by Neal Cook, Front Rush
If you’ve read our past few blogs, you’ve probably noticed a trend on something we are passionate about: Apple Products.
The hype and hoopla typically surrounding the iPhone releases have simmered to a low boil (there are now 15 iPhones in Apple’s product line), still, we find ourselves time and time again discussing the latest iPhone; what it can do, what it can’t do, what we want it to do.
The iPhone 7 was released a few weeks ago. In terms of product enhancements, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus focus more on the new operating system instead of new features. You don’t need an iPhone 7 to upgrade to iOS 10. If you have an iPhone 5 and above, you can update in your Settings. If you have a 4s or below, you won’t be able to update to iOS 10.
I’m perfectly content with my iPhone 6s. It works how I expect it to work and there is no physical damage. I’m part of T-Mobile’s JUMP program which entitles me to upgrade my phone every year instead of every two years ($12 a month, includes insurance and theft protection). There’s no point in having this plan if I don’t upgrade every year, so I went ahead and ordered the new iPhone this week.
You really have 3 choices to make when deciding which phone to purchase:
Which iPhone do you want? The smaller iPhone or the iPhone Plus
What color do you want? Rose gold, Gold, Silver, Black and Jet Black (which looks the same to me)
What storage size do you want? 32GB, 128GB or 256GB
Personally, the iPhone Plus is too large for me, so I opted for the normal iPhone 7.
For color, it doesn’t matter to me since I always have a case on my phone, so I opted for the Silver since it was shipping faster than the Black and Jet Black.
Storage size, this I was stuck on.
The 1st iPhone had three storage tiers of 4, 8 and 16GB. We’ve come alongggggggggg way.
The iPhone 7 comes in three storage tiers:
- 32GB – $649 or $21.31 per GB
- 128GB – $749 or $5.85 per GB
- 256GB – $849 or $3.32 per GB
If you are tight on money, 32GB is your best option. But if you want the most bang for your buck, the 128GB or 256GB is a better value.
The three biggest improvements on this iPhone are the dual speakers for louder, mono audio (this is why they removed the normal headphone jack), improved water resistance and the 12mp cameras that can shoot 4k video.
I love taking photos on my iPhone (just check out my Instagram @nealcook), so I’m amped for the camera update BUT the new camera and 4K video will eat up all my storage, quickly. If you don’t take tons of photos or videos, 32GB may work for you. If you take a lot of photos and especially video, you should go for the 128GB or 256GB.
In terms of media, I don’t really don’t download my movies, TV shows and music to my phone. Instead of purchasing and owning digital copies (all take up space on your phone), I use streaming services such as Spotify, Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, and Audible. If you stream almost everything, you might be able to get away with 32GB. If you prefer to download your movies, TV Shows, or music, you will most likely need the 128GB or 256GB.
It was a hard decision to make (I can do a lot with $99). Flashbacks reminded me of the horrors when I’d go to take a picture and a popup said I ran out of storage space, or I’d go to download an app and find out I need to delete an app first to clear up space.
The decision was made. 128GB. You are mine. And I’m going to use each and every last gigabyte.
If you are not a hardcore phone user but use it more to surf the web and stream, you can get away with the 32GB.
If you’re planning to use your iPhone 7 the way it was intended to be used (taking lots of photos and videos), 128GB iPhone 7 will be enough.
I don’t recommend anyone going with the 256GB. That is just crazy.