Other Curious...Why 1TB?

[MiddKid]

Hey everyone - No judgement here, I'm genuinely curious. As I made my annual pilgrimage to the forums to track my iPhone order and I love seeing everyone's configs. I noticed quite a few people ordering the 1TB model. I'm curious the use cases to need that much space. In my mind it must be a lot of photos with no online (e.g. iCloud) backup, significant video downloads, and/or heavy app usage on something that requires large files.

I ask because people generally consider my Photos library to be huge at 107K photos. I have every digital photo I've taken since I got my first digital camera in 2002. BUT I do use iCloud which does an amazing job at managing space on my phone resulting in 109GB still available on my 256GB model. Actual photo storage flow is:

• Synced to Apple One (2TB iCloud plan for my family of 5)
• MacBook Pro with external SSD where the photo library sits...set to download original resolution photos
• Backs up with TimeMachine (local)
• Backs up with Backblaze (offsite)

So I've got originals in 4 places (iCloud, SSD, TimeMachine, Backblaze) and my phone space is freed up.

For those of you getting the 1TB model, what's your primary storage need? Thanks for satisfying my curiosity!

 

[tranceking26]

Well if I was getting a 1TB iPhone it would be because of ProRAW and all the 4K videos etc. But YMMV.

 

[Samantha124]

On that note: to free up space on my phone, if I optimize my photos, how do you access the original photo through the cloud? My photos are starting to take all my space.

 

[Mlrollin91]

Those photos and videos must be compressed beyond belief (Yes I know iCloud). I have:

Songs: 0​

Videos: 17​

Photos: 2,539​

Apps: 95​

Capacity: 128GB​

Available 52GB​

I'm getting a 256GB this time around. My Photos are compressed but still almost full-res.

 

[AnOracle]

I do a lot of traveling with quality headphones (so keeping lossless audio local to me is important) and I do a ton of 4K filming offline for various projects (occasionally in areas with bad cell coverage), so the space realllllyyyy comes in handy.

 

[hovscorpion12]

tranceking26 said if perfectly. When Apple announced ProRes and Pro RAW for the 13 Pro Max I knew I needed 1TB. [Came from 512GB 11 Pro Max]

Granted I could offset the photos and vids to an external SSD or cloud storage, but I love the ability to edit directly on device. Plus, I can Airdrop them to my iPad Pro to edit on Photoshop or Luma Fusion.

 

[Ryan1524]

I’ve maxed out my X 256 many times. And when it gets close to full, everything crawls. Bad experience. Mind you this phone doesn’t do too high image/video res, being 5yrs old.

Aside from the obvious, downloaded podcasts/music/audiobooks can also build up if you allow the apps to keep some amount to download to device.

I think people can absolutely get by with 256GB in 2022, but it takes discipline, and reliance on good internet access at all times.

 

[eyoungren]

I'm curious the use cases to need that much space. In my mind it must be a lot of photos with no online (e.g. iCloud) backup, significant video downloads, and/or heavy app usage on something that requires large files.

For those of you getting the 1TB model, what's your primary storage need?

I am emphasizing the two words above in your quote to make a point. A lot of people seem to be focused on buying only what they need and not what they want. Or what they want never seems to exceed what they need.

I'm not getting the 14, but if I were, it'd be the Pro Max and the 1TB model because that would be what I'd want. A lot of the time what I want exceeds what I need by a lot so getting what I want usually takes care of any needs in a purchase.

That usually allows me to not worry about need AND it means I don't have to sit there agonizing about a decision. I've already made the decision and I'm happy because I'm getting what I want.

That'd be why 1TB…if I was buying the new iPhone.

 

[darksoul78644]

I preordered the space black 1tb because I plan on keeping this phone for at least 3 years. And hey better to have all the space than not have it and have to be deleting stuff

 

[max2]

Some places have no internet.

 

[Andeddu]

I am emphasizing the two words above in your quote to make a point. A lot of people seem to be focused on buying only what they need and not what they want. Or what they want never seems to exceed what they need.

I'm not getting the 14, but if I were, it'd be the Pro Max and the 1TB model because that would be what I'd want. A lot of the time what I want exceeds what I need by a lot so getting what I want usually takes care of any needs in a purchase.

That usually allows me to not worry about need AND it means I don't have to sit there agonizing about a decision. I've already made the decision and I'm happy because I'm getting what I want.

That'd be why 1TB…if I was buying the new iPhone.

I see what you’re saying but it doesn’t make much sense to me and is actually quite baffling. You’ve already previously stated that you have only utilised less than one tenth the capacity of your current 512GB phone and yet here you are saying that if you were to purchase an iPhone 14 Pro, you’d go for the 1TB model. That 1TB model costs over $200 more than the 512GB model and yet it’s a given you’d never get close to that lower limit.

It’s akin to attending a restaurant and ordering 5 starters, 3 main courses and 8 deserts and wasting a mountain of food because it’s what you want rather than what you need.

It’s your money though so please disregard what I am saying and do whatever you like.

 

[lsara]

I got the 1TB since I do have most of my music library downloaded, have many photos and even with using iCloud still have a pretty large amount of those stored on device, and with the amount of apps and app data I'm using 380+ on my 512GB. With the newer camera features it makes sense for myself to go with 1TB.

 

[shoppy]

I have a 1tb and using 492 Gbs or so. Don’t use iCloud at all except for my messages.

360Gb is photos and another 49Gb is videos.
I like my photos on my device and have large SSDS to back everything up. I also have rubbish reception in most places that I work so prefer not to have things in the cloud.

Different use cases, mine suits for me.

 

[Andeddu]

I don’t need a large amount of space so I would probably go for the 128GB standard Pro model. My signal is always very good with a solid 4G reception.

There is really no requirement for me to have anything other than photographs and videos on my phone as all music and video can be streamed on my devices. I get by just fine on a 64GB 12 Mini with around 15GB free space so I know the lowest model would be ideal for me.

 

[ToddH]

Because I can!

Actually I want the storage because it’s always available. As a photographer, ProRAW on the 14 pro max will take up 75mb per shot from the 48mp sensor. I shoot ProRAW on everything including snapshots. I’ll delete as needed.

 

[ZipZap]

Its simple. think about the space you used on the phone for your last 2 iPhones and buy accordingly. Unless you actually need it, don't buy it as it is a waste of money. With iPhone you do not buy with the future in mind.

 

[Jackbequickly]

I store nothing on the cloud and have almost filled my 13 Pro Max with 512gb so I ordered the 1TB 14 Pro Max.

 

[eyoungren]

Its simple. think about the space you used on the phone for your last 2 iPhones and buy accordingly. Unless you actually need it, don't buy it as it is a waste of money. With iPhone you do not buy with the future in mind.

How I spend my money is my own concern. If I want to 'waste' it by buying more than I need it's not really any of your business. I don't condemn you for how you spend your money, do not condemn me for how I spend mine.

 

[xtremeplayhd]

Currently on a 64gb model, got a 1TB 14 pro. Got the 64gb previously because it was what fits my pocket, but after 4 years with it I faced a few problems I don't want to face again on the next few years. I do make use of my iPhone on remote areas (a.k.a. with poor/none 4g/5g signal), so local storage is indeed important and now I know how important it is to me. All the points below resume into: Comfort, agility, time saving and knowing that you have what you need right away.

1. No space for recording 4K 60
2. No space to have offline music and/or videos playlist
3. No space for offline Map
4. No space for having big games
5. No space for backup (some apps need some storage left to create backup of your data nightly)
6. High latency on the Photos app to be fully downloaded (because of course, no space to have any local media)
7. A lot of apps getting offloaded (if you don't use for a while) -- and if you need to use one of them on the street... Well, gotta wait a few minutes...
8. For newer iPhones, no space for using ProRes/ProRaw

Plus, I do have iCloud (2TB - family sharing) with a good amount of storage left, but I think iCloud storage should be a Backup storage/secondary storage for less used data, but not principal. And I get surprised everytime someone tells me they don't have any sort of backup (either iCloud or Google drive). Imagine losing your iPhone with tons of data, pictures etc. How much does that worth for each of you?

I did not died by using a 64gb phone for years in a row, but I felt uncomfortable several times.

This is life quality. But again, make sense IF you do use of your mobile phone outside home frequently, hiking, traveling to unknown places and so on.

If you're always at home or always around greater areas/downtown, so a minimal storage plus a great internet connection 100% of the time will pretty much run your needs (see happy Chromebook users)

 

[CrashKC]

I see what you’re saying but it doesn’t make much sense to me and is actually quite baffling. You’ve already previously stated that you have only utilised less than one tenth the capacity of your current 512GB phone and yet here you are saying that if you were to purchase an iPhone 14 Pro, you’d go for the 1TB model. That 1TB model costs over $200 more than the 512GB model and yet it’s a given you’d never get close to that lower limit.

It’s akin to attending a restaurant and ordering 5 starters, 3 main courses and 8 deserts and wasting a mountain of food because it’s what you want rather than what you need.

It’s your money though so please disregard what I am saying and do whatever you like.

Nope, more like buying a Buggati when all you need is a Toyota. Who would ever NEED all that horsepower? Someday on that open Nevada road it might be fun to have. And if you are filming the action out there with just your 14 max pro … it might actually turn out to be a need.

Nice to have lots of headroom.

 

[ZBoater]

I got the 1TB model because they don't make a 2TB model...

 

[bmustaf]

Nope, more like buying a Buggati when all you need is a Toyota. Who would ever NEED all that horsepower? Someday on that open Nevada road it might be fun to have. And if you are filming the action out there with just your 14 max pro … it might actually turn out to be a need.

Nice to have lots of headroom.

When ProRAW and ProRes take the kind of space they do, it's no longer "head room". Esp when you consider situations where you want a fair amount of offline content for other things (like Music for those that travel, even with WiFi on aircraft, you can't/don't want to be downloading that stuff on those connections).

it is not "BugattI" level anymore, even, 1TB is totally a reasonable amount of storage for someone who wants to shoot at a quality that doesn't involve lossy compression (either b/c they'll use that today or would like to future-proof their photos as much as reasonably possible when displays are much higher resolution and that resolution is actually useful).

 

[lkalliance]

On that note: to free up space on my phone, if I optimize my photos, how do you access the original photo through the cloud? My photos are starting to take all my space.

If you've got iCloud Photo Library (I assume it works the same on other similar products, but I don't know), the full-res version lives in the cloud and on any of your devices you've opted to not optimize (for example, on my iMac in my case). When you choose to optimize, if you've only got the compressed version of the photo, when you tap to view it full size your phone will download the full version. So at any given time a certain number of photos on your phone are full-res versions, and most will be the compressed version. If you've got a photo that you downloaded to full res but you haven't viewed in full res for a long time, iOS will delete that full-res version and leave you with the compressed again. In that fashion it manages how much storage you're using.

 

[lkalliance]

Bill Gates (at least, so the story goes) in the early 1980's:

640K ought to be enough for anyone.

He was talking about RAM and not storage, but I still chuckle at how far we've come, talking about memory amounts over one and a half million times the size of what the source of the quote was talking about.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I've been hovering at 240GB over the last few years. I went to 512 for my 12 Pro Max and decided to go 1TB for my 13 Pro Max because I wanted room to grow if I wanted it to. I was tired of upgrading my phone every year so I wanted a phone that I could keep for 2-3-4 years if I wanted to.

I really expected my usage to increase a lot faster than it has over the last year. But I enjoy having the space.

Granted, when I went to go look at trade in value for my phone, $720 so... you do lose $... Especially if you want to upgrade more than once every few years.

I could have gotten by with a 512 and had I chosen to get a 14 PM, I would have gone 512.