When Apple did a 32GB iPhone the price was the same as you now pay for 64GB.
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4K Videos on a 16GB 6s ? Design Flaw or Deliberate ?
- Thread starter TheRealAlex
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Many people only need 16GB. That is an absolute fact.
I bought a 64GB 6+ but I have enough space on my phone right now that I could have bought a 16GB. I use my phone for:
Calls
Internet
Stream movies
Stream music
Stream TV shows
Some gaming Apps
Email
Podcasts
A few pictures/video's - which I upload to the cloud every 6 months
Some PDF files docs for work
I'm sure there are many people like me.
Second fact is iPhone is the King of smartphones right now. It will be more expensive. Just like how a BMW will be more expensive than a Toyota. Compare prices at launch:
Samsung S6 32GB $650
iPhone 6S 64GB $750
So basically you would need to pay $100 more to get the King of smartphones. For most that $100 premium is well worth it. That premium comes down to paying a mere $4 more a month over 2 years. Which to many people is no big deal. If that $100 premium bothers you maybe its time to switch to Android.
I bought a 64GB 6+ but I have enough space on my phone right now that I could have bought a 16GB. I use my phone for:
Calls
Internet
Stream movies
Stream music
Stream TV shows
Some gaming Apps
Podcasts
A few pictures/video's - which I upload to the cloud every 6 months
Some PDF files docs for work
I'm sure there are many people like me.
Second fact is iPhone is the King of smartphones right now. It will be more expensive. Just like how a BMW will be more expensive than a Toyota. Compare prices at launch:
Samsung S6 32GB $650
iPhone 6S 64GB $750
So basically you would need to pay $100 more to get the King of smartphones. For most that $100 premium is well worth it. That premium comes down to paying a mere $4 more a month over 2 years. Which to many people is no big deal. If that $100 premium bothers you maybe its time to switch to Android.
I am never a fan of using cloud storage to store my stuff... you'll need an internet connection and sometimes there isn't any.
Cloud storage is only good as an additional source of backup, and if you want to transfer/share stuff. Local storage is still the best.
Its about Apple being able to offer a $650 phone.
if they started the line at 32GB the phone would have to start at either $700 or $750.
if they started the line at 32GB the phone would have to start at either $700 or $750.
This is exactly the problem. Apple basically raised the prices by $100 as the base model used to be plenty for the average user, but now you have to be a bare bones user to get by with the base model. For anyone who likes to take photos and videos, you are really "forced" to get the 64GB version for $100 more.
Why? Storage prices have gotten cheaper and cheaper, so Apple is paying less for that 16GB flash now then they did 3 years ago.
A $50 for 32 GB in-between model wouldn't be a bad idea. Many people simply don't need 64 GB, myself included.
You do realize 32 GB of storage wouldn't cost Apple anywhere near what it charges for storage upgrades, right? Apple could put 32 GB in the base model iPhone and offer it at the same price or at worst $10-20 more.
I suspect they would lose more profit from the lack of 64 GB upsells than the actual cost of the 32 GB.
Hmm..
Bottom tier has never been enough for serious photo/video takers, regardless. Originally it was 4GB, then 8GB now 16GB. I dare say 32GB wouldn't be enough even now so even if that was the bottom tier most would have to upgrade to 64 anyway. I've always been middle tier, and that got a bump from 32-->64GB so I'm happy with how things have turned out.
When the base model was 4GB that was not enough for the average user either. Look at the historic average selling price of iPhones. The percentage of people who buy the upper memory phones are the same as 5 years ago.
And its not about the incremental costs of flash memory. Its about losing $100 in sales and about $90 in profit for each customer that opts out of buying the higher level phones. Apple has sales targets they want to reach in gross dollars. If they sell less high memory phones then the only way to make up that lost sales is to charge more for the base model.
For many such as myself 32GB would have been plenty, but 16GB is not enough. A couple years ago it was fine, but with 4k recording and higher resolution live photos people who could do all of that on the base model will now have a harder time doing so. It's all part of Apple wanting more money I'm sure by making the base model less appealing.
Or they can be less greedy, as they are making an insane amount of money. But to them it's all about squeezing every penny out of their customers as possible.
Its all about the lost sales of people opting to buying a 32 GB base model instead of the upgraded 64GB model.
Apple budgets for total iPhone revenue and profit each year. So if they lose sales from people buying more base model phones they need to make up that lost sales. The way to do that is to raise the price of the base model.
You can judge that for yourself.
Apple's profit margin last year was only 21%.
I don't think that's greedy at all. But you are free to have your own opinion on the matter.
Yes they make an insane amount of money but they also have insane expenses. They spend billions in R&D, retail stores, acquisitions, manufactering equipment, CapEX, and top talent.
Don't even bother with Warrior2000. He just wants progress and profit when it fits his argument. Nothing to stand on.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/wow-bent-iphone-6.1918103/page-3#post-21883817
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/wow-bent-iphone-6.1918103/page-3#post-21883817
Upping the base model to 32 or 64GB would mean less going for the mid / high option. The 16GB is not a design floor and will serve exactly how Apple intended 
IMO, your opinion does not hold much weight because you are not even an iPhone customer.
That is a complete lie. Again, you have no idea what you are talking about.
But I can see when you have no basis for an argument that your only route is to discredit.
But I can see when you have no basis for an argument that your only route is to discredit.
The fact is many people are perfectly fine with 16GB phones.
If you raise the base model to 32GB you will definitely lose sales of the higher tier phones.
Apple will need to make up for that lost sales by raising the price of the base tier phone.
Then people who are fine with 16GB phones will lose out because they will have to pay more for a 32GB phone that has more memory than they need. Instead of paying $650 for a 16GB phone they will have to pay $700 for a 32GB phone.
If you raise the base model to 32GB you will definitely lose sales of the higher tier phones.
Apple will need to make up for that lost sales by raising the price of the base tier phone.
Then people who are fine with 16GB phones will lose out because they will have to pay more for a 32GB phone that has more memory than they need. Instead of paying $650 for a 16GB phone they will have to pay $700 for a 32GB phone.
It will more than double what the user could store on a 16GB phone, and that would likely be enough for many.
Apple had always doubled all capacities, but for some reason they didn't double the base model last year, likely because they want to effectively make the mid-range the ones everyone buys by leaving the base model alone.Upping the base model to 32 or 64GB would mean less going for the mid / high option. The 16GB is not a design floor and will serve exactly how Apple intended
It's good for Apple but bad for the consumers. They should have double the starting storage to 32GB, as many Android phones have and you can be sure they will rub that in the face of people looking for a new phone.
Even though I've been buying 64GB models the last few iPhones I've never needed it. I'm always below 16GB but I buy the bigger one just in case. In that regard, I can understand why the 16GB model exists. But I also realize a lot of people out there store more stuff on their phones than I do so I also understand the desire for a 32GB base model. If this is an intentional strategy by Apple (it probably is), I compare it to data plans from service providers and how they used to do minute plans. Take AT&T for example...their current 5GB plan is $50. The next plan up is 15GB at double the price. AT&T knows that most people probably want to be somewhere in between 5 and 15 GB so they make the choice obvious for you: pick the higher plan. They used to do the same with minutes and texts.
What people fail to realize is the 16GB phone is an absolute bargain.
We all know that flash memory is much cheaper than what Apple charges to upgrade to 64/128. They make about 90% margin on those upgrades of $100 and $200.
Simple math shows if thats the case the 16GB is the best deal.
Base on court documents the iPhone has about a 45-55% gross margin rate.
16GB phone
Sale price: $650
Cost of sale: $325
Gross Margin: $325
Gross Margin: 50%
Now lets ad memory at 90% margin
64GB phone
Sale price: $750
Cost of sale base phone: $325
Cost of incremental memory: $10
Gross Margin: $415
Gross Margin: 55%
128GB phone
Sale Price: $850
Cost of incremental memory: $15
Gross Margin: $510
Gross Margin: 60%
So the 16GB phone is actually the best deal since its gross margin is the lowest at 50%. So peoples solution is to make an even BETTER deal? LOL. Am i missing something?
We all know that flash memory is much cheaper than what Apple charges to upgrade to 64/128. They make about 90% margin on those upgrades of $100 and $200.
Simple math shows if thats the case the 16GB is the best deal.
Base on court documents the iPhone has about a 45-55% gross margin rate.
16GB phone
Sale price: $650
Cost of sale: $325
Gross Margin: $325
Gross Margin: 50%
Now lets ad memory at 90% margin
64GB phone
Sale price: $750
Cost of sale base phone: $325
Cost of incremental memory: $10
Gross Margin: $415
Gross Margin: 55%
128GB phone
Sale Price: $850
Cost of incremental memory: $15
Gross Margin: $510
Gross Margin: 60%
So the 16GB phone is actually the best deal since its gross margin is the lowest at 50%. So peoples solution is to make an even BETTER deal? LOL. Am i missing something?
True, but you're missing my point. It's still not enough. 64GB is the sweet spot for this kind of thing and even that is pushing it, 128GB for the real enthusiasts, but 32GB? Nah. No where near enough. It wasn't enough for 1080p/8MP photos which is why I'm a 64GB guy.
In fact I'm glad they have this new tiering system. It means I'm only paying $100 to get to 64GB rather than the $200 that it was previously.
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