Early next month there is an Apple media event scheduled which we’re all pretty sure will be the official iPhone 6 announcement. Over the last fews months rumours have been flying around about every possible aspect of the much anticipated launch.
Size has been discussed, how many versions has been discussed, if there’s more than one version will they be launched together or separately has been discussed — in general, a right old Apple rumour fest.
This week there has been some discussion about storage capacity. It is reported there will be 3 storage options — 16GB, 64GB and 128GB. It does seem a little odd that they mention a 16 option as, let's face it, with our lives now focussed and stored on mobile devices, it won’t take long to reach bursting point — music, movies, photos, data; it all soon adds up.
This very situation takes me back to the dilemma when I got my 4S. I dithered over storage capacity; I had a 32GB iPod which was already over flowing with music so the 16GB was going to be a non-starter. The 64GB looked like a good idea until I weighed up the price — not that the pro rata cost was an issue, just the entire sum of money required to have that amount of storage was somewhat eye watering at the time.
I eventually rued my choice of the 32GB model. After downloading apps, importing my thousands of songs/tracks, shooting movies and photos I found myself, what seemed to be, always stripping stuff off the phone onto my computer to free up space. Maybe Apple feels the user who fancies a 32GB device is just fooling themselves and should have something bigger hence the absence of the 32 in the rumoured new line up. Well, that is certainly how I eventually felt…
However, as the years have gone by, I’ve downloaded more and more apps and music, taken more and more photos, etc. — when the iPhone 6 does eventually arrive, assuming these storage rumours are true, I will be beating a path to the front of the 128GB line. If that doesn't satisfy my needs, I’ve simply got too much “stuff”…
Two final thoughts on storage:
1) Despite my "fooling themselves" comment above, the omission of a 32GB does seem a little strange particularly given that this appears to be the new standard for a number of competing devices and a number of those are also offering expandable storage.
2) Why is Apple so reluctant to go down the expandable storage route? Maybe it is part of their “be free, you don't have to do it like everyone else — do it the way we want you to do it and you still think you're set free” thought process.
Apple, you've got to love them…