention is that I can also back up full quality photos to my Mac or PC if needed. Just because I use a cloud solution for the majority of my backups doesn't mean I can't save special photos/videos on the device or another machine. I mean, do I really need to keep full quality photos and videos of memes and other random crap I decided to save/snap a picture of? 90% of the stuff I take pictures of is probably worthless to me a day or two after I took it.

Again - people have different use cases. Sorry you don't agree with mine, apparently. But you do you.

I didn't take offense. Not at all. Sorry if the text gave you the impression. Definitely not my intention. I was just sharing the opposite angle and why I prefer "to touch" feeling rather than "mystical" cloud.
All good here, just don't trust iCloud etc.
Controlling thinks myself makes me more calm as i have multiple backups and offsite locations backups too so even if my house burns down I'm fine. Sure iCloud is probably ok but I prefer to control things myself so I know exactly what and where

All good friend

 

[whwang]

The iPhone 11 photo file sizes are actually smaller than the 6s because the 11 uses HEIF image compression. Videos recorded by the camera take up less space as well as the 11 uses HEVC video compression.

How many years have you been using your 6S? And you have not even filled up 64GB yet. So I doubt you'll magically fill up more than 64GB on the 11. Whatever it is, start your new phone fresh instead of from a backup. That way, you are not installing old apps that you don't even use anymore.

128GB would be ideal, but Apple is the master of upselling, so 256GB is the only option if you want the Pro.

Hi,

Thanks. The file size info is exactly what I need. I am aware about the new compression, but I am very surprised that it makes the 11 pro photos even smaller than 6s ones. If that’s the case, I believe 256 GB will be quite sufficient. (And then too bad there isn’t a 128 GB option.)

I filled up the 64 GB space in my 6s in about 3.5 years. If 11 pro has the same photo file size, then I expect to fill up the space even faster. The reason is I plan to offload all my holiday photography to 11 pro. In the past, I did half of it with my 6s, and the more quality-demanding half with my DSLRs. Now I am tired with carrying heavy DSLRs in vacation trips. After checking 11 pro’s image quality, I believe it’s good enough for vacation and I can leave my DSLRs for situations where quality is absolutely critical (mostly for me work, not for vacation). So in short, I will use 11 pro’s camera much more often than 6s, thus there is this concern of storage space.

 

[SisterBlue22]

Off load your photos to an external hard drive and go with the 64 gb or the 256.

Don't even necessarily need to do that. Here's a real world example that might help the OP. I have a 256GB 11 Pro Max. It currently has 12,076 photos on it, 1,041 songs, 96 videos of varying lengths, and 238 apps, and I have only 84.9GB used and 171.1GB free.

The 12,076 photos are taking up 32.78GB and the 1,041 songs are taking up 8.15GB. Apps total is somewhere in between those two numbers.

I do back all my photos up to the cloud and to my computer as well, but I like keeping them on the phone. I have many thousands of songs in the cloud as well, but keep a playlist dowloaded for use when in airplane mode while traveling.

 

[PilotWoo]

Off load your photos to an external hard drive and go with the 64 gb.

Amended

 

[whwang]

Don't even necessarily need to do that. Here's a real world example that might help the OP. I have a 256GB 11 Pro Max. It currently has 12,076 photos on it, 1,041 songs, 96 videos of varying lengths, and 238 apps, and I have only 84.9GB used and 171.1GB free.

The 12,076 photos are taking up 32.78GB and the 1,041 songs are taking up 8.15GB. Apps total is somewhere in between those two numbers.

Hi,
I am curious, are those 12000 photos taken with your 11 Pro? Or earlier generations of iPhones?

 

[SisterBlue22]

Hi,
I am curious, are those 12000 photos taken with your 11 Pro? Or earlier generations of iPhones?

It's basically every photo I've ever taken with any iPhone I've ever had, which is almost every version including and since the original.

 

[Falhófnir]

I currently have the 512 XS Max, but will get the 11 Pro Max in 256GB. I keep ALL my music, photos, and videos on my phone, but I find that it's a pain to sort through it all. So I'll be making a subset of my media which will basically be the "best of the best" (probably like 1/3 of my collections) to keep on my phone.

I'm getting to this stage now as well, I rolled over all of my camera roll from my 6 plus to my 256GB 8 plus, and it's now over 80GB with several thousand photos and over a thousand videos. While it's nice it's all on there for me to peruse, when I next upgrade my phone I'm not going to include the photo library, and just re-upload no more than 2-3,000 of the photos and videos I want on there the most. A lot of the time I take 2-4 pictures of the same thing to make sure I get a non blurry, properly aligned etc shot, so I expect at least 50% of my photos are near duplicates!