Source: new entry-level iPhone will have a starting point of 32GB storage instead of 16GB
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Context & Ripple Effects
Apple has been under pressure over its storage ladder for a year: the iPhone 6S kept the same 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB tiers as the iPhone 6 even as 4K video and higher-resolution photos made the base model feel cramped, and mid-2015 leaks already showed a 16GB base configuration in testing.
Now a Wall Street Journal source says the next entry-level iPhone will start at 32GB, retiring the 16GB tier entirely. It matters because the cheapest iPhone is Apple's volume anchor — its base spec sets the comparison point every rival and every carrier deal gets measured against.
First-order effects
- Buyers of the lowest-priced iPhone get double the base storage at launch, while the 16GB SKU — the tier most likely to hit capacity walls with 4K video — disappears from the lineup.
Second-order effects
- Android rivals lose their easiest marketing wedge, the 'our base model has more storage than the iPhone' comparison, forcing them to compete on other specs or shift their own tier ladders upward.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, each generation resets the floor higher — the corpus shows the entry iPhone reaching a 64GB base by 2020 — turning base-storage doublings into a routine cadence rather than a response to criticism.
The trend: The iPhone's base storage tier ratchets up generation over generation as media capture grows, with Apple retiring each cramped floor once component costs allow.