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Could you technically add more memory to iPhone?

P

Phonefanman

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Original poster
Jun 21, 2016
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Just curious from just being curious standpoint could the iPhone be opened up and have more memory added? Let's say you had a buddy who works at the Apple store and you wanted to change your iPhone 16gb into a 64gb could this be done?

And what ever happened to the iPhone 6 with 128gb? Didn't they pull it off the market because of some issues the phone had with the 128gb being to large?
 
In China I watched videos on YouTube that it is possible. They somehow have a machine that swaps the memo tu chip from 16GB to 128GB. Search in YouTube it is possible.
 
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Phonefanman said:
Just curious from just being curious standpoint could the iPhone be opened up and have more memory added? Let's say you had a buddy who works at the Apple store and you wanted to change your iPhone 16gb into a 64gb could this be done?

And what ever happened to the iPhone 6 with 128gb? Didn't they pull it off the market because of some issues the phone had with the 128gb being to large?
Click to expand...

This has been discussed already...use the search function.
 
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Just get a cheap Android phone with micro-sd slot and make it as your media player because iPhones aren't better at it. Can't play different video formats except MP4. The difference between 16gb to 64gb iPhone models is ridiculous when you can pick up a 64gb micro-sd card for $20 these days and about $40-$50 for 128gb.

Android has this app called QuickPic. I can see both my photos and videos in the same app. Unlike Apple which has a Videos and Photos app to separate them. And everytime I click a video on QuickPic, MX Player is by default video player. QuickPic can play videos but MX has more robust settings like higher volume, can play more different video formats, and background play.

Those are the many reasons why I will just settle for a 32gb iPhone 7 instead of a 128gb. Save the $100+ when a 128gb micro-sd can be found for half that. An iPhone isn't really something I will use to watch videos and usually HD movies take up the most space for me.

Android -> media files thanks to QuickPic, MX Player, and micro-slot for cheap storage expansion.

iPhone - > camera, games...

Having a family of phones is way better than solely depending on one phone.

Group > Flying solo

Too many weaknesses strictly depending on one platform, one phone. I find it more fun being a phone fanatic than an exclusive Android or iPhone fanboy.
 
bufffilm said:
This has been discussed already...use the search function.
Click to expand...
I performed searches for "replace (iPhone) memory," "replace (iPhone) storage," "increase (iPhone) memory," "swap (iPhone) storage/memory," & "increase (iPhone) storage," and came up with little relevant or recent results.

Did you have different results?
 
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Phonefanman said:
And what ever happened to the iPhone 6 with 128gb? Didn't they pull it off the market because of some issues the phone had with the 128gb being to large?
Click to expand...
They pulled the 128GB iPhone 6 because Apple wants you to buy the newest phone if you're spending that much.
 
I think (not sure) the entire logic board will needed to be replaced as there will be some differences in both boards to replace the memory chip ( both of different sizes)
 
Phonefanman said:
Just curious from just being curious standpoint could the iPhone be opened up and have more memory added? Let's say you had a buddy who works at the Apple store and you wanted to change your iPhone 16gb into a 64gb could this be done?

And what ever happened to the iPhone 6 with 128gb? Didn't they pull it off the market because of some issues the phone had with the 128gb being to large?
Click to expand...
Check out the tear-down pics & videos from iFixit and then tell us what you think. :)

Short answer: Sorry, but "No."
 
willmtaylor said:
I performed searches for "replace (iPhone) memory," "replace (iPhone) storage," "increase (iPhone) memory," "swap (iPhone) storage/memory," & "increase (iPhone) storage," and came up with little relevant or recent results.

Did you have different results?
Click to expand...

It's there...I remember it well.
 
I guess in theory the storage chip could be de-soldered and replaced with a higher capacity one, but it would be almost impossible to do without specialised equipment and a lot of experience and there may well be other changes that would need to be made to the motherboard.

Here's a picture of the motherboard with the storage chip shown with the red border - picture from the ifixit teardown

QYkZeLTWOdDJIKuN.huge
 
Phonefanman said:
Let's say you had a buddy who works at the Apple store and you wanted to change your iPhone 16gb into a 64gb could this be done?
Click to expand...
I'm going to speak to this only since most of the rest of your question has been answered.

So, assuming your hypothetical, let's add some realism.

1. Does your hypothetical friend value his job?
2. Does your hypothetical friend have access to specialised tools?
3. Does the Apple store the hypothetical friend work at have those special tools?
4. Does your hypothetical friend have the experience/knowledge to desolder/resolder the parts necessary?
5. Does the Apple store your hypothetical friend works at have those parts?
6. Does your hypothetical friend have the time/space necessary to do this at the Apple store he/she works at without getting caught (assuming that Apple store has the tools/equipment necessary).

If you can answer NO to the first question and YES to the rest then this is possible.

However, if your hypothetical friend ever gets caught realize that he won't be working for Apple after that. This is the kind of thing that gets Apple employees fired very quickly.
 
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An Apple store employee isn't going to be doing discrete component level repairs. They MIGHT be able to do something like this at one of the larger service depots, but I doubt it. Removing and replacing soldered parts is most likely left to the manufacturer of the logic board.
 
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Why did you buy 16GB initially then?

My rule is if I can't afford the highest capacity model, then I don't buy
 
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willmtaylor said:
I'm not saying it isn't. I'm saying that you suggested using the search function to find a thread, and when I did so, I couldn't find it. Can you?
Click to expand...

There is no thread on the exact topic I started here. So that's why I started the thread on the topic. The other guy said search for it on here, but problem is it don't exsist
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eyoungren said:
I'm going to speak to this only since most of the rest of your question has been answered.

So, assuming your hypothetical, let's add some realism.

1. Does your hypothetical friend value his job?
2. Does your hypothetical friend have access to specialised tools?
3. Does the Apple store the hypothetical friend work at have those special tools?
4. Does your hypothetical friend have the experience/knowledge to desolder/resolder the parts necessary?
5. Does the Apple store your hypothetical friend works at have those parts?
6. Does your hypothetical friend have the time/space necessary to do this at the Apple store he/she works at without getting caught (assuming that Apple store has the tools/equipment necessary).

If you can answer NO to the first question and YES to the rest then this is possible.

However, if your hypothetical friend ever gets caught realize that he won't be working for Apple after that. This is the kind of thing that gets Apple employees fired very quickly.
Click to expand...

I was using the Apple employee as an example. I should of just said someone who knows what they are doing. I was just curious didn't say I wanted to do it... Getting fired from an Apple store is just a good reason to get a real job anyway. I wish I could say the same for the poor people at foxxcon....
 
Phonefanman said:
There is no thread on the exact topic I started here. So that's why I started the thread on the topic. The other guy said search for it on here, but problem is it don't exsist
Click to expand...
I'm not saying that it does or doesn't. I'm saying his response was unhelpful. Go back and read.
 
bniu said:
Why did you buy 16GB initially then?

My rule is if I can't afford the highest capacity model, then I don't buy
Click to expand...
Don't want the highest memory model, was just curious if adding memory could be done. I'm happy with my phone the way it is... Like I said I was just curious and can afford 10 iPhones, just don't want to...
 
Phonefanman said:
Just curious from just being curious standpoint could the iPhone be opened up and have more memory added? Let's say you had a buddy who works at the Apple store and you wanted to change your iPhone 16gb into a 64gb could this be done?

And what ever happened to the iPhone 6 with 128gb? Didn't they pull it off the market because of some issues the phone had with the 128gb being to large?
Click to expand...

short answer no. your friend would not be able to do that. they don't even carry the part to do so. and even if you somehow gave him the part and he did it while at work he would get fired.
 
Technically yes, you can, but it's a highly invasive procedure that requires specialized equipment.

There's a place in China that'll do it. This is a video of them actually performing the procedure.

So...while it's technically doable, practically...not really, unless you can ship your phone off to them.
 
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