iPhone 12 mini 128gb, 256gb, or 512gb. Does it really make a difference?

[bwApple! fwApple!]

I have a Photos Library that is about 400gb in size.
I’ve used an iPhone SE 128gb for the last six years.
So, at some point I went beyond the amount of storage on the device, and chose “optimise iPhone storage“, so that lots of photos and videos are now stored (and backed up) in iCloud. (I’m on a 2TB iCloud storage plan.)

I’d like to get an iPhone 12 mini, but am wondering whether to pick 128gb or 256gb in storage.
Even the 256gb iPhone 12 wouldn’t be able to hold all my Photos stuff. If I chose an iPhone 13, I would have the option of 512gb, but over time it would probably not be enough to hold all my Photos stuff anyway. (And going from a 12 mini with 128gb-256gb to a 13 mini with 512gb would be quite a big jump in cost.)

Is there some kind of reason -when I choose the “optimised iPhone storage” option and have a Photos library backup in iCloud- that it would still be wiser to get the 256gb option instead of the 128gb option? Once something like “optimise iPhone storage” and “iCloud photos library backup” is used, does it really make any difference?

Are there people who perhaps have deliberately chosen /less/ storage when getting a new iPhone? (Not because they had lots of unused space, but precisely the opposite. Because, suppose you have a 600+gb photos library, it doesn’t really matter whether you device is 100gb short in storage, or 500gb short?)

(I’ve heard that certain features on the Pro iPhones have been limited to iPhones with at least 256gb in storage? So that’s a general consideration, but not applicable to my situation.)

Thanks!

 

[zach-coleman]

It depends on how long you plan on keeping it. 128 will probably be workable for a handful of years more, but I don’t like being so constrained. I have 256 for future proofing. One day I might get a 512 so I can keep my entire photo library on device.

If you’re in the long haul I would definitely get at least a 256GB 13 mini. They’re apparently an official cult classic device and the price of the best one to ever ship (the 13) will probably fluctuate over the next few years for people who want to hold on to the form factor for as long as possible.

 

[leventozler]

I always go for the smallest option, and offload photos to iCloud.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

There are a few possibilities. I’ll assume you don’t have OTHER needs for storage, besides your Photos library…

The thing to look at is Videos. If you are the type to record, let’s say, your child’s entire 2-hour football match or a 45-minute lecture on video - it has to go somewhere, BEFORE it can be uploaded to iCloud. So you need local storage for that.

If you like to EDIT videos on your phone, and have long videos - then they need to download before you can edit them.

If you want to download a season of a TV show from the TV app, to be able to binge on your flight from Los Angeles to Sydney… you’d need room for that.

Otherwise - nah.

 

[gerball]

There's a few downsides to having your photos optimised. You're trusting Apple to fully look after the originals. Pretty sure there's a 99.99% chance your originals will always be fine, but there's always a chance a data center could go up in flames or your account could be deleted/lost (accidentally, malevolently or otherwise).

Secondly there's a delay when you want to view the originals, when you get the blurred version of a photo/video while the original is downloaded. Apple seem to have done some great optimisation work on this though and I'm pretty sure they pre-fetch a load of photos/media that they think you may be about to open.

Finally there will be more network activity on your phone as your photos are downloaded. You may prefer to avoid that especially if you're regularly on cellular with a depleted battery.

Overall though, I'd say none of these are major points so probably not worth paying for extra storage for most people.

 

[rdillon2008]

I have a Photos Library that is about 400gb in size.
I’ve used an iPhone SE 128gb for the last six years.
So, at some point I went beyond the amount of storage on the device, and chose “optimise iPhone storage“, so that lots of photos and videos are now stored (and backed up) in iCloud. (I’m on a 2TB iCloud storage plan.)

I’d like to get an iPhone 12 mini, but am wondering whether to pick 128gb or 256gb in storage.
Even the 256gb iPhone 12 wouldn’t be able to hold all my Photos stuff. If I chose an iPhone 13, I would have the option of 512gb, but over time it would probably not be enough to hold all my Photos stuff anyway. (And going from a 12 mini with 128gb-256gb to a 13 mini with 512gb would be quite a big jump in cost.)

Is there some kind of reason -when I choose the “optimised iPhone storage” option and have a Photos library backup in iCloud- that it would still be wiser to get the 256gb option instead of the 128gb option? Once something like “optimise iPhone storage” and “iCloud photos library backup” is used, does it really make any difference?

Are there people who perhaps have deliberately chosen /less/ storage when getting a new iPhone? (Not because they had lots of unused space, but precisely the opposite. Because, suppose you have a 600+gb photos library, it doesn’t really matter whether you device is 100gb short in storage, or 500gb short?)

(I’ve heard that certain features on the Pro iPhones have been limited to iPhones with at least 256gb in storage? So that’s a general consideration, but not applicable to my situation.)

Thanks!

iCloud storage for you is about $150 a year so it is better to get a large storage option than to pay for cloud storage

 

[bwApple! fwApple!]

Thank you all for the replies so far!

(And yes, I should have specified, that other than my Photos Library there’s very little on my iPhone that takes up big amounts of storage.)

 

[Ryan1524]

If you do a lot of video, or like to keep things on-device (ie. bad 5G coverage), then yes.

If you can live the cloud life, 256 will do. Maybe 512 if you’re a photo/video person.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

There's a few downsides to having your photos optimised. You're trusting Apple to fully look after the originals. Pretty sure there's a 99.99% chance your originals will always be fine, but there's always a chance a data center could go up in flames or your account could be deleted/lost (accidentally, malevolently or otherwise).

Optimization is terrific with multiple devices, though. I have an iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and two Mac minis. All are optimized, except one mini that manages my Time Machine & online backups. That gets all originals, and keeps them safe.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

iCloud storage for you is about $150 a year so it is better to get a large storage option than to pay for cloud storage

Not really. Either you use iCloud, or you don’t. There is no half-and-half option.

 

[splifingate]

Are there people who perhaps have deliberately chosen /less/ storage when getting a new iPhone?

I replaced my iP12-mini with an iP13-mini last month, and I purposely chose the 256GiB version (slap in the face of the fact that I *could* have easily purchased the 512GiB version), as I really do not need any more.

If I were to actively choose to directly mirror my iCloud 2TB storage, I would be peering through the keyhole at the capacity of the 512Gib ver.

At the end, 256GiB still meets my daily needs 🤷‍♂️

 

[sack_peak]

I always go for the smallest option, and offload photos to iCloud.

I always go for the smallest option, and offload photos to iTunes backup on local drive.

 

[skiltrip]

I back up photos to Google Photos and clear off pictures and video from local storage as I go. Every year or so I wipe the phone and reset it. Base storage works for me. 128gb on this 15 should be plenty.

 

[shadow82x]

Anyone know the read/write differences of these storage sizes?

 

[Macalicious2011]

The thing to look at is Videos. If you are the type to record, let’s say, your child’s entire 2-hour football match or a 45-minute lecture on video - it has to go somewhere, BEFORE it can be uploaded to iCloud. So you need local storage for that.

This is over looked. When I go on a holiday I shoot 200-400 photos and more recently, a lot more videos. 4k/60fps videos are roughly 1gb per minute. So content from holiday can total to 50-80GB.

All of that will unlikely be uploaded until I get home as hotel upload speed can be slow!

 

[rdillon2008]

Large phone storage you don’t need iCloud. Smaller phone storage then get a large iCloud and pay monthly. It is that simple