Knowing Apple 128GB will be the entry point till 2030. If it weren’t for Android phones pushing up the base specs Apple would have still been pushing 64GB phones + iCloud subs as the answer.
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Is 128GB Enough iPhone Storage?
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My 64 GB iPhone is enough. Only using around 20 GB of it. I literally DO NOT NEED MORE. This is why I have tons of external storage, for archiving all my content so I can remain at ~40 GB free.
Seeing as how my iTunes library doesn't even sync reliably (and syncing is still USB 2 speed on all but 15 Pro/Pro Max) I'm using 70GB of my 256GB phone right now. IMO, Mac RAM/SSD base configs and upgrade costs are a bigger issue.
For a phone, 128GB is fine for a large majority of regular people. Most people don't feel the need to have every piece of music, game, picture or video they ever owned or took on their phone. I have many devices, so it just makes more sense to keep it in the cloud and grab it from there anytime I need it on the device I need it on.
128GB is the sweet spot for me. With the apps I use and the storage I need atm, without deleting anything, I use half of that so plenty of room to play around with in the near future.
When someone says they're pushing the limits on their 512GB device, what I read is "I take 4k videos of all of my farts and I'm running out of space."
When someone says they're pushing the limits on their 512GB device, what I read is "I take 4k videos of all of my farts and I'm running out of space."
The issue here is a little bit like grocery shopping. Sometimes you put a lot in your cart and you're shocked how little the total is. Sometimes you don’t put a lot into the cart but the total scares you. It’s sometimes just difficult to have a mental image of how much a total is.
If you only take a modicum of video, 128GB is perfectly fine. (But not really in 2024). It’s enough for 1-2 years (perhaps 3) and everything you need doing in between.
But a 1 minute 4K video (depending on container/codec) is from 250-500MB. ProRes it’s over 1GB….(I know you can use external storage for this on the Pro)
SOOOO IMHO 128GB is way too little, 256GB doable but requires management eventually and 512GB way too much. Honestly I’d like a 384GB as the perfect sweet spot.
I usually have 25GB of podcast, 30GB of music, normal set of apps (10-20) 30GB, 1 year of photos+video 100GB (1 month is usually 50 videos and 400-500 photos). So that’s roughly 185GB. Yes, TOO MUCH podcasts at any time downloaded and I don’t delete enough bad videos. But that leaves me with 50GB of free space after 12 months.
So, when is 256GB not enough? When you’re on a vacation for a longer duration than 2 weeks, say doing a 3-4 week hike (Camino de Santiago, Appalachian Trail etc). Yes, iCloud, but that requires gigabytes of data and that’s often not doable. So the other option is a thumb-drive to dump your video files into OTG. Risk is, you loose it. But you can also use this as a backup solution if someone steals your phone.
256GB should be the base model. And yea, many of us only have 512GB MacBooks, BUT an external drive is much more feasible with a laptop vs a phone.
So, I just ordered the 15 Pro 256GB but I see it’s going to be tight with my use pattern. It’s just, 522GB is too expensive. But…I might actually order the 512GB and bite the bullion.
If you only take a modicum of video, 128GB is perfectly fine. (But not really in 2024). It’s enough for 1-2 years (perhaps 3) and everything you need doing in between.
But a 1 minute 4K video (depending on container/codec) is from 250-500MB. ProRes it’s over 1GB….(I know you can use external storage for this on the Pro)
SOOOO IMHO 128GB is way too little, 256GB doable but requires management eventually and 512GB way too much. Honestly I’d like a 384GB as the perfect sweet spot.
I usually have 25GB of podcast, 30GB of music, normal set of apps (10-20) 30GB, 1 year of photos+video 100GB (1 month is usually 50 videos and 400-500 photos). So that’s roughly 185GB. Yes, TOO MUCH podcasts at any time downloaded and I don’t delete enough bad videos. But that leaves me with 50GB of free space after 12 months.
So, when is 256GB not enough? When you’re on a vacation for a longer duration than 2 weeks, say doing a 3-4 week hike (Camino de Santiago, Appalachian Trail etc). Yes, iCloud, but that requires gigabytes of data and that’s often not doable. So the other option is a thumb-drive to dump your video files into OTG. Risk is, you loose it. But you can also use this as a backup solution if someone steals your phone.
256GB should be the base model. And yea, many of us only have 512GB MacBooks, BUT an external drive is much more feasible with a laptop vs a phone.
So, I just ordered the 15 Pro 256GB but I see it’s going to be tight with my use pattern. It’s just, 522GB is too expensive. But…I might actually order the 512GB and bite the bullion.
I think 128GB is probably enough. It’s one of the few storage defaults that feels sufficient for Apple devices at the moment. I always get the Pro Max phones (small hands mean any phone is large for me so I’ve optimized on battery life) and I choose 512GB these days just because I always buy the middle tier storage, but I’m definitely an outlier. I’m pretty sure I set my mom up for 256GB when she got her 15 Pro Max over Christmas. And if forced, I’d be fine with 256GB. I’d just need to offload more photos.
The base iCloud is what’s nuts. I get that anyone can sign up for an iCloud account so they need to be careful with free space offers to curb abuse, but there has to be a way to offer device owners more free space. Or heck, one of the richest companies in the world, just jump up to 15GB to match Google. It isn’t like cloud storage hasn’t dropped drastically in price for Apple over the last however many years they’ve offered 5GB. It isn’t enough that they can have 600% margins on the storage in MacBooks, they want to have 1200% margins on cloud too.
I do the Apple One Premier so I can share with my parents and save them money, but for phones people pay $800 and up for, it feels silly to be constrained at 5GB. Heck, offer a free year of 50GB of storage with purchase of a new phone and use that as a way to lock people into paying $13 a year or getting them primed for an Apple One sub, similar to the 3-month TV+ promos. But at least then you don’t have people buying a phone that realistically cannot be used without a minimum iCloud subscription.
The base iCloud is what’s nuts. I get that anyone can sign up for an iCloud account so they need to be careful with free space offers to curb abuse, but there has to be a way to offer device owners more free space. Or heck, one of the richest companies in the world, just jump up to 15GB to match Google. It isn’t like cloud storage hasn’t dropped drastically in price for Apple over the last however many years they’ve offered 5GB. It isn’t enough that they can have 600% margins on the storage in MacBooks, they want to have 1200% margins on cloud too.
I do the Apple One Premier so I can share with my parents and save them money, but for phones people pay $800 and up for, it feels silly to be constrained at 5GB. Heck, offer a free year of 50GB of storage with purchase of a new phone and use that as a way to lock people into paying $13 a year or getting them primed for an Apple One sub, similar to the 3-month TV+ promos. But at least then you don’t have people buying a phone that realistically cannot be used without a minimum iCloud subscription.
Step 1: Physically connect to your Mac
Step 2: Offload the gigabytes of photos and videos you don’t need to store on there.
Step 3: Continue using your phone.
It isn’t much more complex than this: no need for a $700 premium for more space.
Step 2: Offload the gigabytes of photos and videos you don’t need to store on there.
Step 3: Continue using your phone.
It isn’t much more complex than this: no need for a $700 premium for more space.
64GB even will be fine for some people, but these days its a little tight. Im using 56GB currently on my 128GB 15 Pro. I am pretty heavy on the picture taking, and I do a good amount of videos too. I don’t do phone games though, which can eat a lot of space, but I would say I am a power user with other apps. Also worth noting I have 200GB iCloud account but I share with the wife.
I think for the average person 128GB is probably perfect. If you are a heavy gamer and video taker (like taking 20 minute plus stuff), it won’t be enough. Though I think those people are more of a niche. Also if you are someone who keeps phones for years and you dont do back ups or cloud storage, you should probably go all the way up to 1TB these days.
But yeah 128GB is the perfect starting configuration.
I think for the average person 128GB is probably perfect. If you are a heavy gamer and video taker (like taking 20 minute plus stuff), it won’t be enough. Though I think those people are more of a niche. Also if you are someone who keeps phones for years and you dont do back ups or cloud storage, you should probably go all the way up to 1TB these days.
But yeah 128GB is the perfect starting configuration.
128Gb as the base should be good. I have around 20GB free still on an iPhone I’ve used for years and wouldn’t want any less than that. In a few years it should go up though.
Not really, but I've always just had the habit of ripping my CDs to my computer in lossless format for archival reasons, and I guess that habit has extended to downloading on streaming services. Still, even though it is tough to tell any differences, I like the idea of playing as close to an original copy as possible.
It's an interesting point I'd like to touch on. I recently gave my dad my 13 Pro as I moved to the 15 Pro. I went to create an iCloud backup for him but couldn't, as his phone required more than the 5GB of free space. It's sad when the owner of an iPhone 13 Pro doesn't even have the minimum space required to create a backup, and the phone has very little content (no music, some photos and that's it).
Apple should give 20 GBs as the free storage option, which is reasonably required to backup an iPhone with not a lot of data + have space left. This would serve a majority of people, as those who need dozens of GBs of data would buy more storage anyway. The more elegant solution would be to make sure that for every device you have in your iCloud account you get one iCloud backup free of charge so it doesn't count against your storage, but that's just nonsense talk.
This wouldn't even be news if Apple didn't brainwash everyone to think you shouldn't have a MicroSD card slot to expand your storage.
Congrats, you all played yourselves.
Congrats, you all played yourselves.
Yes.
that being said, the url do this site isn’t googrumors.com.
The but-what-about-them argument is the lowest intellectual bar anyone can add to a discussion.
we should aim to do better.
128GB is plenty for the majority although on the pro it seems a bit tight for the price. Might be a squeeze for gamers
I’ve been using my 128GB iPhone Xʀ on iOS 12 since August 2019. It’s fine for now, even after 14,000 photos and a bunch of videos.
That said, with today’s camera capabilities (and henceforth storage), I’d recommend more, just to be safe. At least 256GB.
This is if you plan to use the camera AND if you keep the device for a while. There’s no need to be constrained from day one, in my honest opinion.
That said, with today’s camera capabilities (and henceforth storage), I’d recommend more, just to be safe. At least 256GB.
This is if you plan to use the camera AND if you keep the device for a while. There’s no need to be constrained from day one, in my honest opinion.
Is 128 GB enought? Obviously for some people yes and for others no. It really is that simple.
I think my next iPhone will be 512GB. I think the base for regular phones should be 256GB and pros should be 512GB. Apple needs to stop penny pinching on storage.
So the difference it price between the 128gb and the 1Tb model is about $500.
2Tb of icloud is around $10 a month. It varies a bit from region to region and what bundle you take but it's not far off.
So if you take the base model you can pay for a little over 4 years worth of iCloud storage and on that basis you'll be on your second phone before you've used 2TB up
The other thing to think about is what happens if your phone gets stolen or lost? If you are backing everything up to HD then there's a cost to the drives, plus time and then you've got all the other things you probably haven't thought about like bookmarks, passwords and messages. But if you've had a phone stolen you quickly say a big thank you to icloud
For most families the 2Tb is more than enough and there's no harm in going through things like photos and messages every so often and deleting the ones you don't need.
2Tb of icloud is around $10 a month. It varies a bit from region to region and what bundle you take but it's not far off.
So if you take the base model you can pay for a little over 4 years worth of iCloud storage and on that basis you'll be on your second phone before you've used 2TB up
The other thing to think about is what happens if your phone gets stolen or lost? If you are backing everything up to HD then there's a cost to the drives, plus time and then you've got all the other things you probably haven't thought about like bookmarks, passwords and messages. But if you've had a phone stolen you quickly say a big thank you to icloud
For most families the 2Tb is more than enough and there's no harm in going through things like photos and messages every so often and deleting the ones you don't need.
Ridiculous that 5 gig is the free storage tier. 50 is where it should be.
