Is 16GB enough for a new iPhone 6s?

Soon, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will go on sale and plenty of prospective buyers will be wondering: Is 16 GB enough for my iPhone 6s? Or will I be running out of space all the time? One might question the motives behind Apple’s decision to offer the three models of each new iPhone as they are. For an up-to-date entry model, 16 gigabytes are less than optimal, but workable if need be.

We recommend you go for at least 64 GB of storage, if possible, in order to fully enjoy all of the great new features in iOS. Taking advantage of the capabilities of your device also presupposes the neccessary storage space, e.g. for storing the new “Live Photos”, which take up around double the amount of a regular photo. Recording videos in 4K is another major factor contributing to a rapidly filling iPhone 6s. And don’t forget about those games you are looking forward to playing: The better the graphics, the more demanding the space requirements will be.

iPhone 6s 16 GB: How much storage space is available to the user?

Seasoned iPhone veterans know that a 16 GB iPhone does not enable the user to fill the entire phone with his data. The actual usable storage capacity is somewhere around the 10-12 gigabyte mark, as iOS requires a portion of the space. But don’t worry yet, using our guide below, you can make the most of your iPhone 6s with 16 GB of nominal capacity.

Here are a few tricks that will help you keep an eye on the variables you need to control:

Avoid large apps

As much as we all love apps, some of them need to go. Especially the ones that eat up all of your free storage space. To find out about the hungriest apps when it comes to space requirements, check your “Settings” app. Go to “General”, then “Usage” and finally “Manage Storage” to find a list of your installed apps, sorted by how much space they are currently using. You can clear individual app data by tapping the respective app and looking into the detailed list of contents.

By the way: Apple presented a new “App Thinning” method, which developers can use to keep their apps and updates as slim as possible.

Using a lower video resolution

As noted before, 4K videos represent the maximum video quality and resolution any iPhone has ever been capable of shooting. While this is certainly exiting, it is also the the hog on your storage space. A minute of 4K video can take up to 375 megabytes of storage space, depending on how well it can be compressed. That would already take up around three percent of your entire available storage. Check the “Camera” section in your “Settings” app and play with the settings until you find a happy medium.

Using iCloud and iCloud Drive

Perhaps Apple’s plan entails something along the lines of making you want one of the premium plans for iCloud storage. Storing your files in the iCloud has multiple advantages, the primary one being: Having an off-site backup, fully independent of your device. But it also does reduce the need for on-device storage to some extent. Rumor has it that Apple will be reducing the monthly fees for the premium packages, or rather offer more storage for the same price. The smallest package for roughly a dollar a month will allow you to store around 50 gigabytes of data in the cloud. The free plan offers 5 GB of free iCloud storage.

Did you know? There is now a dedicated iCloud Drive App, which allows you to manage your files right from an iPhone or iPad, including folder management. You will have to activate it first, though, as it is hidden by default. To enable the iCloud Drive app, go to “Settings”, “iCloud”, “iCloud Drive” and “Show on Home Screen”. Now the app will appear on your Home Screen, ready for use.