“If Apple follows its usual playbook, the company will announce new iPhones — presumably called the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus — early in September, and have them for sale on the third Friday of that month,” David Carnoy writes for CNET. “That’s less than 70 days from now.”
“Leaked images on 9to5Mac purporting to show the new iPhone’s logic board reveal a new Toshiba flash memory module that, according the site, has 16GB capacit,” Carnoy writes. “The site notes that a ‘last-minute upgrade to a higher capacity would not be unprecedented,’ but — to me — a step up to a 32GB baseline feels like a longshot. And that’s the problem.”
“The fact is 16GB of storage space just doesn’t cut it anymore,” Carnoy writes. “Once you shoot a bunch of pictures and videos, download a couple of graphically intensive games and a bulky app or two (Google Maps) and store some music on your phone, you start to hit the limit… It could be argued that there’s ‘no good reason’ to buy the entry-level 16GB iPhone. And yet people do. They just can’t resist buying the cheapest of anything, even if it isn’t in their best interest…”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote on July 4th:
Obviously, 16GB is for a certain target market, one that can live in the iCloud. The problem with that model, however, is that inexperienced buyers and inattentive resellers foist 16GB iPhones on people who really cannot manage to live in the iCloud and therefore could end up hating their iPhone (it won’t update, it’s perpetually packed full and therefore runs poorly, can’t take any photos, can’t download day more apps, etcetera).
Apple needs to ask themselves if the benefits of having a 16GB iPhone (“low” entry price and upselling platform for higher capacity iPhones) are worth the risk of disappointing those who are likely buying their first iPhone. For Apple, the quality of the user experience should always come first.
SEE ALSO:
New iPhone 6s images show updated NFC, 16GB base storage, fewer chips and design tweaks – July 4, 2015
Yep, 16Gb needs to get on the bus to Palookaville and head straight outta town, never to return.
What’s even more onerous are the 8GB iPhone 5C’s which is what the Fed’s are buying to replace Blackberries.
These Enterprise consumers have the option of opting for a Samsung Galaxy with more memory … so guess what is likely to happen in 2017 after having an 8GB iOS experience in 2015 & 16….
-hh
Better still, provide a system chip exclusively for Apple upgrades etc. that permits the download capacity and swng space for whatever upgrade could be required in the future and to which the average consumer user would have no access.
That way the user never experiences a ‘lack of space’ notification as a result of system changes/downloads/upgrades.
The 32 GB should hitch a ride too.
64, 128 and 256 these days,
agreed – or please add a freaking microSD slot
Floppy drive is also missing.
And I can’t print from my dot matrix!
Of course you can’t leave the paper tape reader off. Apple will go under if this isn’t added to the new phone.
STILL… no friction’ punch card reader!!! How do they expect to stay on top without this basic need fulfilled… sheesh, I’m going to Android where I’m sure the open source nature makes a punch card reader more likely.
I’m waiting for a Bluetooth-controlled reed pen to carve my clay tablets with.
If the reed pen was built into my iPhone, that would be so much more convenient for writing in cuneiform.
Where is the IR beamer?😤
Flawed comparison is flawed. SD cards are not obsolete tech.
Thanks mossman,
Offering an mircoSD slot on any iDevice of Apple would be nice. You can store more apps, which by the way still can run, of course photos and other data – but also you can use the extra space as virtual memory. SD and MicroSD is not obsolete technology at all. The obvious use that most think about, is the microSD is used to transfer photos and information – sad peoples minds are limited. But imagine owning a 256 Gb iPod Touch with a microSD slot and buying another 256 Gb module or whatever size you prefer… you increased its capacity. Imagine the SD card is merely used as a Backup. Cool – no need to use the cloud.
Now the original iPad offered adapters for SD and USB connectivity. I actually own them for my original iPAD 1. No one has mentioned this. However the addition of a connecting adapter is clunky and cumbersome to carry with you… Apple please just add the micro SD slot… iMac has the SD slot and its very useful. If you must Apple, put it on 8Gb and 16Gb models.
NOTE: the adapters do not function other than for transferring photos – NOT what I am looking for. Sorry to mention – but microSD slots on Samsung devices do function as I am mentioning.
MNDs’ opinion is a wonderful and honest view point.
Apple does need to reconsider this choice and marketing decision.
“Cool – no need to use the cloud.”
Bite your tongue! Tim will send a hitman after you.
Tim says, “You vill use the cloud and you vill like the cloud…and you vill pay us for it.”
And this illustrates the real underlying issue (& concern):
Question: to what degree are Apple initiatives … such as the (lack of) Mini SD slots, iCloud, etc … really ultimately more about what is good for Apple, as opposed to delighting the customer?
I’m loathe to bring up a 20 year old example, but the first PCI based PowerMacs had their CPU on a daughterboard, which allowed consumers (mostly via 3rd party products) upgrade their CPU as faster ones became available (Note: this was back in the days of 120-150-180-233MHz) as an incremental upgrade to their Mac desktops, rather than paying Apple for an entirely new box. This was great for customers, but also quite obviously not great for Apple because it reduced the customer need to go back to buy an entirely new system, which hurt sales.
WHAT’S A FLOOPY DRIVE?
I gave you five stars assuming you were being sarcastic.
If you were being serious…well it’s like an 8-track…
Apple needs to continue to cover different priced iPhones. If you are serious then work on educating users to buy the 64GB models.
The 16GB market tends to also have lower expectations and probably less digitally inclined. They need a affordable starting point. They will have 2 years to learn the benefits of a higher memory model.
That’s what the *previous year’s* iPhones are for, not the current generation that should have at least reasonable if not good specs across the board.
Then let the lower priced iPhone but 32GB… problem solved. It’s not rocket science.
It actually is a rocket science marketing plan to find a method for people to be persuaded with their purchases towards a more pricey phone.
Its brilliant marketing – yet sometimes great ideas do not always work.
Adobe did a brilliant move to include Indesign as a package – basically for free at first which made purchases decide when buying Photoshop and Illustrator to leave Quark behind. Marketing genius. Yet it doesn’t always work. Sometimes we consumers; the customers see the catch.
Apple was hoping they didn’t but just presented the plastic card towards the more expensive phone.
Apple pays about 42 cents per GB of flash memory.
You need rocket science to sell an iPhone with an extra $7 of cost? You are definitely missing the big picture.
David Carnoy, please do not be greedy! If you think 16 GB not enough for you, buy pricier model.
For most people who dot not download 2 GB games and make thousands of selfies in every toilet they ever visit 16 GB is more than enough. People use iPhones for calls, messages, internet browsing, reading, mapping, office applications and casual games with average amount of songs and photos taken never face shortage issues.
“[Most] People use iPhones for calls, messages, internet browsing, reading, mapping, office applications and casual games with average amount of songs and photos taken never face shortage issues.”
You just helped justify “most people” purchasing an Android for a lot cheaper than an iPhone.
16 GB is not Apple aiming the entry level iPhone at “most people”, it’s Apple ensuring they make an extra $100 for a component cost difference of at most a few dollars per unit.
One party is definitely being greedy here, and it’s not David Carnoy.
well said mossman
Not quite well: there is statistics that proves that 16 GB is enough for most people. Number of applications, songs, photos per device. Those who need more most often need more than 32 GB anyway. So they will have to be not greedy and buy iPhones with more memory.
I have a 16GB iPhone 5c. It is perfect for me and has survived numerous drops on concrete at work and in my garage and at the ball field. However, my 2 yr contract is expiring in a few months and this last month my capacity, with mostly family pictures and video, has now reached the end.
I will never purchase extra iCloud space like Apple thinks I will do. I do backup to iTunes, but I don’t want to delete what is on my phone. 16GB has lasted me almost 2 years, but 32 would be more than enough for the average user. No major Apple frustrations until now that my capacity has reached a near end. Give your loyal users 32GB and quit ripping off your users with low end capacity. 32GB is now the low end. It’s stupid to to that to your users. Steve Jobs was able to mirror the average user in mindset, and publicly portray he is gay Cook isn’t able to do that. I like Cook in many ways, but he is missing the boat. We are now seeing the real person.
16 is more than enough for the “average” user. Heck, the “average” user probably just upgraded from their first generation 8GB phone and is wondering what they’re going to do with all that space.
I see it as there are those that will never fill 16 GB, remember, many folks are upgrading from feature phones (which had even less memory!) or aren’t interested in apps, music, etc. AT ALL. I’ve met some. Those who WOULD fill 16? Chances are they’ll outstrip 32 as well, so why not offer 64?
Personally, I go for 128GB. I don’t know what the price differential is between offering a 16 or 32 GB version, may look for that later. But, if there’s a large market segment that’s perfectly served by 16GB, then let those “lower level” folks have their “lower level” phone. Folks like us here are going for at LEAST 64 GB anyway, right?
The average user?
Okay I understand your point, however the more space the better for the average user… because the average user is just going to fill it up so quickly without knowing how to back his/her stuff up. The average user will download games that are very larger not even thinking about size of available space on their device. The average user will get very annoyed needing to delete and make room for new apps and photos. The average user, they buy a phone and their entire life is on that device… and the average user typically does not want to be technologically inclined. They want the device to just work as Apple has always claimed. Putting limits on 8Gb device without an option to grow is rather poor design. Similarly 16Gb without a slot to expand the device. Sure iCloud backs things up… if the average user understands all that… but most do not. When everything is wireless and in the cloud… these tactile-less human-less interactions set to automatic seem sweet and easy — yet really require the average user to be educated on or at least — better informed. And I think Apple has a long way to go – to better inform folks how to ease their lives buy making better choices. Just bringing them to the best platform is only the beginning not the only step.
The “average” user is not me, I would wager that the “average” user is no one on this thread… especially not anyone that sees a problem with 16GB as a base.
The “average” user likely has games from the “Top Charts” on thier phone, for example. They probably don’t even know about TouchArcade.com or other sites (or they’d be gettng better games… very large games like you and I download). Let’s look at the top 20 paid games… adding up the storage required for the top 20 games would be a little over 1G. Your “average” user would probably consider that MORE than enough fun to keep them busy! Let’s keep scanning down, you continue to find smallish games at the top of the charts. You could probably download the top hundred and would just be tipping over 6G… maybe, haven’t checked.
Are there very large games for iOS, yeah, you me and a bunch of other above average folks have many of them and wouldn’t THINK of owning a phone with a mealey 16GB. But, for a lot of people look at the 13GB available (with OS) on a 16GB phone and wonder how they’d ever fill it.
Outside of the fact that its probably too late to change anything if another 16gb model is coming, Apple probably should provide some sales guidelines for that model, noting the limitations of the 16gb model, which may give users the option of going up at the time of sale or upgrade
The OS upgrade issue should almost disappear when IOS9 comes out.. Though there is going to always someone that fills the phone to brim with photos and videos, and doesn’t know how to move them off to a computer to free up space.. That should be clearly documented somewhere too..
To which Apple should respond by saying, “OK, pretend the 16GB version is not there and buy the 32 GB version”.
Or maybe the question is not about memory size at all. It is in fact about price. It should read, “Apple, please sell the higher memory phones for a lower price”.
16gb is fine, I back up to my computer and sync to the cloud. What others have said about not downloading huge files is accurate. If you’re just using your phone for texting, surfing the web, and other light-duty a 16 GB iPhone is fine. If you want to do heavy lifting did 32 GB or 64 GB.
“If you want to do heavy lifting did 32 GB or 64 GB.”
Playing big-name games and taking video or lots of pictures is not heavy lifting.
“If you’re just using your phone for texting, surfing the web, and other light-duty”
… then a cheap-ass Android is more than enough. You don’t need the latest A-chip with Metal-capable hardware and (rumoured) 4K video capture to surf the web. You don’t buy a high-performance car if all you’re ever going to do is drive down the block and get groceries, you buy it because you want to use its capabilities and have a good experience when doing it.
again well said
I guess no microSD slot option for you?
Yeah more internal memory on a high end Apple phone increases the price as does more storage space. That said, lets forget about the microSD dream and ask Apple just to sell 128Gb, 256Gb and 512Gb iDevices setting all new high prices because they have the best more luxurious device on the market. And if people want to call on a lamborghini countach… i mean drive one – they should know what they are buying and have the money for the best.
Friends don’t let friends buy 16GB iPhones.
It was a waste of money from Day One. I always get the most I can. “More than you think you’ll need.” You’ll need it.
I used to agree with this, but no more. I’ve now found,with exposure to hundreds of people, how many people hardly use their phones like the techie crowd does — and for them 16Gb is more than enough. Keeping the price down for these folks is key. They don’t want or trust Android, and want an Apple phone. However, they use the phone, text, browse, and use a couple of apps, and have small music libraries (or stream via Apple music). They have plenty of space left with their current 16s. We techies completely underestimate what a large percentage of the population fits this use case. Surprising? Sure, but it’s true.
Get rid of the 8GB phone? Absolutely. However, the 16GB has plenty of reasons to live on.
That argument would hold only if the entry level iPhone were stripped down in other features, like not having the latest A-series chip and its high-performance CPU and graphics unit. You don’t need either for browsing or simple apps, yet Apple is “wasting” money putting those and other “premium” features in entry-level iPhones.
16 GB configs are fine for education and much of the world. Especially now that updates like iOS 9 are so much smaller.
There are many many uses cases where there’s very little, or no media, stored on the iPad itself. In many of those cases 16 GB configs are fine.
Why would schools distribute 16GB iPhones to students, let alone iPhones in general?
Drop the 16, drop the 32, and go with 64, 128, and 264.
Or, add the micoSD slot.
256GB?
Uhhhh…the extra 8GB is for software updates…yeah…that’s what I meant!
:~)
16GB?!?!?! My first iPod touch had 16 GB, so does old iPad. It’s time to boost the storage. And not charge an outrageous amount.
I hate to admit it, but I agree with you. Even though Apple puts a tremendous effort into making IOS and OS X user friendly, they do take a step backwards by over charging for their memory (that includes SSD memory) causing people to under power their devices.
This point of view comes from someone who over uses his Apple devices, however I’ve also had too many people come to me asking why they can’t do what they want to do with their Apple device once they discover they want it do more than they thought they would when they bought it.
Getting rid of the 16GB iPhone may not reduce the cost of the 32GB version to take its place making iPhones appear even more expensive to the potential (first) consumer. It is possible Apple keeps the 16GB size for that reason alone.