Why does the latest iPhone still ship with just 16GB of storage as standard? Why does the new MacBook have only one USB port? Why does Apple make devices thinner and thinner rather than adding bigger batteries?
At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco this week, marketing chief Phil Schiller sat down with The Talk Show to address some of these questions.
During the live episode of The Talk Show, which is hosted by Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, Schiller was answered one of the questions we’ve all been asking every September for the past couple of years: Why does the base model iPhone still have just 16GB of storage?
With Retina displays now commonplace alongside cutting-edge processors that can push even greater graphics, everyone wants to pack high-end games, HD video, and all their favorite albums onto their iPhone. But that’s not possible with a 16GB device.
Schiller believes, however, that we no longer need vast amounts of local storage as everything moves to the cloud.
“The belief is more and more as we use iCloud services for documents and our photos and videos and music, that perhaps the most price-conscious customers are able to live in an environment where they don’t need gobs of local storage because these services are lightening the load,” he said.
Schiller added that the savings made on storage can go toward improving the iPhone’s camera and other features.
It’s certainly true that cloud-based storage services are becoming increasingly popular, and we’re sending more data to the cloud. But there are certain things we can’t send to the cloud yet, like movies we want to watch on a plane, or apps and games — which can now be up to 4GB in size.
Rumor has it, however, that Apple will finally ditch 16GB of storage with the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus this year and make 32GB the minimum. But will it make the iPhone thicker to make room for a bigger battery?
No. Although some fans criticized Apple for making the latest iPhones even thinner and not making big improvements to battery life, Schiller says it isn’t all about creating a pretty product; it’s about finding the right balance.
“If you want a product that’s thicker with a bigger battery it’s also heavier, more costly, takes longer to charge,” he said. “We model every thickness, every size, every weight and try to figure out what the tradeoffs are. I think we’ve made great choices there.”
This is also the reason why the new, ultraportable MacBook has only one USB-C port, Schiller said. He also acknowledged that the device isn’t for everyone, but noted that Apple has “to take risks,” and deliver innovative products that push us forward.
“If all we do is an incremental, slight change, where’s the excitement?”
The latest episode of The Talk Show podcast hasn’t been posted yet — but The Verge was there to document the interview as it was recorded, and they say it’s well worth tuning into, so be on the lookout for it.
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
27 responses to “Phil Schiller explains 16GB iPhones, MacBooks with one USB port, design vs. battery life”
the shittest mission of all. explaining pure stupidity.
Is it stupidity when people keep buying them? I could never function with 16GB because I have like 40GB of music alone. Some people just don’t need the space. But i do agree that 32 should be the minimum.
his explanation is BS, as the 128Gb iPhone has the exact same size and technical specifications at the 16 Gb version.
It’s intentionally lowballed to:
1) make more profit
2) try to drive more people to buy the next size up
Apple is a business! They make business decisions that make them more money. I can’t fault them for that.
Fatal flaw in the thoughts there Phil… “Everything moving to the cloud”… Not everyone wants to embrace your idea of hosting their personal stuff outside their control, and certainly not everyone wants to pay the cellphone companies for the data transfer bandwidth to handle it. Remember, they killed off unlimited packages years ago Phil.. Time to kill the 16gb models and STOP trying to force everyone to share their data with the government…
theyre not forced, those people can just get the 64gig version
Until Apple stops making 64GB and higher devices because they want to force everyone to the expensive, insecure cloud. If we let Apple get away with this horrible mind set, what I said is what is going to happen. Storage spaces will get smaller, not larger.
They won’t stop making larger storage devices when they make their largest profits off those inflated additional storag costs
Sounds like a penalty, or tax if you will against those who don’t want to be forced into doing things the Apple cloud way…
I’m with phil. people like to complain. don’t buy the 16 gb then. Don’t buy the new macbook. Innovation irks people almost there first. So I’m in.
Not saying I don’t understand Phil’s (Apple’s) viewpoint. I just don’t share it. I — along with almost anyone who knows what they’re doing — don’t want, need, or trust “the cloud”. “The Cloud” is far more about keeping people from adding their own content and far more about enticing people to buy Apple provided content. It’s good marketing, but bad form…
get the bigger storage capacity devices then
So my choice is to embrace the cloud or pay a penalty/tax fo the privilege?
Or get a different device. Galaxy s6’s have 32 GB. I use a 16 GB iPhone and I use cloud solutions. Google photos for pictures. And I have iTunes Match. Data prices have really come down.
If I had any interest in owning a POS Android device, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
It’s pretty much the same as leaving your car in the parking lot. It’s your car, its private, you’ve spent a lot of money and somebody could just steal it or crash it, but I’m sure you don’t feel like you “don’t trust” the parking lot. We all have our cars outside, locked, just as content on cloud with a password, right?
The issue is that the price point for 16GB vs 32GB on Apple’s end is near identical, and the whole point of keeping 16GB was to force people into paying the extra $100 for a reasonable amount of storage.
I am actually super happy with my iPhone 6’s battery. It always lasts much longer than my friends’ phones.
But a larger minimum space would be nice.
And since I use a Surface Pro, which only has one USB Port, I wouldn’t mind too much about the Mac only having one. I can get around the limitations of one USB port without too much effort. Though the port’s new design would be annoying since you’d need to replace your USB devices to take full advantage of its speed. But someone had to do it first, I guess.
My brother tried giving my mom his shitty iPhone 5s 16 GB in place of her 64 GB iPhone 5. I told her NO. The apps alone on her phone takes up more than 16 GB, and that doesn’t include her music and photo library.
“Schiller believes, however, that we no longer need vast amounts of local storage as everything moves to the cloud.”
Schiller believes wrong. Very wrong. Unless Apple is going to provide free, unlimited data for every iPhone and iPad user, few are relying on the cloud for mobile storage devices.
That’s the biggest part of my argument, better said… :) Unless AT&T/Verizon/whoever goes back to unlimited plans, it would cost the average person more money than they realize (not to mention crappy speed) to operate out of “the cloud”…
I think it would be better to have free iPhone without memory, and monthly fee for memory, data and sms/call.
The thing is the same price conscious people that get a 16gb iPhone are the same people that don’t pay for cloud services like Spotify or Netflix or iTunes.
I believe it is transparent how bogus Schiller’s arguments are. I don’t think there is anyone in this forum who believes it, if they know anything about technology. These devices could come with 64Gb without any discernible impact on size or price. Test it: Offer 64Gb devices adding only your incremental COST. Battery: the impossibility to simply switch for a fully charged one, and poor performance and life expectationhas ONE reason to be only: The planned and scheduled death of your device so you can fork the money for a new one in 3 years’ time. The “trend” towards the Cloud is not really so much a trend as their plan to monetize the very shortcomings they build into de devices. You overpaid for an Apple product. Now they want you to keep paying. Lack of USB or other peripheral connections has a simple purpose: keep tight control over WHAT you want to connect to YOUR OWN computer. This guy was interviewed by someone either clueless or spineless, to simply act as a sound box for more Apple advertising. I am a long-time user of Apple products, so I am not just bashing them to go running to my Samsung. I just realize that, as Apple’s power has grown explosively, they have finally become that BIG BROTHER in their famous 1980’s commercial. You guys know which one I am talking about.
I undertand not trusting the cloud so buy the bigger gb iPhone then. I don’t see what the discussion is. but the bigger hard drive memory devices or buy other products but they are all going the same route. including samsung, google, amazon, microsoft, adobe. everything is cloud based and subscription based now.
*buy the bigger hard drive devices then
Apple has done some great things in terms of getting iOS 9 to install with less memory, downloading apps in a way that is specific for the device so as not to waste unnecessary space, etc. However, since network providers are stingy jerks about bandwidth and networks aren’t always reliable, and since Apple is supposed to be concerned with users, their experience and developers (ie. making easy for users to upgrade to new versions of the OS for development consistency) 16 GB is not good enough. It makes the device get in the way of the user. It makes the user have to constantly worry about space. And in the end Apple is selling junk.