When Apple releases the iPhone 7
later this year, the company will reportedly address one of the most
common and longstanding complaints about its iconic smartphone: a lack
of sufficient storage. Indeed, even as the iPhone has become more
advanced and sophisticated with each passing year, the entry-level
storage capacity on each successive iPhone model has remained
frustratingly stagnant at 16GB.
For
some perspective, consider this: every entry-level iPhone model has
featured 16GB of storage since the iPhone 4s, a device released all the
way back in 2011. And while 16GB might have been adequate five years
ago, it's almost a joke in today's smartphone era where apps can weigh
in by the gig and devices can take high-res photos and record
storage-hungry video in full 4K.
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Well,
now comes word via IHS Technology analyst Kevin Wang that Apple this
year will join the big leagues and will, at long last, up the storage on
its entry-level models iPhone from 16GB to 32GB.
Originally reported by MobiPicker,
the publication claims that Wang has provided accurate information in
the past, thereby leading them to conclude that this particular rumor
carries more weight than most.
If
this rumor pans out, it would represent an interesting about-face from
Apple. Remember, it was just about a year ago that Apple executive Phil
Schiller sat down with John Gruber and defended Apple's somewhat
controversial decision to sell 16GB iPhones.
As
one would expect, Schiller danced lightly around the issue as he argued
that storage is not much of an issue these days since most user data
can easily be retrieved from the cloud.
“The
belief is more and more as we use iCloud services for documents and our
photos and videos and music,” Schiller explained, “that perhaps the
most price-conscious customers are able to live in an environment where
they don’t need gobs of local storage because these services are
lightening the load.”
Schiller
also added that the money Apple saves on 16GB iPhones allows it to
spend more money on securing advanced components for said devices.
These
arguments may seem well-reasoned at first glance, but a deeper
inspection reveals that they don't hold muster. For starters, cloud
computing may be commonplace today, but photos, videos and apps take up
more storage than ever before. In other words, keeping gigs upon gigs of
data in the cloud just isn't practical for many users. Second, Apple
has more money than it knows what to do with, which is to say that it
hardly needs to rely upon a 16GB model in order to be able to afford
advanced components.
All that notwithstanding, this is one Apple rumor that we really hope becomes a reality. Interestingly enough, one other iPhone 7 rumor we spotted just a few weeks ago suggests that Apple will make a 256GB storage option available.
And if you missed it for some reason, don't forget to check out this leaked image, which is probably our first ever look at a real iPhone 7.
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