Does filling up an iPhone affect performance?

[Ffosse]

I have an 128GB iPhone 7; I'm not close to using all that space, but I'm curious.

If I filled it up to just 1GB left would it affect the phones performance? And would it be the same on android? And how about my 128GB SSD laptop?

 

[SSAJ]

Yeah when you have less then 50MB left it will affect ram badly

 

[Ffosse]

As low as 50MB?

 

[Shirasaki]

As low as 50MB?

Probably just an example. In practice, ios will try to not let free space become that ridiculously low, plus low free space condition would damage storage chip on your phone faster.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

No, it is much higher. iOS loves disk cache. I usually keep around 5GB free without feeling an impact. Less and its slower. This is with iOS9 on an iPad2, which is severely RAM limited.

 

[Critycal]

Yes, filling up disk space will affect performance. SSDs tend to chose empty blocks to write in, since they can only modify a block by erasing and re-writing the entire block. Once all of these blocks are partially filled, then every write operation will require an erase and rewrite, meaning the SSD has to read the block into cache, modify the cache with the new data, then erase the block and write the cache. Having a SSD completely filled up all the time will also shorten the lifetime of it.

 

[Ffosse]

Thanks for the replies - I was considering transferring all my music onto the phone which would leave me with just 4 to 5GB left.

I think I'll make do with the 40GB of music I already have on it plus streaming.

 

[Newtons Apple]

I have an 128GB iPhone 7; I'm not close to using all that space, but I'm curious.

If I filled it up to just 1GB left would it affect the phones performance? And would it be the same on android? And how about my 128GB SSD laptop?

You will will find your iPhone 7 having all kinds of problems way before you reached the 1GB left.

 

[michael9891]

Not sure how it works with iPhones but I was always under the impression its best to leave at least 10% of the hard drive space free. My computer hard drives always show red isnstesd of blue when below 10%.

 

[eyoungren]

Thanks for the replies - I was considering transferring all my music onto the phone which would leave me with just 4 to 5GB left.

I think I'll make do with the 40GB of music I already have on it plus streaming.

There are other ways…

For instance, Google Play Music has software that integrates with iTunes, allowing you to send your library to their cloud. You can then use any device (including your iPhone) to stream your entire library anywhere you have a connection.

Of course, it's not a solution for capped data plans, but you can download some or all songs over WiFi and play them in areas where there is no connection or you wish to limit your data.

Google Play also keeps track of your playlists and whatever you add or delete to your iTunes library, including modifying playlists is reflected to their Cloud so you never have to think about it.

There is also iTunes Match, which is pretty much the same thing but you have to pay or it. I hear it's inexpensive though.

 

[Applejuiced]

Yes, I'd leave at least 2-3GB's free.
If you fill it up to the max you will have many problems and the device will run unstable.
You dont need 128GB worth of stuff on you at all times, start removing some things.