Joe Maring / Android authority
Each Apple event, whether WWDC or the new launch of iPhone, brings me a set of confusing thoughts. There are a lot of mockery on what Apple has decided to copy Innovate and their random ads that no one asked (Hello, iPhone Air), but also a little jealousy-Slash-Awe to Apple’s traction on the entire phone industry. I see that the new front camera, and I know that many Android brands are now rushing to copy it in 2026; It will easily be the new gold stallion of selfie cameras.
But if there was one thing that rose to me more than the silly finesse of the air and its external battery, the misleading “fusion” lens, the cooling rate of 120 Hz on the basic iPhone and the new modems and chips, it’s a small detail: the iPhone 17 is now starting at 256 GB.
We had to wait until Apple did it, but Apple left and did it. And, just as I know that everyone will copy this new front camera, I also know that Apple’s influence on telephone prices and the structure of the portfolio is crazy. 256 GB will become the standard in the United States and the West because Apple has made it the new standard, and nobody wants to lose a battle against Apple due to a storage of silly and inexpensive flash storage.
256 GB of basic storage will become the standard because Apple has just made the standard.
This will probably happen as early as 2026. The Galaxy S26 of Samsung and the Google Pixel 11 should both start at 256 GB. And we can finally retire this restrictive storage of 128 GB of internal storage which is consumed by the firmware, the AI models, the cumulative cache and the various applications and games that you settle in and use in the a few years when you have the phone, Leaving a limited space for photos, videos, music and other large files. And look, I know that some of you will tell me that they agree with 128 GB being the basis because they don’t need more, but most users disagree. Even in 2024, 70% of more than 24,000 votes on our storage survey said that 128 GB was not enough.
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
Govering to 128 GB is stingy and cheap, especially for phones that cost more than $ 800. It artificially limits the capacity of the phone you buy, as you will start to keep its storage. This fantastic camera and video games? This play beast? This AI champion? They all need more storage. Without additional storage, you might as well buy a less capable phone with fewer promised software support years. And no, Cloud backups – or even local NAS backups – are not a solution. So, yes, I am a little angry when companies like Samsung and Google publish expensive phones, then artificially limit them by not letting us use fully unless we make follies for additional storage levels. The basic storage price to “start $ 799” is a lie if you cannot properly use all the features of the phone on this storage level.
The basic price of $ 799 is a lie at 128 GB. It artificially limits the quantity and how long you can use all the impressive features of your phone.
Today, the price difference between a 128 GB and 256 GB microSD card is around $ 8; This is probably much less for integrated Flash Nand storage on the phone. But many companies like Samsung and Google rest on their beneficiary margins and use this cheap upgrade as a lever to force us to pay $ 50 more disproportionate to obtain 256 GB instead. Madness.
I still remember when the storage levels were considered an agreement, not as a nuisance. When the first iPhone was launched in 2007 with 4 GB and 8 GB of storage for an additional $ 100, the difference seemed to be obvious because the microSD 8 GB cards were a very, very expensive rarity. Soon, however, the cost of storage has dropped, but the cost upgrading cost did not, and the damage was caused. Apple had seen a way to make additional benefits, and that was not going to let it go.
While microSD card slots have disappeared from smartphones, each company began to copy this storage strategy with several margin levels to the point where it has become the norm. And in a way, we, the whole base of smartphone buyers, decided that it was acceptable to be taken hostage by the storage plot, and that paying the nose to properly use all the features for which you buy a phone is acceptable. It disconcerts me from thinking that there are today adolescents who have never seen a phone with extensible storage and who think that it is normal to pay such a premium for a little additional storage. Madness, I tell you.
Apple did the right thing here, moving the needle in the right direction for once. I don’t know why they did – they could easily get out with another year of 128 GB – but I’m glad they did. And now the ball is in the courts of Samsung and Google for 2026.
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