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I haven’t had a phone go past 40% storage usage since upgrading from an overcrowded 8GB 4S (where I used to have to delete photos or apps to install a new app) to a 64GB 5S because there wasn’t a 32GB option. At 128GB now, 60GB used, and that’s without being the least bit careful about storage usage or offloading anything to the cloud.

Base storage is always plenty for me these days. I just need room for apps, my music library, and taking photos. Anything else can be offloaded to my laptop, tho even that hasn’t been necessary in years. I mostly use my phone for communication and web browsing.
 
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My first iPhone, a "5" was 32GB. My second phone, a "6S" had 64 GB. My last two phones - an "Xs" followed by my "13 Mini" both have 256 MG. That seems to be the sweet spot for me right now, being that more than half of the capacity is filled, but it is not yet dangerously near the storage limit. I do not store much in the cloud, I have a fair number of photos and short videos, and I have over 6000 songs stored on my device, and I don't subscribe to a music streaming service. Over time, these phones tend to accumulate more stored content, unless you opt for off-line storage.
 
If you had to choose between the latest model iPhone with the newest features, or storage capacity which would you prioritise?

There's a big jump in price between the 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB options - here in the UK there's a £550 difference between the base model 14 Pro and the 1TB option. That's around a 50% premium over the base option.

If you have a budget in mind would you rather go for say a 14 or 14 Plus with higher storage, or the higher spec 14 Pro with lower storage? Maybe a compromise between the two, a mid-range storage option but going for the Pro model instead?
I have about 300Gb of music on the phone so I need the 512Gb version. I wouldn't compromise on the performance of the phone, I just delay the update until I feel it's worth updating, otherwise it's a significant waste of money.

For example, right now I have a 512Gb 11 Pro and I don't think it's worth updating to 14 Pro, to me the difference is marginal and not all positive. I will re-evaluate next year.
 
Same, anything I store is on iCloud (even photos). I used a 16GB iPhone for years and always go for base model storage. Practically though with the size of iOS updates and app installation sizes I feel like the minimum has to be 64GB/128GB.
If you do not mind using the cloud you can get by with the least amount of memory. Some prefer to have it all stored on their devide.
 
I always buy the lowest storage iPhone. I don't need more. I don't know what the heck people are doing with 1TB phones.
I don’t get it either. I have no idea why someone would want a million photographs and countless videos on their phone… I transfer my older photographs onto a computer or external disc drive because I don’t need to carry every single picture with me wherever I go.

64GB is enough for me, 128GB is what I would want but I certainly have no need for anything larger at the moment.

And I can be quite snap happy at times.

But each to their own! If someone wants to have all their pictures and videos at hand from years and years ago, that’s cool as well.
 
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I worked in places with poor connection to the internet in a previous post, where I had to use my phone for video and stills work. 4k video eats storage so I would always opt for storage personally
 
always base model for me. i have tons of apps, take lots of photos but use icloud.

recently changed my XS64gb, which was always near full but never an issue, for a 128gb 14 pro. at the moment there's 70gb used so 58gb left, but looking down the biggest culprits :

Civ VI 3.86gb, ill probably never open it. play it on my ipad more easily.
diablo immortal 3.41gb just want to try it but doubt ill keep it
easy golf 2.68gb in fact make that misc apple arcade games about 8g., trying to persuade myself during yet another free trial of apple arcade

so really i could be well under half full.
 
Storage is massively important to me. I put lots of songs on my iPhone (yes, I'm one of those people), take lots of photos/videos, and games can easily be several GB.
 
I have 256 with just under 83 GB used. I probably could get away with 128 GB.

Storage isn’t a more is better thing. You can have 50 TB but if you’re using 80 GB it’s not helpful. Just buy what you need plus allocate some for future expansion. Be realistic though because if you’ve been upgrading every two years you don’t need to plan for five “just in case”
 
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I have realized after owning 256GB storage models (X, XS, 11 Pro, 12 Pro and currently 13 Pro), I do not require that much. 128GB is enough. I have used only 15.62% of storage from 256GB; iOS & System Data alone take 20GB, the rest 20GB are the usual suspects. This is subjective, I’m no hardcore photography enthusiast. So base seems fine for me.
 
Both my iPhone and iPad have 128 gb storage. Using around 30-40 gb on each, so I had make it with 64😁
Using iCloud 200gb where my movies and photos are stored. Also using another backup.
You can’t be to safe with your treasures😊

Actually I cant understand that some people don’t have backups for their photos, and only store them in their devices.
I have seen and heard of many people that have lost years of images, just to save a few bucks in a month.
 
Actually I cant understand that some people don’t have backups for their photos, and only store them in their devices.
I have seen and heard of many people that have lost years of images, just to save a few bucks in a month.
I don't use iCloud, have years of photos in my phone but I sync my phone to my mac every day and transferred my photos once a week.
 
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I usually base it on the phone I had prior. The last 3 phones I have bought were the 256GB models. I use maybe 1/2 to 2/3s of that. If I ever feel strapped for storage, the next phone will be probably the 512GB model. Been doing since since the iphone 6.
 
I always go for lowest storage. I’ve been using iPhone XR from 2019. Currently 32GB of 64GB used. I use ”optimise iPhone storage” for Photos. I have 200GB iCloud storage with 62GB used. Half of that is iCloud Drive documents from my Mac. So yeah for my use case I don’t really need local storage.
 
I always buy my cars with the larger motor option and always do the same with my iPhones

14 Pro Max 512GB

When the 1Terabyte was first offered I was tempted but that’s way overkill even for me
 
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If price is that big of a concern, you’re going to have to make trade offs. At that point it is based on your needs. If you need more storage, stepping down to a smaller screen or lower model to fit your budget is sensible.

I always buy my cars with the larger motor option and always do the same with my iPhones

14 Pro Max 512GB

When the 1Terabyte was first offered I was tempted but that’s way overkill even for me
Not sure what someone is supposed to take from this, there is some implicit reasoning taking place: “I value horsepower over all else.”

At the end of the day, it comes down to what you value. Blindly buying the perceived “best” isn’t good, there are many people/companies ready and betting on that behavior.
 
I just try to logically think through it.

128GB I could get by on if I really had to, but I'd prefer not to stress about it. If I'm spending over $1000 on a phone, I better not be stressing about storage.

So, 256GB minimum is needed, and it's only $100 more. Not bad.

512GB would be nice for peace of mind, especially if I keep my device for years to come, but considering it's an extra $200 from 256GB and $300 from base price, that it's not essential for me, that my device storage hasn't increased that much over the past year, and that I could eliminate a decent amount of storage if I really needed to, I'd say it's not worth it.

256GB it is.

I don't want to have to worry about storage, but I also don't need to be wasting hundreds of dollars just for a tiny bit of convenience. If I start running out of storage, I really don't need to have my entire photo/video library on my device at all times. I have quite a few apps I don't really need. I don't really need my entire music library downloaded, I could narrow it down to some playlists. The increased storage models also depreciate faster and get no added trade-in value over the base model from Apple if you decide to go that route.
 
If you had to choose between the latest model iPhone with the newest features, or storage capacity which would you prioritise?

There's a big jump in price between the 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB options - here in the UK there's a £550 difference between the base model 14 Pro and the 1TB option. That's around a 50% premium over the base option.

If you have a budget in mind would you rather go for say a 14 or 14 Plus with higher storage, or the higher spec 14 Pro with lower storage? Maybe a compromise between the two, a mid-range storage option but going for the Pro model instead?
Would rather go Pro especially with this year’s range, I’d take less storage and go Pro.
 
Ive always gone with twice what I think I would need. If I think I could possibly get by with a 128GB device, I get the 256. I like having the extra space there in case it is needed. My last phone was a 12 Pro in 128GB. I used a bit more than half of the storage, about 60-70%, so this year I went with a 256GB 14 Pro Max. Right now I am using 61GB of it, and 30GB of that is music for use when I am in a low signal area like when I am working in the warehouse where I work. Next to no signal there.
 
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