A new report from a Chinese media outlet claims that Apple will be launching iPhone 8 in three storage options: 64GB, 128GB, and 512GB. It was only last year when Apple decided to introduced iPhone with 32GB storage in the base model after a long criticism over selling a base model with only 16GB of storage capacity.
Other than making this change to the base model of iPhone 8, the report goes on to claim that the company will be doing the same with other two iPhone models expected to launch alongside iPhone 8, the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus. It means that if the report turns out to be right, the base models of all three 2017 iPhone: the iPhone 8, iPhone 7s, and iPhone 7s Plus will come with 64GB as base storage.
In case of iPhone 8, going all the way up to 512GB and offering 256GB as mid tier option is indeed going to be a bold move on Apple’s part. We can also take it as a sign of how expensive the premium iPhone 8 is going to be. For now, Apple is offering 512GB storage option with iPad Pro lineup only.
Apple will reportedly get the 64GB and 256GB NAND storage chips from SanDisk and Toshiba, while Samsung and Hynix will be responsible for supplying 512GB NAND chips.
The introduction of improved camera sensors and the news that Apple will soon start offering 4K video content on iTunes are some of the reasons that 64GB as a base storage option and the iPhone 8 going all the way up to 512GB does make sense. Another factor that’s gonna add to increasing storage requirements is the 3x Retina Display which will result in a huge increase in app installation sizes.
The iPhone 8, being a premium smartphone option with premium features and a 512GB storage capacity option, is going to cost around $1200 – $1300.