Apple will reportedly offer both the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max with a minimum of 256GB of storage, dropping the 128GB starting option on the smaller Pro model for the first time.
Apple’s 6.1-inch iPhone 15 Pro currently starts at $999 and comes with a minimum of 128GB of storage, while the 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $1,199 with a minimum of 256GB of storage.
However, according to The Mac Observer, Apple will increase the base storage capacity of the upcoming iPhone 16 Pro to 256GB to match the minimum capacity of the larger iPhone 16 Pro Max, while the starting price of Apple’s smaller Pro model will remain at $999.
The source of the alleged “leak” does not have a recent history of accurate Apple rumours, so we classify this information as uncertain. However, this statement is not improbable. If Apple drops 128GB as the base model of the iPhone 16 Pro, that leaves three storage options for the Pro: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
In 2018, Apple’s iPhone X launched with 64GB, an entry-level storage level that remained in subsequent generations of premium devices until the iPhone 12 Pro in 2020, when Apple adopted 128GB as the new base capacity. The following year, all iPhone 13 models were offered with a minimum of 128 GB of storage. If Apple makes 256GB the new minimum for its premium devices this year, we could very well see it reach all models in 2025.
On the other hand, there were rumours from Korea in January that claimed that both iPhone 16 Pro models would be available with twice the maximum storage capacity of the iPhone 15 Pro, from 1TB to 2TB.
The increase in maximum memory is said to be the result of Apple switching to higher-density Quad-Level Cell (QLC) NAND memory for models with higher memory capacity. Using QLC NAND can allow Apple to pack more memory into a smaller space, and it’s cheaper than the Triple-Level Cell (TLC) NAND used in current iPhone models.
According to rumours, this year’s iPhone 16 Pro series will get larger displays, increasing to 6.27 and 6.86 inches, respectively. For comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are equipped with 6.1- and 6.7-inch displays, respectively. The new display sizes will be the largest in iPhone history, and should also increase the physical space for internal components and parts.
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