Friends don't let friends buy 16GB iPhones

Fortune ^ | SEPTEMBER 12, 2015, 12:16 PM EDT | by Philip Elmer-DeWitt

[Swordmaker]

Pre-orders for the new Apple iPhones began today and if history is any guide, millions of first-time buyers—trusting Apple not to sell them a lemon—will opt for the least expensive model, the one that comes with 16 gigabytes of storage.

But a 16-gigabyte iPhone 6S is a lemon—a $649 smartphone that will almost certainly run out storage before its contract runs out.

“Don’t buy a 16GB iPhone!” warns Gizmodo’s Kate Knibbs, calling it “the hand job” of iPhones—a product that works but does not satisfy.

The official explanation for not killing the 16GB model, offered by its senior VP of marketing Phil Schiller in June, is that it makes a superior smartphone more affordable for more people. As services move to the cloud, he says, price-conscious consumers may not need “gobs of storage.”

But the new phones do need gobs of storage. An estimate 4GB or 5GB just for the operating system. 1.5GB for a 200-song playlist. 75 megabytes for Angry Birds. 275MB for Monument Valley. 300MB for each minute of 4K video.

How much would it cost Apple to bump 16GB to 32GB? At today’s prices, according to IHS, roughly $6.72 per smartphone.

Apple is making a “serious strategic mistake,” argues Vox’s Matthew Yglesias, fattening already fat profit margins at the expense of customer experience.

“Killing the 16GB phone and replacing it with a 32GB model at the low end,” he writes, “would obtain things money can’t buy—satisfied customers, positive press coverage, goodwill, a reputation for true commitment to excellence, and a demonstrated focus on the long term.”

[Swordmaker]

Friends don't let friends by 16GB iPhone 6s or 6s Plus. . . pop for the next larger size because the 16GB will be unsatisfactory over the long run in memory usage. — PING!

Apple iPhone 6s in 16GB is too small
Ping!

The Latest Apple/Mac/iOS Pings can be found by searching Keyword “ApplePingList” on Freerepublic’s Search.

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[Swordmaker]

thanks for the heads up on this article Moonman62. . . worth a post and a ping.

[freedumb2003]

I thought the new iPad looked pretty good.

The iPhone 6 and my Galaxy 6 — kind of a push. I like the Edge with some of its cool features but I miss the replaceable battery and external SD card of my 5.

[smokingfrog]

Memory is so cheap, it seems silly to have an expensive phone with so little storage.

[Pikachu_Dad]

You don’t keep all the stuff on the phone. You put it in da cloud.

[amigatec]

One problem I see with this article, is it assumes people really need all that space. My 5c 32gig phone has a capacity of 27.3 gig and with 25 apps installed I still 20.9 gig free. For most people that just want a smart phone 16 gig is plenty of RAM.

[smokingfrog]

Some of it, sure. But you don’t want to be using up your data plan when you listen to music, podcasts or watch videos.

[Rastus]

“Don’t buy a 16GB iPhone!” warns Gizmodo’s Kate Knibbs, calling it “the hand job” of iPhones—a product that works but does not satisfy.

Classy.

[Swordmaker]

Memory is so cheap, it seems silly to have an expensive phone with so little storage.

Memory on the logic board is not the same as SD Card memory. . . and does cost more.

[ziravan]

I just checked. I’m only using 93.4 GB of storage on my iPhone...

I still have a whole bottom basement iPhone worth of storage free on my 128GB phone. And then some.

[bolobaby]

The real story is how much Apple is fleecing their customers for the upgrade to a reasonable amount of memory.

[bk1000]

4k video on a 4” display? What’s the point? And why can’t you put an external SD card in an iPhone? Most phones have that capability.

[PJBankard]

And why can’t you put an external SD card in an iPhone?

One word: Money

Apple would rather your spend your money on a more expensive iPhone than to use a third party memory device. Apple knows that there are people out there that will buy iPhones no matter what. Need more space? Need to buy the more expensive phone.

[smokingfrog]

Huh?

[HonkyTonkMan]

Just a few years ago, we would expect this writing to be a penthouse forum or whatever it's called....now it's in pop-tech websites.

It's never the hot ones that talk like this anyway....send eyewash quickly! (shudder)

[PJBankard]

Integrated memory costs more. It is hardwired into the circuitry.

[smokingfrog]

Apple accidentally reveals how much memory is in iPhone 6S, iPad Pro

http://www.digitaltrends.com/apple/iphone-6s-ipad-pro-memory/ via @DigitalTrends

[cardinal4]

I have a 16gb iPhone 6 and I love it. With the cloud and Apple Music, I don’t need the space. Connected to wifi I can stream from the cloud. I can’t say enough about Apple Music. I think it is their best service..