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The iPhone 15 offers “huge storage for tons of photos,” or at least that’s what Apple boasts in its latest ad. Whether that’s the case for you depends on what you do with your iPhone and what storage options you choose. However, before you open your wallet, there are a few things to consider.
The entry-level storage tier for iPhone 15 is 128GB. This is a notable increase from the 64GB baseline that lasted until 2021’s iPhone 13. Considering the 2018 iPhone X came with just 64GB, the base storage options for Apple’s latest devices may start to seem generous.
However, this generational upward shift has meant more storage as our digital habits expand to encompass everything from high-resolution photos and multi-gigabyte triple-A games to extensive app libraries. It simply reflects the increased demand for capacity.
The iPhone 15’s camera capabilities now include 48-megapixel photos and 4K video recording, and the space required for these high-resolution files is significantly larger. While these advances undoubtedly improve the quality of captured content, they also consume local storage space, leaving what once seemed sufficient space insufficient for many users’ needs.
Will iCloud help?
Apple’s iCloud service provides a solution to your device’s storage limitations, offering a variety of plans beyond just 5 GB of free storage. Frankly, this is insufficient for most users. Apple’s paid iCloud+ storage subscription plans offer 50GB, 200GB, and 2TB. All plans include additional features such as “iCloud” private relay, email hiding, and custom email domains. Currently, subscribers pay $0.99 per month for 50 GB of cloud storage, $2.99 per month for 200 GB, and $9.99 per month for 2 TB.
Recently, Apple also added 6TB and 12TB storage options to accommodate the needs of users with a wide range of storage requirements. However, these come at a cost, both financially and in terms of relying on an Internet connection to access your files. A 6TB iCloud+ plan costs $29.99 per month, and a 12TB plan costs $59.99 per month. (For comparison, Google’s 5TB and 10TB cloud storage plans cost $24.99 and $49.99 per month.)
iPhone storage and iCloud
Standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models start with 128GB of storage, but Apple offers 256GB and 512GB upgrade options, and the iPhone 15 Pro has an additional 1TB option. (iPhone 15 Pro Max models start with double the storage at 256 GB and upgrade to 512 GB and 1 TB.)
By offering up to 1TB of capacity on the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple is responding to users who prioritize having large amounts of storage directly on their devices. However, this option costs $1,499, which is $700 more than the base model. Therefore, it’s worth considering whether choosing a lower capacity model and supplementing it with additional iCloud storage is a more economical and practical choice. For example, 2 TB of iCloud storage for 5 years costs $500. That’s $200 cheaper than a 1TB iPhone 15 and could well last the life of the device.
Whatever decision you make, it will depend on your usage patterns and the value of immediate offline access to your files versus the flexibility and potential cost savings of cloud storage.
The future of iPhone storage
Given the current trajectory, it seems logical that Apple would increase the initial capacity of all iPhone models to 256GB in future generations. Hopefully, you’ll also re-evaluate the measly 5GB of free iCloud storage the company offers. More generous quotas that reflect the realities of modern digital consumption patterns are definitely behind the times.
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