“Apple is reportedly dropping the 16GB option for iPhones when the ‘iPhone 6s’ is released this September, according to sources with Made In China Gadget (MICGadget),” Amit Chowdhry reports for Forbes. “The base ‘iPhone 6s’ model will start at 32GB of internal storage. MICGadget’s unnamed sources — who work for Apple’s Taiwan-based manufacturing partner Foxconn — said that the packaging for the ‘iPhone 6s’ and ‘iPhone 6s Plus’ do not have stickers that say ’16GB.'”
“This is not the first time that Apple was rumored to be dropping the 16GB storage capacity option for the ‘iPhone 6s.’ Last month, The Korea Times reported that Apple is negotiating a higher capacity memory deal with Samsung for the ‘iPhone 6s’ and ‘iPhone 6s Plus’ smartphones,” Chowdhry reports. “Another rumor suggests that Apple may actually keep 16GB storage as an option, but it seems likely that the smaller storage option will be for a device called the ‘iPhone 6c.’ The specifications of the ‘iPhone 6c’ is believed to include an A7 processor and a 4-inch display. The ‘iPhone 6c’ will be announced this September or Q1 of 2016.”
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:
Apple, please kill the 16GB iPhone! – July 13, 2015
New iPhone 6s images show updated NFC, 16GB base storage, fewer chips and design tweaks – July 4, 2015
So with them dropping the 16GB…will they add a 256GB option?
…or 512GB option?
Hell, just go 1TB. You know it’s going to happen. 3 years?
Or a 10 TB option
We wish.👀😖
The first part of MDN’s take on this completely devoid of reality. Yes the 16GB model is for a certain target – and that target is Apple’s pockets, not a particular type of user target in the slightest. Even users who ‘live in iCloud’ still have to work on Apps that live on their phone. The iWork suite alone which Apple preinstalls on larger capacity models and prompts you to download during the setup of a 16GB model is over a GB in size all by itself and oh by the way from that 16GB model when you open it right out the box you only get 12GB useable. Music in the cloud? Great… Photos in the cloud? Even better… But your apps aren’t in the cloud and have to live somewhere – any time of video media (if you purchase it from Apple) also has to live somewhere – and that somewhere is on your device. Apple isn’t a charity, they live to make money and increase money. That’s fine, they are a company – that’s what they do. But don’t try to dress it up as anything more than that as if somehow they would be doing users a disservice by giving them more storage and by giving them less storage you are addressing their needs. That’s nonsense. Yes Apple does need to more carefully weigh the cost of a poor user experience and unhappy customer vs. offering a higher capacity base model – but not because customers or sales people haven’t done their job. It’s because Apple hasn’t done theirs well.
I think you completely missed the point of the MDN take. That passage specifically WAS to implicate Apple for making a device that might not work well for some and to ask whether it was worth to make the extra $20 of margin or whatever per unit. Reading between the lines, it probably isn’t, and I agree.
To paraphrase, many sales people and customers (especially those buying entry-level products) don’t have the experience to determine what they really should have. It’s on Apple to sell a good solid product that isn’t crippled and that will work well – even for entry-level customers. The key is that entry-level buyers will often become repeat customers, and often higher-end, but only if they have a positive experience the first time around.
Apple is doing a wonderful job making money, but the premium they charge for upgraded models with more storage is more than a little annoying since I know full well what the stuff really costs even on the open market, let alone Apple’s prices in their huge quantities.
No apps or data on my iPhone. I keep buying the higher capacity devices but never have time to play with photos, apps, etc. I consume news while going to/from the office. I’m sure I’m not the only one.
16GB is sufficient for certain buyers…my retired parents are perfect examples. They each have had iPhones for years, yet neither of them have had an issue with not having enough storage. I don’t believe either of them have installed more than a dozen non-Apple apps in all these years either. Email, Messages, FaceBook, solitaire, Maps, etc is the brunt of their everyday usage. They prefer their stereo system, HDTV, and DSLR cameras over using their iPhones for most days. Being retired they are at home of the golf course 95% of the time. Works for them.
If there is a 6C will it replace the “free” slot the 5S would fall into, or will it be the $99 product and the 6/plus be discontinued? That is, if one wants the larger screen one pays the price of a new generation phone. That could make up for lost margins of people choosing the 32GB over the 64GB.
I’ll wait for the 7. The s version is a waste of my time. Next
Seriously doubt a 6c would have a lesser chip than an ipod.