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Is 32gb the new 16gb?

T

TahoeBlue

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 4, 2012
74
0
On the last day of my 14 day window, I returned my 16gb white wifi only new iPad back the Apple Store with the intentions of exchanging for a 32gb white Verizon. Because I am planning a trip to Europe this summer and didn't want to tote around a mifi again, apps nearly doubling in size, and the aTV3 allowing me to finally rip 1080p vids (which requires more storage space on my iPad if I want to throw a movie or two on there for a trip), I rapidly ran out of space. I didn't have this problem or even hit anywhere close 16mb on my 32gb iPad 2 wifi-only (which the spouse now has).

The Apple Store employee told me I was out of luck, as so many people were doing the same thing as me and returning their 16gb new iPads for the 32gb versions, and last year, it was the complete opposite. He literally had one 32gb Verison only in black, and I snagged it with the hopes a white one would show up within the new two week return window.

I am starting to wonder if the previous estimations of the 16gb being the best for resale will go by the wayside and the 32gb becoming the entry level standard.
 
Apps doubling in size is mostly a myth.

Some apps have but most haven't.

Most apps, games particularly, have been updated to run at the new resolution, but not many games include textures that support the resolution of the new ipad. Infact, a lot of PC games don't include textures that detailed!

As for non gaming apps, it's only small control 'buttons' and images that need upgrading, and for a lot of apps like eBay and amazon etc, these images are on the server. So the app needs to be updated to download higher resolution images when using the app.

16gb is fine if your not a big games person, use photo stream and music match, and don't feel the need to store HD movies.
 
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Apple should have doubled storage this year. 16GB for a "PC replacement" simply doesn't cut it. Who want capacity anxiety every time they download and app or new songs? Sure some stuff can be stored in the cloud but for day to day computing the 16GB iPad 3 is a semi-crippled device. The capacity wouldn't have been bad if memory was upgradable but it's not.
 
Not sure what you guys are doing with you iPad or iPhone, but I have a 16GB iPhone 4 and an early-2012 iPad and do not need more from it.

I got about 100 songs on my iPhone, a few dozen apps and don't need more.
 
quik said:
Not sure what you guys are doing with you iPad or iPhone, but I have a 16GB iPhone 4 and an early-2012 iPad and do not need more from it.

I got about 100 songs on my iPhone, a few dozen apps and don't need more.
Click to expand...

Just depends on what you use it for. The ipad has a larger screen, by design this means apps are going to be larger for it than it would be on the iphone. The bigger screen makes video much more desirable as well.

Someone thats going to use it to browse, play a few games, some music and maybe a video or two is going to be fine with the 16gb model.

However, someone thats heavily into video and photography is probably going to find 16gb lacking.

My personal opinion is that the 16gb model should have been dropped instead having 32gb, 64gb and 128gb. Especially when it comes to the doubling of app size for retina optimized apps and the recent bump in size of itunes high def videos.

I had to go android because of the lack of space (for my uses) so I could have external storage.

It all comes down to what you're gonna use it for. It bothers me when some people think that there space needs match everyone else's, fact is everyone has their own space requirements.
 
jabingla2810 said:
Apps doubling in size is mostly a myth.

So the app needs to be updated to download higher images when using the app.
Click to expand...

This is why the data size required for any updated/retina app increased. I noticed it myself, otherwise I would've exchanged for a 16gb 4g model. The amount of data some of these apps are using now is significantly larger. As more apps update for the new iPad, I think this will manifest itself more.

Apparently I am not the only one who faced this issue, and there are quite a few people returning the 16gb (at least in my area) for the 32gb version.
 
Just to help you

16gb is less than 32gb

Did you mean does 32gb appears to offer less storage than the same several years ago?

Terminology is everything
 
jabingla2810 said:
Apps doubling in size is mostly a myth.

Some apps have but most haven't.

Most apps, games particularly, have been updated to run at the new resolution, but not many games include apps that support the resolution of the new iPad. Infact, a lot of PC games don't include textures that detailed!

As for non gaming apps, it's only small control 'buttons' and images that need upgrading, and for a lot of apps like eBay and amazon etc, these images are on the server. So the app needs to be updated to download higher images when using the app.

16gb is fine if your not a big games person, use photo stream and music match, and don't feel the need to store HD movies.
Click to expand...

This is the most logical post I've seen on this forum regarding the whole 16gb/32gb "dilemma". Most people just start spouting, "THE APPZ AREZ BIGGERZ YOU NEEDZ MORE G-Bz" and leave it at that.

I had a 16gb 1st gen and 2nd gen and now a 16gb 3rd gen and I'm perfectly fine still... don't do much HD movies because it's is kind of a waste of time and space on a small screen...

The biggest use of the retina display for me is reading. It's night and day for text.
 
I'm still trying to figure out what I would need more than 16GB for. The iPhone does the heavy lifting, with the iTunes music, soon MOG music, podcasts and audiobooks. I'm just not sure what would take up more than a gig or two on an iPad.
 
Typical 1080p movie rip is around 4gb.

Most are not going to rip both 720p and 1080p versions to just put the smaller version on the iPad, and the other for the AppleTV2.

iTunes store users can of course micromanage which version downloads to the iPad, but I bet those who buy the HD version and have the AppleTV2 may set and forget the 1080p download setting.

Right now, without a single movie on my iPad, I am using 7gb. Factor in a week long trip where 4GLTE isn't available, celluar data limits not exactly catering to 14 hour flight, etc. -- want to have more than two movies on there. 16gb is not enough for my personal use, and I don't like to micromanage my space that much, while I understand others don't mind it at all.

All of this aside, I thought it was very interesting that 16gb iPad models were being exchanged for the 32gb model to the point where there were stock issues. They had plenty of 16gb models in the various flavors. I am merely speculating next year's resale situation.
 
Apps aren't going to be the reason to upgrade so much. Content creators and photographers are going to be the first to get higher demands for space. Note that every iOS system will get a little more taken away, in terms of space for apps, as more of them get updated for Retina use. However, it's not a huge difference, but it is a difference nonetheless.

Considering people are likely to start using pictures and movies of much higher quality than before, that's the most likely reason people would want something larger. Around here, you can always get 16GB models, left and right. Also, there's plenty of 4G models as well. The hot items are the iPad Wi-fi, both the 32GB and the 64GB models sell first.
 
iEvolution said:
It all comes down to what you're gonna use it for. It bothers me when some people think that there space needs match everyone else's, fact is everyone has their own space requirements.
Click to expand...

I think this is still the best answer. I returned my 32GB for a 16GB, but that's because i just don't need that much space on an iPad. I have a computer where i have 3.5TB of space, a ipod classic that carries my entire music collection, an iphone stuffed with games and no music. For a netbook replacement, i've found the 16GB a perfect substitute. I have 3.5 GB of apps (70 in total) and 9.5 GB of videos. I fit 2 movies, all episodes of Game of thrones, and the 3rd season of Modern Family on this thing. I am happy with what it gives me.

But everyone is going to use their device in a different manner and that's why they offer the different versions.
 
My ipad2 was 16gb.

Mistake too small.

Went for the 64 in the end but with a few films apps photos and a chunk of music 16gb is too small.
 
BiggAW said:
I'm still trying to figure out what I would need more than 16GB for. The iPhone does the heavy lifting, with the iTunes music, soon MOG music, podcasts and audiobooks. I'm just not sure what would take up more than a gig or two on an iPad.
Click to expand...

iWork alone is right at a gig. Have that on your iPad with Rage and Modern Combat 3 and you're already at 2GB on those 5 apps.
 
jabingla2810 said:
Apps doubling in size is mostly a myth.

Some apps have but most haven't.

Most apps, games particularly, have been updated to run at the new resolution, but not many games include textures that support the resolution of the new ipad. Infact, a lot of PC games don't include textures that detailed!

As for non gaming apps, it's only small control 'buttons' and images that need upgrading, and for a lot of apps like eBay and amazon etc, these images are on the server. So the app needs to be updated to download higher resolution images when using the app.

16gb is fine if your not a big games person, use photo stream and music match, and don't feel the need to store HD movies.
Click to expand...

You really don't know what you are talking about. I'm sorry, but OP disregard this post.
 
in Soviet Russia, 8 GB is the new 16 GB!

(Never used the 32GB storage of my iPad 2 - so this time I got myself 16 GB, which is still too much.. (IMHO) ;) )
 
Derpage said:
You really don't know what you are talking about. I'm sorry, but OP disregard this post.
Click to expand...

Well that's not a very nice thing to say without explaining yourself. :confused:

The only app I have seen to double in size is galaxy of fire 2 HD. And that is because of the increase in texture sizes.

For example, when Infinity Blade 2 got updated for the retina resolution it became smaller in file size!

The kindle app difference was negligible, same for flipboard, eBay, and pretty much every other app I can think of off the top of my head.

If you want to store HD videos, then sure, go bigger. But My point was, that with iCloud you really don't have to, if you can manage your video content.

It's all preference, for example, I picked up a 32, and I'm happy.
 
If you aren't a big gamer or a movie buff then I can def see getting by with a 16gig. I have 186 apps, 54 are games. The 132 non games are only taking up ~6gigs. If I werent a gamer I'd go with 16gig for sure.
 
I tried this going from a 64 to a 16 gig. Let's jut say it didn't work out. The only way I could do it is if I wiped and started fresh without restoring from backup. Even then there would be issues.

For a device that sits around the house only, 16gig wifi is plenty, when you take the iPad outside the house, 64gig cellular is where it's at.
 
Got the 32gb since I travel quite a bit so it's nice to have all my music and some movies to watch with some space left over
 
I have more than 16GB in just apps on my iPad.

I suppose some will buy the iPad and not do much with it so a small size is needed. But it should start at 32GB and go to 128GB.

iCloud doesn't really solve anything you can't stream video. And even if you could you would go way over on your data cap very fast.

If this a a laptop replacement it has to continue to grow.
 
I got a good deal on a 32 Gb original iPad so when I went with an iPad2 that also needed to be the same size since I was used to having that much space at my disposal...when I go for the iPad 4 or 5 it will probably be 64Gb minimum :D
 
16gb is too small, for some people. But then so is the 64 gb. For me, the 16gb is still quite large, as I've never used more than 4.4 gigs of the 32 gb iPad 1 I was using. Apple realizes this I'm sure. Eventually the storage will increase as will the app sizes. By then, hopefully the iPad 5 or 6 will be here and I'll likely upgrade then if needed.
 
I just can't see watching video on a tablet. I've tried it with the Kindle Fire, and it's almost painful to not have a 55" 1080p screen and 5.1 channel surround sound with a comfy couch.

I found two games I'd want (other than Words or Angry Birds or other small ones), and they are about 800MB total.

My audio is all on my 64GB iPhone. 37 out of 45GB used is audio. 1.4GB is Navi. That's less than 7GB for everything else, including a crapton of apps, and a bunch of games I almost never play.

Considering I am going to use it for magazines, books, as a global mobile hotspot, occasional web use, Evernote and Email, I can't even see the need for 16GB of space... Is there anything that would get me even near the 16GB?
 
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