New Google Photos ad riffs on struggles of 16GB iPhone users

A new advertisement for Google Photos presents a solution for storage woes on low-capacity iPhones. But the pitch could have less relevancy if rumors prove true and Apple gives up on 16-gigabyte base configurations with the 'iPhone 7.'

The advertisement preys on fears of missing out, and demonstrates Google Photos' "free up space" feature where pictures and videos taken on an iPhone are offloaded to the cloud and not retained on the phone. Apple's iCloud has similar features with paid storage, but Google's photo storage is unlimited for users that select "high quality" in Google Photos.

Despite aiming at 16-gigabyte iPhone users and showing iOS interface shots, the tail-end of the advertisement depicts a Google Nexus 6P.

Released in May 2015, Google Photos will allow images up to 16 megapixels to be stored at full resolution. Photos taken in higher resolutions by a DSLR and uploaded from a computer will be compressed, but Google claims that the image quality will not be affected. Videos up to 1080p are stored for free. Users with paid Google Drive accounts can store full resolution pictures and videos, up to the limit of storage.

Rumors have circulated throughout most of 2016, claiming that the "iPhone 7" expected in September will include 32 gigabytes of storage for the entry level model. Apple has eschewed a 32-gigabyte capacity for the mid-range offering in lieu of 64 gigabytes for a $100 price premium over the entry level model.

A number of vendors' flagship phones have shipped with 32 gigabytes of storage as the default in recent years. Recent releases, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, come stock with 64 gigabytes of flash media.

Google Photos is available on the App Store, requires iOS 8,1 or above, and occupies 133 megabytes of storage space.

69 Comments

ddawson100 531 comments · 16 Years

About 8 years ago

Google is a lot more generous with cloud storage, too. :s I'm just going to bite the bullet and upgrade my iCloud storage.

jkichline 1369 comments · 14 Years

it's ridiculously cheap to have a ton of iCloud storage nowadays.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201238

Seriously, get a phone that has the storage you need to do what you want, or realize that you're going to have to manage your storage more. That's really the tradeoff. All you have to do is plug your phone into a computer and take the pictures off every now and then. It's really not that hard to do and doesn't take a ton of time. Or sign up for more iCloud storage and put your pictures on iCloud. 1 TB for about the same price to upgrade your phone to 32 GB. It's a no-brainer.

There are always people that want to go cheap and then complain that something doesn't meet their needs.

thewhitefalcon 4444 comments · 10 Years

The reality is Apple needs to boost the base storage. End of story.

seankill 566 comments · 15 Years

jkichline said:

it's ridiculously cheap to have a ton of iCloud storage nowadays.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201238

Seriously, get a phone that has the storage you need to do what you want, or realize that you're going to have to manage your storage more. That's really the tradeoff. All you have to do is plug your phone into a computer and take the pictures off every now and then. It's really not that hard to do and doesn't take a ton of time. Or sign up for more iCloud storage and put your pictures on iCloud. 1 TB for about the same price to upgrade your phone to 32 GB. It's a no-brainer.

There are always people that want to go cheap and then complain that something doesn't meet their needs.

There is also always someone to take up for Apple too. 16GB is ridiculous for 2015 $650 phone. This coming from a 64GB iPhone 6+ user. This may shock you but Apple as a company can mess up and make wrong choices, this is one of those inspired by being cheap on a phone with margins in excess of 40%. Luckily I don't know the pains of a 16GB phone; I always bought the 32GB iPhone anyway. This commercial is spot on, regarding Apple's cheapness in this particular case.

Cloud storage will never beat having it on board the device.

I like their products and often the company makes the right moves but sometimes they are pretty set on extracting every dollar possible from consumers.

maestro64 5029 comments · 19 Years

yet another freebie from Google so they can collect information about you, they will use their machine learning algorithm to analyses pictures you take and understand who your friend are and the things you like to take photo of and use the embedded GPS information to know exactly where you took the photo. People are so stupid to allow Google to invade ever aspect of their lives just to they can get something free.