iPhone Storage is 'Absolutely the Most Profitable iPhone Feature' says Analyst

[I7guy]

Well this means we can give up on ever getting an SD slot.

It truly amazes me there are so many people here who will brag about how great Apple is *because of* their high profits, when the reality is other companies simply aren't as eager to gimp their products in pursuit of the short term bottom line.

Timmy's Apple simply can't comprehend what came so naturally to Jobs, that long term customer loyalty trumps short term price gouging. Apple truly is the new Microsoft and it's only a matter of time before someone comes along and disrupts them.

People aren’t bragging because of apple’s high profits, people are citing profits as a counter to some of the off-the-wall unfounded criticism of Apple. There has been an “Apple is doomed” smell in the air since Timmy took over and all that has happened since, is the company hit $1T.

How many years do you think it will take to piss if Apple customers due to high prices, especially since Samsung validated price gouging high prices.

I’m waiting for someone to disrupt Apple and Samsung; they had better be damn good.

 

[macduke]

Anyone else feel like the top tier storage space is far outpacing their use?

Maybe it's because I have iCloud Storage which is really useful for photos and videos, but if I didn't have that I'd probably just archive the first 6 years of my iPhone photos and only keep the past five years on a rolling basis. But even so 4K60 video can be big nowadays. I used to always go for the top tier storage but now I just don't need it. I don't even need 256GB but they don't offer 128GB.

I cleaned up my iPhone before getting my XS to remove crap I don't need or offload apps I haven't used in a while and I'm at 63GB right now, so I don't want to run out of storage all the time on 64GB. So you have to jump up to 256GB, and I go crazy with the storage and store part of my Lightroom catalog locally (smart previews) and get up to around 90-95GB. Still well short of 128GB. Maybe I'm different because I only store a little bit of music locally and don't keep any movies on my iPhone. When I'm traveling I'll load a few movies onto my iPad Pro. I'm hoping that Apple will start the iPhone XI (?) at 128GB next year, but I doubt it will happen as it would lower the ASP because I imagine there are a lot of people like me who go for 256GB and don't even use half of it.

 

[Hildy]

Everyone can decide whether want storage in phone and comfort or will be offloading it to other storage.
But the other storage also cost something. And you have to maintain it. Any adult have to make its math and decide.

If iPhone is users only computing device than it has to stick with iCloud as you can not backup to other cloud. You can backup your contacts and some settings but not whole phone and can not backup phone without baking up photos as well.
You can get 50 GB cloud free but you can only offload media there. Nothing more.

That is just few thoughts.

On a positive note, google translate is getting better...

 

[Greenmeenie]

Sorry... but paying nearly $1500 for an iPhone is getting ridiculous. It doesn't matter how much disposable income one has. At some point, it just becomes a waste of money. That's of course just my opinion. $1,000 is the limit for me. The watch, too. I bought the LTE version and somehow it seemed more expensive than last year's models at $529. That's actually a pretty good deal for what you get... I hope it doesn't keep creeping upward like the iPhones.

I agree. At the very most, the most expensive iphone should only cost as much as the most expensive ipad pro...if that. I know that more and more people now use their iphone as their only computer, camera and entertainment device...but come on. I guess Apple knows how addicted people are to their iphones. It’s like a crack addict & their dealer. They know they’re hooked and can charge them whatever they want.

 

[mi7chy]

Going price for Intel 512GB SSD is $90 so, yes, that's quite an Apple markup.

 

[imola.zhp]

I've usually purchased the high-end memory phones. I'm using about 85gig's of my 128gb 7+, so to upgrade to a new phone I am forced to buy the mid-line 256gb. However, each time I upgrade my phone my storage needs jump too, so I expect within a year a new phone will be using over 128gb and will need the 256 to get me to two years.

 

[Gasu E.]

It seems like there's a math error here.

Not from what is shown here. The first paragraph refers to the end-customer charge, or retail price; the second refers to Apple's profit, based on the wholesale price.

 

[wigby]

Well this means we can give up on ever getting an SD slot.

It truly amazes me there are so many people here who will brag about how great Apple is *because of* their high profits, when the reality is other companies simply aren't as eager to gimp their products in pursuit of the short term bottom line.

Timmy's Apple simply can't comprehend what came so naturally to Jobs, that long term customer loyalty trumps short term price gouging. Apple truly is the new Microsoft and it's only a matter of time before someone comes along and disrupts them.

All companies offer as little as possible without alienating customers to maximize profits. Apple is currently better at this than any other company they compete directly against. This means that they have earned the most loyalty. This also means that Samsung cannot afford to withhold as many features, upgrades, benefits as Apple because they are always chasing Apple's profits. None of this has anything to do with the experience of happy Apple customers.

 

[pika2000]

And yet, Apple only gives us 5GB of iCloud space, which isn't enough to backup a single iPhone (even when turning off Photo backup and other items)

And yet it baffles me how people can afford a $1k iPhone but cannot afford 99c a month for 50GB iCloud.

 

[scrapesleon]

Should we be surprised my this

 

[brofkand]

And yet it baffles me how people can afford a $1k iPhone but cannot afford 99c a month for 50GB iCloud.

It's not about the price to me, it's principle. I pay a premium for Apple products, I won't pay more for iCloud storage. I'd rather just turn iCloud off.

 

[FFR]

Don't get me wrong, I couldn't care less about the ability to personalize an Android phone. What I am saying is that I prefer Apple over Android even though the latter allows for more personalization (naturally, as there are so much more Android phones available). So when you say you are fine with paying a premium for the ability to personalize, I can see how that makes sense in the Porsche context, but not in the Apple context. Here, you pay premium without the personalization (especially on the hardware side, no SD card slots etc.).

It’s not the same personalization.
Porsche’s list is extensive, you can do whatever you want to the exterior or the cabin. Hell if you want to pony up they will help you design your own unique 911.

Android customization is just on the display, that’s why I said it wasn’t a very apt comparison.
Google did once offer a hardware personalization program before they ran Motorola into the ground and sold it for scraps to foreign buyers.

In the context to apple, I was replying to a poster that was mentioning the difference in profits, in relation to prices of porche options vs apples.

TLDR: was replying to another posters comparison.

 

[Substance90]

They should start at 128GB, but there’s a ton of profit in charging an extra $100 for the 256GB model.

64GB in a $1000 device is embarrassing.

They should but it's not happening on greedy Timmy's watch.

 

[iisdan]

"The iPhone X will be discontinued due to low demand" When will be stop listening to analysts?

 

[Feenician]

Anyone else feel like the top tier storage space is far outpacing their use?

Maybe it's because I have iCloud Storage which is really useful for photos and videos, but if I didn't have that I'd probably just archive the first 6 years of my iPhone photos and only keep the past five years on a rolling basis. But even so 4K60 video can be big nowadays. I used to always go for the top tier storage but now I just don't need it. I don't even need 256GB but they don't offer 128GB.

I cleaned up my iPhone before getting my XS to remove crap I don't need or offload apps I haven't used in a while and I'm at 63GB right now, so I don't want to run out of storage all the time on 64GB. So you have to jump up to 256GB, and I go crazy with the storage and store part of my Lightroom catalog locally (smart previews) and get up to around 90-95GB. Still well short of 128GB. Maybe I'm different because I only store a little bit of music locally and don't keep any movies on my iPhone. When I'm traveling I'll load a few movies onto my iPad Pro. I'm hoping that Apple will start the iPhone XI (?) at 128GB next year, but I doubt it will happen as it would lower the ASP because I imagine there are a lot of people like me who go for 256GB and don't even use half of it.

I thought about it this year and opted for the 64Gb XS Max, going down from the 128Gb 7 Plus. Like you I use my iPad when traveling for storing movies and TV. I also pay a buck a month for 50Gb which is very comfortable shared between two people. Unlike you, I'm not much of a shutterbug so I don't even have that overhead. I'm very confident the 64Gb will be enough for me over the 2-3 years I have this phone.

With that said, my use case is not everyone's use case and it's good that they have options. Also, realistically, if they had offered a 128Gb tier between 64 and 256, I'd have probably opted for it. I don't get emotional about it, as some seem to, but it definitely seems a bit cynical to offer them in the tiers they do. Unless people really examine how much space they want and need the gap between 64 and 256 can cause people to buy more than they need.

 

[stevearm]

Why would anyone need 500GB in a phone. Then again I find it bizarre people actually want a 6.5 in screen on a phone, but that's another topic.

 

[VulchR]

Apples seems to not understand elasticity of demand. They consistently overcharge to the point I rarely buy their products now.

 

[danielsutton]

Looking forward to when they finally release a 1 tera bite I phone.

At the fair, they have a jug of jelly beans, and the person who can guess the number of jelly beans in the jug wins a prize. Let's play a similar game. Who can guess the price of a 1TB iPhone if Apple were to sell one? Well, a terabyte is about 1 trillion bytes, and let's say that Apple charged $1 for each byte in the terabyte. TADA! I have the answer!! The iPhone will cost $1 trillion!!

Add to that price a glass back (they say it is for wireless charging, but I am thinking that it is a way to upsell AppleCare+), and we have a very fragile and expensive phone

 

[Chrolm]

Not sure why this is a surprise to anyone. This is normal in other business as well - take cars - they make a LOT on accessories, and the more expensive models in the lineup. Do you really think for instance the top 911 is almost 3x as expensive to make as the cheapest? Nope. Same goes for TV's, stereos, sofas etc etc.

If you want the premium model, you pay a premium price. Just as you do with other products.

 

[VulchR]

Why would anyone need 500GB in a phone. Then again I find it bizarre people actually want a 6.5 in screen on a phone, but that's another topic.

Well, the Facebook app alone takes up about half a gigabyte. Add songs, pictures, movies etc. and I would imagine it would start to fill up if you're the kind of person who uses the iPhone as the primary information hub..

 

[KhrisGarcia]

Going price for Intel 512GB SSD is $90 so, yes, that's quite an Apple markup.

Did we read the same article? You should buy the intel for $90. Skip the Apple markup. Go for it.

 

[MoreRumors?]

I am not surprised by all the profits Apple is making. As long as people are willing to pay, Apple will continue to price their products that will yield the most profits, including raising the base price and price for options.

Well this means we can give up on ever getting an SD slot.

As long as people are willing to pay extra to upgrade the memory on Iphones and/or for Cloud, it only confirms Apple decision to continue this business model.

 

[macduke]

I thought about it this year and opted for the 64Gb XS Max, going down from the 128Gb 7 Plus. Like you I use my iPad when traveling for storing movies and TV. I also pay a buck a month for 50Gb which is very comfortable shared between two people. Unlike you, I'm not much of a shutterbug so I don't even have that overhead. I'm very confident the 64Gb will be enough for me over the 2-3 years I have this phone.

With that said, my use case is not everyone's use case and it's good that they have options. Also, realistically, if they had offered a 128Gb tier between 64 and 256, I'd have probably opted for it. I don't get emotional about it, as some seem to, but it definitely seems a bit cynical to offer them in the tiers they do. Unless people really examine how much space they want and need the gap between 64 and 256 can cause people to buy more than they need.

Hope you're able to last that long on 64GB. Yeah, I have 2TB iCloud because they upgraded my 1TB for the same price and don't offer 1TB for cheaper. I have my wife, grandparents, and my four year old on family sharing and combined it's like around 550GB across three iPhones and five iPads. It has been great that they allow sharing and have also allowed things like Messages to be stored in the cloud with all the backups. I just wish they would make file storage better, or rather more like Dropbox so I can drop my subscription to that and take more advantage of unused space.

 

[UmichAg]

And yet it baffles me how people can afford a $1k iPhone but cannot afford 99c a month for 50GB iCloud.

This is not about having space to store photos, docs, etc. You can't even do a simple backup of your phone given how bloated iOS has become and how sparse iCloud's 5GB is. Apple has been pushing to disentangle the iPhone from your computer, but you need your computer to backup your phone.

 

[Feenician]

Hope you're able to last that long on 64GB. Yeah, I have 2TB iCloud because they upgraded my 1TB for the same price and don't offer 1TB for cheaper. I have my wife, grandparents, and my four year old on family sharing and combined it's like around 550GB across three iPhones and five iPads. It has been great that they allow sharing and have also allowed things like Messages to be stored in the cloud with all the backups. I just wish they would make file storage better, or rather more like Dropbox so I can drop my subscription to that and take more advantage of unused space.

I'm at 32Gb used now and have 10Gb of photos (currently all stored at full res locally) and 8Gb of unused apps to offload. I really think I'll be good with this.

Agree that iCloud/Files could use some UX tuning.
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You can't even do a simple backup of your phone given how bloated iOS has become

How "bloated" iOS has become would have nothing to do with the size of backups. The OS is not backed up at all.