Joe Maring / Android Authority
Every Apple event, be it WWDC or the new iPhone launch, brings me a set of confusing thoughts. There’s a lot of mockery over what Apple has decided to copy innovate and their random announcements that no one asked for (hello, iPhone Air), but also a bit of jealousy-slash-awe at Apple’s pull over the entire phone industry. I see that new front-facing camera, and I know many Android brands are now scrambling to copy it in 2026; it’ll easily be the new gold standard of selfie cameras.
But if there was one thing that stood out to me more than the silly thinness of the Air and its external battery pack, the misleading “fusion” lens, the 120Hz refresh rate on the base iPhone, and the new modems and chips, it’s one tiny detail: The iPhone 17 now starts at 256GB.
We had to wait for Apple to do it, but Apple has gone and done it. And, just like I know that everyone will copy that new front-facing camera, I also know that Apple’s influence on phone pricing and portfolio structure is insane. 256GB will become the norm in the US and the West because Apple made it the new norm, and no one wants to lose a battle against Apple because of a silly, inexpensive flash storage upgrade.
256GB of base storage will become the norm because Apple just made it the norm.
It’ll likely happen as soon as 2026. Samsung’s Galaxy S26 and Google’s Pixel 11 should both start at 256GB. And we can finally retire that restrictive 128GB of internal storage that gets eaten by the firmware, AI models, cumulative cache, and different apps and games that you install and use over the few years that you own the phone, leaving limited space for photos, videos, music, and other large files. And look, I know that some of you will tell me that they’re okay with 128GB being the base because they don’t need more, but most users disagree. Even in 2024, 70% of over 24,000 votes on our storage poll said 128Gb isn’t enough.
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
Sticking with 128GB is stingy and cheap, especially for phones that cost over $800. It artificially limits the capabilities of the phone you’re buying because you’ll start babysitting its storage. That fantastic camera and video shooter? That gaming beast? That AI champion? They all need more storage. Without extra storage, you might as well buy a less capable phone with fewer promised years of software support. And no, cloud backups — or even local NAS backups — aren’t a solution. So, yes, I’m a bit angry when companies like Samsung and Google release expensive phones and then artificially restrict them by not letting us fully use them unless we splurge for the extra storage tiers. The base storage price of “Starting $799” is a lie if you can’t properly use all of the phone’s features on that storage tier.
The base price of $799 is a lie at 128GB. It artificially limits how much and how long you can use all of your phone’s awesome features.
Today, the price difference between a 128GB and a 256GB microSD card is around $8; it’s probably much less for flash NAND storage built into the phone. But many companies like Samsung and Google have been resting on their profit margins and using this cheap upgrade as leverage to force us to pay a disproportionate $50 or $100 extra to get 256GB instead. Madness.
I still remember when storage tiers were seen as a deal, not a nuisance. When the first iPhone launched in 2007 with 4GB and 8GB of storage for $100 extra, the difference seemed like a no-brainer because 8GB microSD cards were a very, very expensive rarity. Soon, though, storage cost dropped, but the cost to upgrade tiers didn’t, and the damage was done. Apple had seen a way to make extra profit, and it wasn’t going to let it go.
As microSD card slots disappeared from smartphones, every company started copying that margin-milking tiered storage strategy to the point where it became the norm. And somehow, we, the entire smartphone buyer base, decided it’s ok to be taken hostage by the storage conspiracy, and that paying through the nose to properly use all the features you actually buy a phone for is acceptable. It baffles me to think that there are teenagers today who have never seen a phone with expandable storage and who think it’s normal to pay such a premium for a bit of extra storage. Madness, I tell you.
Apple has done the right thing here, moving the needle in the right direction for once. I don’t know why they did it — they could’ve easily gotten away with another year of 128GB — but I’m glad they did. And now the ball is in Samsung and Google’s courts for 2026.
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