The iPhone 17 has finally moved the needle in the right direction with its base storage configuration, and Samsung and Google should follow ASAP.
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.
Finally.
Finally.
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.
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.
