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> If you want to watch a movie

On a 4in screen? Nope, I don't.

> If you want a decent sized music selection

I don't. I listen to music at home, from my desktop. I don't really have a use case for listening to it on the road.

> I, as a 16 GB iPhone user, would not be able to download or keep various apps on my phone that would be available for use if I had to trade off with taking pictures of my life

Sure. So don't buy a 16GB iPhone.

It's ok that there are phones that don't suit your needs, as long as there are also phones that do. Moving the base-level storage to 64GB has a cost, and assuming that Apple is determined to keep its industry-leading margins - and why wouldn't they? - then I don't want to pay that cost for 48GB of storage I don't need.

It's fine that the 16GB model is not for you. It really is. You don't have to call people bastards because they made a phone you don't want to buy.

You're right, but he's also right. 16GB base is a pretty poor experience in my experience. I'm constantly having to manage my apps and uninstall ones I don't need or use to free up space for a relatively small photo library (with most of it in iCloud Photos). It's a constant balancing act.

Then again, it's livable, and it's just annoying enough to make me want to upgrade to 64GB, so in that sense it's an ideal product segmentation for Apple, and in the end I don't mind paying what amounts to $50 more on contract for the 64GB version for the increase in utility it gains me.

Pretty brilliant when you think about it.

   Please, someone provided me a single rational and irrefutable argument for there even being a 16 GB version.

People buy them.

Sorry, but they would also buy the equally priced entry level phone that was 32 GB. Next argument, please.

No. That isn't the way it works.

They would also buy the same spec for half the price. Or an entry level for the same price with 128GB. More realistically : would it be better to have a more expensive entry level with 32GB? Maybe. Just because apple might be technically able to offer the product configuration you want them to for the price you want them to doesn't mean it is the right thing for them to do.

Here's the thing. You don't get to decide what is right, or what is better, for anyone except you.

Apple may be doing this mostly for product differentiation purposes; they may not. But whatever the rationale, it is working for them, well enough to pretty much define the category of premier smart phone. Arguing that this is somehow irrational comes across as either sour grapes or naive.

What you and everyone that is voting me down seem to overlook for some rather crazy reason (The only thing that makes any sense is protective defensive excuse making for Apple) is that they are shooting themselves in the foot. Sure, people buy the 16GB phone, usually thinking they are getting 16GB and thinking that is a lot without realizing that out of the box it's only 14GB and once they install some things and want to buy some music and take some pictures they are running out of room on double time.

Now they are stuck with a phone that is of an inadequate size in order to not only fully utilize it, but also it impacts developers and sales and companies that are constantly trying to push their incidental apps onto people.

I don't get your opposition to bigger storage when the increased storage would probably cost Apple literally next to nothing. Do you understan that the delta between the cost of 16 and 32 GB, let alone even 64 GB is basically negligible for them? It does not seem at all to be about cost, it's all about perceived price maximization, but I am rather certain their calculations either don't quite make sense or they are not properly considering and weighting their inputs.

I also don't understand why developers are not up in arms because Apple's foolishness keeps their app from being installed and used, which leads to decreased revenues. It really undercuts the whole ecosystem because people with 16 GB phones are not installing the hilton app, not installing the app for every airline, not installing health kit apps, not installing care kit apps, and not installing various other incidental apps that the ecosystem really requires you to have installed but take up way too much space to justify keeping installed on a regular basis.

I don't have any opposition to bigger storage, where did you get such a strange idea?

Clearly you are much smarter about this than Apple is. Their failure to understand the market as well as you have has undeniably lead to shrinking margins and market share, eventually to their exit from the premium phone market. It's a shame nobody buys their phones anymore.

More seriously - there are good criticisms that can be made of apples strategy, but they aren't the ones you are making. Your complaints show a naivety about how such markets work, and why.

In many markets, price is not a function of cost but a function of value (perceived or otherwise). In fact, this can be viewed as the defining characteristic of markets a company like Apple wants to be in, vs. those it doesn't want to be in. Competing in a commodity market is brutal.

That isn't to say that there aren't good arguments about why 32GB base would be better, but COGS delta isn't one of them, and focusing on it demonstrates a pretty fundamental lack of understanding of what market this phone is in.

Beyond all the aesthetics and usability issues, I believe its more of business and ideology standpoint. Let me explain:

Reality 1: If there were memory card slots, easily accessible to users, then they would immediately see it as a way to put data "into" the phone. Data, here is mostly going to be movies, music, apps, etc.

    Apple's Strategy: iTunes, and now iCloud. Period.

Reality 2: If users put data "into" the phone, then Apple would lose its money-making resource of "selling" data to the users, thus iOS would not be the most profitable ecosystem; "piracy" increases at atrocious rates; the industries (music, movies, apps, etc) will lose money; they could probably revolt against Apple for letting this happen, even when it did not intend to do so.

    Apple's Strategy: No memory-card slots. Period.

Reality 3: Apple has cleverly involuted its strategies in such a way that it makes people pay for content; making iOS the best ecosystems for developers all over the world; influence the industries in a positive way; make people realize that there is joy in spending; selling cool new devices with really usable, useful, and necessary features.

    Apple's Strategy: Make the best devices. Period.

Source: https://www.quora.com/Why-dont-iPhones-have-a-memory-card-sl...

> Tinder alone is basically a 1.5 GB app

What? I don't see it even being close to it

290Mb storage used on an Android system (14.25 in internal storage)

On my 16GB iPhone 5 Tinder is showing as 22.9MB, including data. Maybe I should have more dates?

> With the OS taking up a huge chunk of that 16GB […]

Funnily, I just noticed on the 6SE tech-specs site that Apple's "premium" Apps (Garage Band, iPhoto, etc.) come pre installed on the 64GB version. It's like them admitting that 16GB is just to damn small.

OTOH I bought a 64GB iPhone 4S when it came out (that thing just quit on me 2 weeks ago) and I'll never ever in my life want to sync that much music again. So for me, it'll probably be the larger option, but I'll fill it up with photos and videos of my cats.

As an aside how in the world is Tinder 1.5 gigs?

I think iOS has this application caching issue. Apps seem to always be caching data to the storage, but there is no option to erase, or remove it as needed.

it does it for you, if your phone starts getting full you'll notice apps randomly switch icon and name to Clearing or something like that quite a bit.

Wow, I remember when you had to do this yourself on your Apple, with x = fre(0).

Can't tell if testing my gullibility or you actually believe your phone does this. :-/

https://marco.org/2011/10/13/ios5-caches-cleaning

the issue that ive found when i was troubleshooting clients phones for "where is all my storage" is that the system does not automatically remove cached files like music/ spotify offline etc.

i never have seen the clearing text on my iPhone, although i figured it would be automatic.