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iPhone 6S rumors: New packaging leak suggests 16 GB base model will stay around for another product cycle

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A purported photo of an iPhone 6S information sheet has surfaced detailing the specifications of the upcoming iPhone, due to be announced at an event on September 9th. Whilst the detailed technical specifications do not reveal anything new, the page header is intriguing. It suggests that, once again, Apple will offer a 16 GB base model version of the iPhone 6S (via Steve Hemmerstoffer). This matches analysis of iPhone 6S components obtained by 9to5Mac back in June, which showed Apple using 16 GB memory chips in preproduction units.

Low storage space iPhone SKUs is a big complaint in the community. Many had thought this would be the year Apple finally drops 16 GB from the new lineup of phones for good. Although iOS 9 is more efficient regarding storage, features like 12-megapixel photos and 4K video recording generally require a lot more storage space. Some supplier reports have also said the new iPhone lineup will start at 32 GB.

Naturally, this unsubstantiated photo should be taken with some degree of skepticism. It could have been faked or it could have been from early product packaging designs that were changed later in the cycle. That being said, we now believe the box leak from yesterday to be accurate giving a bit more weight to the reliability of Chinese snaps of iPhone 6S packaging (shown below).

Also note that the existence of a 16 GB model does not mean the lineup has to stay identical as the iPhone 6 generation with 16/64/128 GB tiers. There is a chance Apple could slide in a 32 GB option between the 16 GB and 64 GB price points as they have done with the new iPod touch. We would consider this unlikely, however.

iphone box

The iPhone 6S will likely launch around mid-September following the unveiling on September 9th. 9to5Mac’s exclusive report show the iPhone will feature a greatly improved camera, Force Touch functionality, come in a Rose Gold color variant and include animated wallpapers a la Apple Watch which is where the koi fish (shown on the box ) comes into play.

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Comments

  1. lwntgngr - 9 years ago

    how can they expect people to shoot 4k video on 16gb iPhone. This is just greedy. I don’t like their storage tier policy.

    • James Katt - 9 years ago

      If you need to shoot 4K video – which no iPhone can currently do – then you obviously need the 128GB+ Model.
      You are being greedy if you expect 4K video to fit in a 16GB iPhone.

      Analogies:
      16GB iPhone = 1 Bedroom Condominium
      64 GB iPhone = 3 Bedroom Home with 1-car garage
      128 GB iPhone = 5 Bedroom Home with 3-car garage

      Many businesses prefer the 16 GB iPhone for their employees so that their employees won’t fill up their iPhones with data, unnecessary information, or worse – information that compromises the business.

      Many people just need a 1 bedroom condo iPhone. After all, most people who use Android Phones simply use it for the phone calls and text messages. It isn’t their primary personal computer.

  2. PhilBoogie - 9 years ago

    “(…) 4K video recording generally require a lot more storage space”

    I presume it isn’t mandatory to shoot in that resolution though.

    • Benjamin Mayo - 9 years ago

      Yeah, there will be options to turn it off. Same way currently you can choose between 720p and 1080p resolutions.

    • Davide Benatti - 9 years ago

      For sure, but why buying a 4k capable device if you have to turn the feature off due to the fact that the device doesn’t have enough space to store the video?

    • I usually just want to shoot a video, not go and play it in cinema or else. I think 4K is pointless for some more years but I understand they have to implement that.

      • OneOkami (@OneOkami) - 9 years ago

        Pointless to you != pointless in general.

      • jacosta45 - 9 years ago

        He understands why they have to implement it, he said.

    • taoprophet420 - 9 years ago

      Not to mention more storage the the new cameras will take for photos.

    • Overlord - 9 years ago

      But… what about the experience?
      Why put the option then?

  3. virtualstorm - 9 years ago

    That’s sad. Seriously? Only 16GB?

    • There are 64GB and 128GB models as well. Just in case you don’t know.

      • LOLametro - 9 years ago

        Well, if they cost 100$ more, this get’s very expensive.

      • You get 64GB for the same price as the 32GB that was cut off. Guys from Apple know what they are doing. Some people do not need more than 16GB although yeah, I have 16GB iPhone 4S and I’m planning to upgrade to 64GB iPhone 6s.

      • Frank Higgins - 9 years ago

        It’s f*cking ridiculous that Apple would release a base model that is STILL 16GB. There is NO excuse for it. Why would anyone defend this crap? It’s not that $100 is alot of money, but it should be 32GB STANDARD in 2015.

      • thejuanald - 9 years ago

        You do know that it costs apple around $1 to go from 16gb to 64gb right? “apple is so amazing they got rid of the 32gb version and give the 64gb for the same price! They are so amazing they really care about us!”

    • Anthony Moon Ciaramello - 9 years ago

      Is nobody thinking 5s will be the 16gb model? The newer phones wont??? Doesn’t seem to hard to figure out.

      • applegetridofsimandjack - 9 years ago

        I think this will be the new line-up

        iPhone 5S 8GB for 0$ on a 2 year contract
        iPhone 6 16GB for 99$ on a 2 year contract
        iPhone 6 64GB for 199$ on a 2 year contract
        iPhone 6 Plus 16GB for 199$ on a 2 year contract
        iPhone 6 Plus 64GB for 299$ on a 2 year contract
        iPhone 6S 16GB for 199$ on a 2 year contract
        iPhone 6S 64GB for 299$ on a 2 year contract
        iPhone 6S 128GB for 399$ on a 2 year contract
        iPhone 6S Plus 16GB for 299$ on a 2 year contract
        iPhone 6S Plus 64GB for 399$ on a 2 year contract
        iPhone 6S Plus 128GB for 499$ on a 2 year contract

        I think the 5C will be discontinued. I do not see iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus be discontinued because to Apple those 2 phones would serve as a step to try and get customers to buy the latest iPhone 6S or iPhone 6S Plus. Because if for ex. iPhone 6 is 99$ and the iPhone 6S is 199$, people tend to think ‘for just 100$ extra I can get the latest and greatest iPhone. While if you remove the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, you’re left with a 200$ gap between iPhone 5S and iPhone 6S. 2 years ago Apple killed the iPhone 5 but only because the 5C replaced it, so that was different.

      • Tom@L (@_ArcTic_FiRe) - 9 years ago

        There is no more contracts or subsidies for new customers. So 64gb iPhone 6s is $749 before tax.

      • Andrew Messenger - 9 years ago

        well we can see right there in the picture that it’s a 6s. doesn’t seem too hard to figure out.

      • Anthony Moon Ciaramello - 9 years ago

        Horrible photo… must have been taken by a Galaxy…

      • Matt Russell - 9 years ago

        @applegetridofsimandjack, I do think however, that if the normal 6 and 6 Plus stay, they could eat into the sales of the 6S/6S Plus. Think about, most people upgrading just want the bigger screen phone, they don’t care about special new features, just a fast phone with a big screen. I think Apple will be smart and discontinue AT LEAST the 6 Plus, to make sure that all their new customers will be going with the 6S and not the 6.

      • thejuanald - 9 years ago

        Anthony, actually the note 5 has one of the best cameras I’ve ever seen in a smartphone. The iPhone 6+? Meh

  4. taoprophet420 - 9 years ago

    Almost as insane as Apple selling the 8 GB 5c’s still. I said it with the iPhone 6 last year 32 GB should be mandatory and 16 GB models give first time Apple users a bad expirence.

  5. 89p13 - 9 years ago

    I agree with all the points that freediverx makes in his posts: Be aware of what your needs are (or will be) and purchase accordingly.

    Take responsibility for your decisions and stop blaming Apple for selling you so many high-end features – and you cheap out on the 1 of the 2 Options: iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus and then, how much memory will I need.

    “Pay me now or pay me later – either way, you will pay.”

    • taoprophet420 - 9 years ago

      You assume all the customers are savvy enough to know what they need or what experience they will get with a certain model. Uniformered consumer purchases a 16 GB model and has lots of photos and videos and has a bad experience with the phone. Apple should follow Google and offer unlimited storage for photos and that would eliminate a lot of the problems of the 16 GB model.

  6. applegetridofsimandjack - 9 years ago

    Last year, when the iPhone 6 was rumored to be available in a 128GB configuration as well, I knew how Apple would go about this.

    I knew Apple would not want 4 different storage capacities. Because Apple always works with the number 3 (Thinner. Lighter. Faster; 16GB, 32GB, 64GB; etc.) and so then I knew Apple would kill one storage option to make place for the 128GB option. People were saying Apple would make 32GB the entry model and 64GB for 100$ more and 128GB for 200$ more over the 16GB model.

    But I knew Apple would instead keep the 16GB model to make people make thz jump to 64GB, resulting in more people upgrading to 64GB.

    Of course during the keynote, Apple said ‘Now for 100$ more you get 64GB instead of 32GB like before.’ That was so dirty, looking at it from the bright side while the negative side of this is mich more apparent.

    And when they showed off iOS9 at WWDC 2015 and announced iOS9 would take up much less storage space than plder versions of iOS and ask people to temporarily delete apps in order to update their firmware, I knew the 6S and 6S Plus would still be sold woth 16GB of storage space as entry model.

    Once you understand Apple you can anticipate such things. I believe Apple will only get rid of the 16GB model if let’s say in the future the iPhone 8 has a 500ppi screen meaning updated apps will take more storage space just like when apps went retina in 2010. Only in such situations would Apple need to ditch the 16GB model. But they will not do it because people are irritated by this. No way.

  7. Randall King - 9 years ago

    The 16 GB is fine for people who don’t install a lot of apps or store a lot of music or movies. For photo/video storage, iCloud Photo Library is the perfect option. I have 14,435 photos and 264 videos, and they only take up 4 GB on my iPhone 5s thanks to iCloud Photo Library. The plans are inexpensive, the service works fairly well, and it saves a lot of storage space on your devices that are limited in that area. I think iCloud Photo Library pays for itself when you factor in the money you save buying a higher capacity phone just to store photos/videos.

  8. David Gee - 9 years ago

    If Apple is going to go with a 16GB base model, stating that local storage isn’t as important anymore because of the cloud, then they really need to up the basic FREE cloud storage. 5GB is a joke as is, and to be honest, Apple device owners should get a decent amount of storage for backups. I suggest 20GB for starters. It’s been a bug-bear for years for me….especially considering if you own multiple iOS devices but are restricted to only 5GB cloud storage as you are using the same Cloud/AppStore login for years.

  9. cdm283813 - 9 years ago

    The people defending this are fools. There is only one Android “flagship” with 16GB and that phone has an SD card slot and is only $400 (Moto X Pure). There is zero reason (other than greed) why a $650 phone still has 16GB in 2015. And 32GB is not some rare memory configuration.
    Can anyone here show me a phone that still has 16GB costing over $600?

  10. NQZ (@surgesoda) - 9 years ago

    There is just no reason for this — the price of flash memory is ridiculously cheap, especially to be used in a phone, since it doesn’t have to be very fast, just a high density. Also to not have an SD card slot is also extremely ridiculous…With the amount of data that apps are taking up, the addition of the 4K video capability, etc…it just makes no sense.

  11. smidg3t - 9 years ago

    It’s pretty obvious why Apple are still choosing to release a 16GB model and no one seems to understand why. It costs Apple less to produce compared to the other storage options available.

    Yes, it’s annoying as 16GB isn’t really 16GB, it’s around 12.2GB but iOS 9 requires a lot less space now so for some users, a very low percentage, will still be happy with 16GB (12.2GB).

    • Tom@L (@_ArcTic_FiRe) - 9 years ago

      stop making excuses. 16gb is not enough. And it doesnt cost much more to make it 32gb. This is apple’s way of making $750 64gb iphone the standard iphone so that everyone moves up to pay that.

    • Will Van Gelderen - 9 years ago

      Flash memory is so cheap now, in fact I think its around $7 for Apple to go from 16gb to 32gb.

      • Tom@L (@_ArcTic_FiRe) - 9 years ago

        it will be even less than that since they do bulk purchase direct from suppliers like Micron or Samsung.

  12. Pablo Aparicio - 9 years ago

    Did you see de two dots (:) separated from the word before? Don’t it should be “comprend: “? I see “comprend : “

    • Alexandre Briaud - 9 years ago

      Hi, there’s no punctuation problem here as French requires the “:” to be separated from the word before. (French reader here :))

      • Pablo Aparicio - 9 years ago

        Hi, Alexandre. You’re right. I didn’t know that.

  13. Paul Andrew Dixon - 9 years ago

    Why have a 16gb phone???
    32gb should be the smallest…

    The only way this would be ok is IF apple increase the free measly 5gb free icloud storage… they should be offering at least 10gb, preferably 20gb free!!!

  14. scumbolt2014 - 9 years ago

    LOL! Let the cheap whiners whine!

  15. Will Van Gelderen - 9 years ago

    Completely insane if this is true. Flash memory is really really cheap now, in fact the $100 price jump is still insane. Come on Apple dont skimp out like this

  16. Ali Hamodi - 9 years ago

    If Apple think that staying at the top of the cliff is easy, they should think again. Losing respect is much more important that an extra $100 in the pocket. I wish people in the conference won’t be clapping so Apple stop their arrogance.

  17. Leif Paul Ashley - 9 years ago

    It’s rare I ever say anything bad about Apple… ever.

    This is absolutely stupid.

  18. Jonathan Brusco - 9 years ago

    Apple is in quite the predicament here. I see them as having a few options. if they make the base model 32GB then a greater number of consumers will opt for that model over the next one up and that seriously cuts into their bottom line. The upgrade in memory probably costs them $1 but if people don’t buy the upgrade model, this costs them $99. Their options are as follows (1) Stick with 16GB as the entry model and get a lot of crap from customers, but ultimately many suck it up and pay $99 for the 64GB upgrade. (2) Make the base model 32GB, in which case to make the next model more attractive, they would need to jump straight up to 128GB for $99, which would but the highest end model at 256GB for the extra $149. My guess in this instance is that you’d have more people buying the 32GB, a few buying the 128GB and very few buying the 256GB.

    Might I suggest an option (3) What they should do is re-define memory. Keep the base model at 16GB but tell the world that they don’t think its fair to have an OS and pre-installed apps using up space. So if you buy a 16GB phone, that 16GB represents usable memory, with the OS living elsewhere (basically they will need to build a 20GB phone). This points the finger at the standards set by the industry, frees up a bit more space and lets the pricing structure live on, at least a little while longer.

    Also keep in mind that a big part of this equation is Apple trying to move people to cloud based systems that they profit from. A 16GB phone is much more usable if someone is paying for Apple Music and also for iCloud storage. If my photos, video, and music are stored in the cloud, a lot of memory is freed up on my device.

  19. Matt Russell - 9 years ago

    This will cause even less people with 5/5S to go the 6S. They could get a brand new 6 with 64gb for the price of a 6S with 16gb.

  20. iphonery - 9 years ago

    16gb is perfect for enterprise, people who don’t need a lot of apps and people who unload pics and vids on a regular basis… PERIOD!

  21. pmz2999 - 9 years ago

    Apple fags don’t care, they will by anything that says Apple on it.

  22. Wes - 9 years ago

    This is actually about the only thing keeping me from upgrading. It’s an additional $130 for the required storage upgrade in Canada. Plus, I only use about 18GB on my 64GB device. I hate paying so much extra for something I Just Barely need.

  23. Robert Dupuy - 9 years ago

    Fudge

Author

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.