Each year when a new iPhone is launched, we get super excited seeing all the cool new features. Pretty much like kids let loose in a candy store! But somewhere towards the end of the presentation, there comes a slide that dulls our excitement considerably – the slide that shows the 16GB iPhone alive and kicking.
The 16GB model is the bane of the Apple ecosystem. For years, we cursed the company’s short-sightedness (and stinginess) in not making the entry level phone more “spacious”. And yet, year after year we saw the unworthy 16GB iPhone hanging out with its ‘cooler’ cousins.
Looks like Apple might finally get rid of the 16GB iPhone model.
There’s chatter in various Apple communities that with the launch of iPhone 7, Apple might change the base model of the iPhone to 32GB, getting rid of the 16GB altogether. At the other end, Apple might also introduce the 256GB iPhone variant.
But before you get very excited and start dancing like IPL cheerleaders, we’d just like to point out that while the 256GB model is a possibility, we don’t think Apple will get rid of the 16GB iPhone just yet.
Bummer!
Let’s get to the bottom of this thing.
16 GB is hardly any storage; why does Apple keep selling it?
You’re right. 16GB can longer be considered a healthy amount of storage unless you’re buying it for your old grandmother who uses the phone exactly the way most people use landlines.
In a day and age where companies today use 16 GB as the standard for RAM in computers, why does a respectable and premium brand like Apple insist on selling iPhones with such stingy specifications?
The simple answer is profits. For Apple, the production cost for the 64GB version is $19 more than the 16 GB version. And yet, we have to shell out $100 more if we want to buy the former. That’s a margin of $81 per phone sold. And when it comes to the 128GB phone, the margin more than doubles.
So, keeping a crappy base model is Apple’s way of ensuring that people buy the phone that is more profitable for them.
Should Apple keep selling it?
Of course not! It’s a disgrace — to the company that makes it and the person who buys it. And it HAS TO STOP.
Most Android phones, even the ones you can pick up for under 15k, come with 32GB storage. To add insult to injury, they also have the option of expanding memory using an SD card.
This means you could load 10 movies and thousands of photographs and still have enough storage left over for … well, whatever bloody hell you wanted to do with it. And here we are deleting photos from our phones to accommodate a freaking iOS update. Shameful!
So yeah, Apple really has to stop being so stingy about storage on its phone.
Why do we think Apple will not remove it yet?
There’s no logical reason why anyone would buy a 16GB iPhone. Even more so with the high-def shooting capabilities of the newer phones that are just mammoth space hoggers.
And yet people keeping buying it. That’s because it’s nearly impossible for people to resist buying the cheapest of anything, especially in a developing country like India, where pockets are tight.
It also doesn’t hurt that the primary objective of buying the phone is not productivity but social status. Similar to what their ad says, “If you have an iPhone, you have an iPhone.” It doesn’t matter if it’s 16 GB or 128 GB, as long as you’re an iPhone owner, your status in the community is guaranteed.
So that’s about the length and breadth of it. Apple should really stop selling the 16 GB iPhone, but, we’re sceptical if it ever will!
Don’t miss our post on why you sould not buy a 16GB iPhone. Or, if you’ve already bought one, and struggling (understandably), then read our guide to managing space on a 16GB iPhone.
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