So fucking irritating that more/less the primary way Apple does price differentiation for their product models is by locking you in at storage capacity sizes.
My life is a hell of iCloud + Dropbox backups & constantly deleting all media so I can keep all of 40 apps on my 16GB iPhone.
The 16GB base model wasn't sufficient for the 6/6+, and is even less sufficient now with the 4K videos and 50% more megapixels (which I imagine would be on by default).
In the previous models (5/5s, 4s) the base model provided enough memory for doing most things comfortably. Now you actually HAVE to get the intermediate model to do anything useful (unless you're in masochistic mood). So the intermediate model (costing $100 more) becomes the entry level model.
I would even go so far to say that the 16/64/128GB memory gradation, coupled with the slippery 6/6s (slip and break more often ==> more AppleCare purchases and/or service repair costs) are intentional.
I understand capitalism and all that, but this is just pure greed and they're not doing much to hide it.
Sometimes the mere existence of the base model causes some problems that can't be fixed with the existence of an upgraded option. This is a consistent problem in an enterprise environment. The base model is always the one purchased more frequently whether through BYOD or enterprise owned devices. This means that support staff has to spend a lot of time working with users to manage space.
99% of people don't need an SD slot. Everything is wireless now, why bother with cards or cables or whatever? You're an outlier, not a normal smartphone user.
I agree, it's kind of ridiculous. I don't own an iPhone but "support" my wife, mother and mother in law who ALL have major issues with space and iCloud space to the point where they have to pay for additional money.
The new iPhone 6S will make this issue much worse. 4K video, larger pictures, "live" pictures (oh god). The small memory on these devices and lack of SD is intentional to push iCloud and device upgrades.
Computer makers, notably Apple although others are guilty of this too, have always shipped low end hardware to get you in the door. Like a car manufacturer offering low end engine for some models.
But in this case, how much is your time worth? If you're like most people hanging out on hacker news (assuming a tech career) its not unreasonable to expect your salary to be $100/hour.
If you're spending more than 2 hours mucking with moving things around, then perhaps your next phone purchase should consider how much time you're spending vs. the price of increased storage.
But the iPhone has shipped with 16GB minimum storage ever since the 4s four years ago. Since then the speed, resolution, and camera have all increased by at least one factor of two. All of these things also increase the storage requirements for photos and apps.
If I was the type of user who was satisfied with the base model of my old phone, and I buy the new base model and am not satisfied, then I am not going to be happy. I use my phone the same way I did four years ago. If I wasn't a 'pro' user then, why am I now?
The more general point is that the price difference between those models has next to nothing to do with the actual cost of storage, though. I bought a 16GB Android phone then bought a 64GB micro SD card for $30. That's a lot less than the $100 price bump on the iPhone.
But I digress. The 6S was clearly never getting an SD card slot.
So fucking irritating that more/less the primary way Apple does price differentiation for their product models is by locking you in at storage capacity sizes.
My life is a hell of iCloud + Dropbox backups & constantly deleting all media so I can keep all of 40 apps on my 16GB iPhone.