Joe Maring / Android Authority
Each Apple occasion, be it WWDC or the brand new iPhone launch, brings me a set of complicated ideas. There’s a variety of mockery over what Apple has determined to copy innovate and their random bulletins that nobody requested for (hiya, iPhone Air), but additionally a little bit of jealousy-slash-awe at Apple’s pull over the whole cellphone trade. I see that new front-facing digicam, and I do know many Android manufacturers are actually scrambling to repeat it in 2026; it’ll simply be the brand new gold customary of selfie cameras.
But when there was one factor that stood out to me greater than the foolish thinness of the Air and its exterior battery pack, the deceptive “fusion” lens, the 120Hz refresh fee on the bottom iPhone, and the brand new modems and chips, it’s one tiny element: The iPhone 17 now begins at 256GB.
We needed to look ahead to Apple to do it, however Apple has gone and completed it. And, identical to I do know that everybody will copy that new front-facing digicam, I additionally know that Apple’s affect on cellphone pricing and portfolio construction is insane. 256GB will develop into the norm within the US and the West as a result of Apple made it the brand new norm, and nobody desires to lose a battle in opposition to Apple due to a foolish, cheap flash storage improve.
256GB of base storage will develop into the norm as a result of Apple simply made it the norm.
It’ll probably occur as quickly as 2026. Samsung’s Galaxy S26 and Google’s Pixel 11 ought to each begin at 256GB. And we are able to lastly retire that restrictive 128GB of inner storage that will get eaten by the firmware, AI fashions, cumulative cache, and totally different apps and video games that you just set up and use over the few years that you just personal the cellphone, leaving restricted house for pictures, movies, music, and different massive recordsdata. And look, I do know that a few of you’ll inform me that they’re okay with 128GB being the bottom as a result of they don’t want extra, however most customers disagree. Even in 2024, 70% of over 24,000 votes on our storage ballot mentioned 128Gb isn’t sufficient.
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
Sticking with 128GB is stingy and low-cost, particularly for telephones that price over $800. It artificially limits the capabilities of the cellphone you’re shopping for since you’ll begin babysitting its storage. That unbelievable digicam and video shooter? That gaming beast? That AI champion? All of them want extra storage. With out additional storage, you may as effectively purchase a much less succesful cellphone with fewer promised years of software program assist. And no, cloud backups — and even native NAS backups — aren’t an answer. So, sure, I’m a bit offended when corporations like Samsung and Google launch costly telephones after which artificially limit them by not letting us absolutely use them until we splurge for the additional storage tiers. The bottom storage value of “Beginning $799” is a lie if you happen to can’t correctly use all the cellphone’s options on that storage tier.
The bottom value of $799 is a lie at 128GB. It artificially limits how a lot and the way lengthy you should utilize all your cellphone’s superior options.
Right now, the value distinction between a 128GB and a 256GB microSD card is round $8; it’s most likely a lot much less for flash NAND storage constructed into the cellphone. However many corporations like Samsung and Google have been resting on their revenue margins and utilizing this low-cost improve as leverage to pressure us to pay a disproportionate $50 or $100 additional to get 256GB as an alternative. Insanity.
I nonetheless bear in mind when storage tiers have been seen as a deal, not a nuisance. When the primary iPhone launched in 2007 with 4GB and 8GB of storage for $100 additional, the distinction appeared like a no brainer as a result of 8GB microSD playing cards have been a really, very costly rarity. Quickly, although, storage price dropped, however the fee to improve tiers didn’t, and the injury was completed. Apple had seen a approach to make additional revenue, and it wasn’t going to let it go.
As microSD card slots disappeared from smartphones, each firm began copying that margin-milking tiered storage technique to the purpose the place it grew to become the norm. And in some way, we, the whole smartphone purchaser base, determined it’s alright to be taken hostage by the storage conspiracy, and that paying via the nostril to correctly use all of the options you really purchase a cellphone for is suitable. It baffles me to suppose that there are youngsters right now who’ve by no means seen a cellphone with expandable storage and who suppose it’s regular to pay such a premium for a bit of additional storage. Insanity, I let you know.
Apple has completed the fitting factor right here, shifting the needle in the fitting path for as soon as. I don’t know why they did it — they may’ve simply gotten away with one other 12 months of 128GB — however I’m glad they did. And now the ball is in Samsung and Google’s courts for 2026.
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