Apple might finally get rid of the most disliked iPhone model
Apple might finally ditch the 16GB version of iPhone 7 when it comes out.
Instead of 16GB, the base iPhone model will have 32GB of storage - that's according to analyst Kevin Wang at IHS Technology, who posted as much on a Chinese social media site (first spotted by 9to5Mac) Here's a screenshot of Wang's post, translated by Google from Chinese:
This is a big deal, as the 16GB iPhone's storage isn't considered enough by modern standards. It quickly becomes full of photos, videos, and apps, especially when Apple recently introduced features on the iPhone 6s that use up huge amounts of storage (4K video recording and Live Photos).
16GB iPhone owners could opt out of using those fancy new features, but there were other storage hogs that users couldn't manage. Just the operating system itself used to take up a ton of space, though Apple's thankfully made strides when it reduced the update size of iOS from 4.5GB to 1.3GB.
But there's also app data that Apple won't allow users to delete, which is data that's built up on top of apps themselves. For example, the 121MB Facebook app could actually be taking up way more than 121MB as it caches a ton of data to streamline your Facebook experience.
Of course, there's a solution today: Spend $100 more on the 64GB iPhone. Yet, tech media (myself included) often question Apple's decision to keep the base model at 16GB rather than 32GB. Why not give iPhone buyers a higher minimum amount of storage? Instead, Apple actually stopped offering a 32GB model of the iPhone 6, as well as the 6s.
Apart from more storage, the iPhone 7 is also said to look nearly identical to the iPhone 6 generation with redesigned antenna lines that are less visible. The larger Plus model is also said to come with a dual camera and the regular-sized model will likely have an updated single camera. Of course, none of this is official just yet. Apple usually reveals new iPhones in September, and we expect as much for the iPhone 7 this year. Stay tuned!