Wesley Hilliard
The entry 128GB storage tier for iPhone 15 hasn't stopped Apple from claiming its latest models have "lots of storage for lots of photos."
There was a time when 128GB could fit the entire catalog of video games in existence, but as time passed, storage needs increased. However, as we approach four years with the 128GB base storage, it is clear that it isn't quite enough despite what Apple's latest ad might say.
The short 30-second ad shows a man considering deleting some of his photos, but they cry out "don't let go" as the song with the same title plays. The message — iPhone 15 has "lots of storage for lots of photos."
It doesn't feel like it was that long ago that we were complaining about the 64GB base storage, but that went away with iPhone 13 in 2021. Apple previously jumped from a base of 32GB to 64GB with the iPhone X in 2018.
So, here we are at the end of what seems like a three-year cycle for pushing storage higher, and Apple claims the iPhone 15 has plenty. For context, an average user can easily fill half of 128GB with app storage alone, let alone photos and video.
Thankfully, iCloud exists — if you're willing to pay. If 128GB on an iPhone seems low, 5GB free in iCloud is downright criminal.
From our experience, most people would rather delete precious photos and videos than pony up the cash for more iCloud storage. Those same people are more likely to buy base model configurations to save on the already expensive product.
Sure, Apple offers a 1TB iPhone 15 Pro, but that'll cost you $1,499 — $700 more expensive than the base model. Perhaps it would be better to take that $700 and pay for nearly six years of 2TB storage on iCloud+.
For anyone upgrading from a previous iPhone with 64GB, that 128GB will feel immense by comparison. But that feeling will be short-lived as that new iPhone with its 48MP camera gets packed with new high-resolution photos and video.
If Apple wants to make an ad bragging about storage, then it should push the base up to 256GB with the iPhone 16 in the fall. Or, at the least, finally, give customers more than 5GB of iCloud by default.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
26 Comments
Yeah, Apple has been historically tight with its storage offerings and eliminating the next tier up on older models just for upsell has never been less than plain nasty.
However, on the subject of cloud storage, I recently took advantage of a QNAP offer (100GB free for 'life') so in case any QNAP users are interested...
https://www.qnap.com/en/campaign/myqnapcloud-storage-backup-offer
Phone > NAS > cloud
It's going to be clunky when compared to a native iCloud/Drive solution but it's free.
128GB feels like it is a usable MINIMUM for the vast majority of people. The 5GB iCloud backup limit is ridiculous but it's been short since they had 32GB iPhones.
Buying more iCloud space is the smarter way to go. With over 17,000 photos in my library and a 100GB iCloud photo library, my phone is a 128GB model and has 64G free.
200GB of iCloud storage is $3/mo. or $36/year. upgrading to 256GB is $100, which addresses the local storage but not the backup issue. 3Y of iCloud 200GB is about the same price, and gives you both the storage AND the backup.
Buy more iCloud space, not more phone storage - especially if you upgrade your phone more than once every 3Y.
That said, I don't shoot much video, so if you are shooting alot of 4K video, this may not work for you, but them I would say you aren't a typical user of the 128GB or even 256GB phone.
128 gigs is more than enough for most people. I have lots of apps on my phone, and never run into space issues. Heck even my 64 gig iPhone was generally fine.
Where in the ad does it mention this is the iPhone 15 with 128 GB? For all we know it could be the 512 GB model. Plus, if you use iCloud then you could potentially have even more storage.