Keep in mind when 16GB felt like an ocean of storage on the unique iPhone? These had been easier instances. Apple initially supplied the OG system in storage capacities of 4GB and 8GB, however simply months after launching, Apple nixed the 4GB mannequin, ultimately changing it with a 16GB choice. Quick ahead to 2025, and Apple presents 128GB as the bottom storage tier for many iPhone 16 fashions. Which may sound like lots by comparability, nevertheless it’s changing into genuinely problematic for customers caught in an more and more aggressive AI storage squeeze.
Certainly, with the current launch of iOS 18.3, this AI storage creep was introduced into sharp focus. Apple Intelligence, the corporate’s enabled-by-default suite of AI options, now requires a whopping 7GB of space for storing – and that is only the start. With iOS 18.4 on the horizon promising enhanced Siri capabilities – and iOS 19 more likely to ship extra on-device AI fashions – these storage necessities are solely going to develop.
For perspective, iOS 18.3 takes almost 6% of a 128GB iPhone’s whole storage capability and dedicates it to AI options that the person could not even use. And that is earlier than they’ve even taken their first picture or downloaded their first app. Talking of pictures, a regular iPhone 16 can seize 48MP photos and shoot 4K Dolby Imaginative and prescient video at 60fps, which may rapidly devour storage, as many customers will attest. If it is an iPhone 16 Professional Max, the superior digicam capabilities are much more demanding of solid-state house.
In equity, Apple has acknowledged the necessity for extra storage in its top-tier iPhone 16 Professional Max, which begins at 256GB. Apple first nixed the 128GB storage tier for its largest system when the iPhone 15 Professional Max was launched in 2023. This means the corporate understands that storage calls for are growing, making its resolution to stay this lengthy with 128GB for different fashions all of the extra perplexing. Or maybe not, provided that it nonetheless gleefully sells the iPhone SE in a 64GB configuration!
In the meantime, Apple’s continued providing of simply 5GB of free iCloud storage merely provides insult to harm. Consider it or not, that determine hasn’t modified since iCloud’s introduction in 2011. Most would agree it is a measly quantity that forces many customers to both pay for added cloud storage or always handle their native storage.
The expertise business has developed considerably since 128GB grew to become a regular storage tier. Element costs have decreased, whereas storage calls for have skyrocketed, and AI options are solely going to get extra prevalent. Simply as Apple made 16GB the new baseline for MacBook reminiscence late final yr (a transfer additionally probably made attributable to Apple Intelligence’s RAM necessities), it is time for the corporate to make an analogous leap with iPhone storage. Such a transfer can be removed from unprecedented – keep in mind the 4GB iPhone?
Within the yr 2025, 128GB is the brand new 4GB. Customers deserve higher than paying $100-500 further simply to keep away from the storage anxiousness that comes with downloading an even bigger (however not essentially higher) software program replace. As of late, 128GB is not simply tight — it is changing into untenable. So please Apple, make 256GB the brand new minimal, beginning with the iPhone 17 lineup. Higher but, convey it to the upcoming iPhone SE 4.
