Will the iPhone 16 Pro get a storage bump? We explore…
TL;DR: iPhone 16 Pro Base Storage
- How much? A rumor says the iPhone 16 Pro will start at 256GB of storage. 📱
- Is that more? Yes. Currently the iPhone 15 Pro starts at 128GB of storage. 📲
- Is there a catch? Could be. Apple may simply eliminate the 128GB and its price point and sell the iPhone 16 Pro at the current 256GB price point. 🤨
- When will we know for sure? Apple is likely to unveil the iPhone 16 Pro in September. 📆
It’s been a busy time for iPhone 16 rumors. First, we had the news that some of the iPhone 16 Pro series may feature larger displays. Then we found out the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus may have seven color options, up from the current five. And then we found out that the iPhone 16 Pro may have a new anti-reflective coating on the camera.
And now a new rumor says that the iPhone 16 Pro may start with 256GB of base storage—up from the 128GB the iPhone 15 Pro starts at today.
This rumor comes from The Mac Observer, which says, “According to people close to the industry, Apple could be considering increasing the base storage of the iPhone 16 Pro to 256GB. That would standardize the lineup again (this year both models will have the same camera system). It’s not clear if that would imply a price increase, but we don’t believe it will. Apple knows it can’t give up that $999 starting price.”
Now it’s important to note that this rumor should be taken with a grain of salt as it has yet to be corroborated elsewhere. Yet the rumor does make some sense.
In 2023, Apple ditched the 128GB storage option from the iPhone 15 Pro Max and started that model out with 256GB of storage. However, it’s important to note that Apple didn’t actually increase the base storage of the iPhone 15 Pro Max from 128GB to 256GB. Rather it simply eliminated the 128GB option, along with its price point, and made the 256GB option the entry-level iPhone 15 Pro Max you could buy at the same price the 256GB iPhone 14 Pro Max cost.
If Apple is indeed ditching the 128GB model of the iPhone 16 Pro and will instead start selling the base model with 256GB of storage, it’s very likely Apple won’t be offering customers the 256GB of storage for the former price of the 128GB iPhone 15 Pro.
Instead, Apple will likely just do away with the current $999 128GB iPhone Pro model and make the 256GB model that currently costs $1099 the base model—without reducing its price.
The current iPhone 15 Pro model costs $999 for 128GB, $1099 for 256GB, $1299 for 512GB, and $1499 for 1TB. It is likely then that the iPhone 16 Pro will cost $1099 for 256GB, $1299 for 512GB, and $1499 for 1TB. In other words, the price stays the same for the same amount of storage.
It is unlikely that Apple will further increase the base storage on the iPhone 16 Pro Max from 256GB to 512GB.
If Apple does eliminate the 128GB model of the iPhone Pro and force users into the higher-priced option, some may be annoyed. But also it does make sense for Apple to want the iPhone 16 Pro series to start at 256GB across the line considering technologies like Spatial Video that users shoot on the iPhone Pro series take up a ton of storage space.
Of course, we’ll need to wait until September when Apple unveils the new iPhone 16 lineup to know for sure.
