iPhone 11 Pro Max 256Gb & iCloud+ or 512Gb???

[Manu_00]

iCloud+ or Internal Storage

To put in context; A couple of weeks ago I bought a 256Gb iPhone 11 Pro Max on BackMarket, after uploading the backup I realized that I have 80Gb left and I thought about buying the same device with 512Gb now that I am in the withdrawal period or continue with this and buy iCloud+ 200Gb in the future.

The cons of buying the 512Gb iPhone are not only the €30-50 difference, but also since it is a refurbished website, the battery condition may be low, parts such as the screen and battery may not be original and the exterior appearance may be in worse condition than the current one, and honestly it gives me "a lot of stick" to risk it again.

The iPhone I have now is literally brand new, with 93% battery condition, all original parts and pristine exterior appearance, I'm delighted with it but I'm a little afraid of running out of storage in a couple of years.

My question is... What do you consider to be the better option, a 512Gb or iCloud+ 200Gb? What advantages do you think one might have over the other? And the disadvantages?

I await your responses and thank you for your time.

I also make a poll so you can put your answers

 

[fanboy-ish]

Well, if you have other Apple devices, like a Mac and/or an iPad, iCloud can make a lot of sense, as iCloud's syncing is very nice (it's working really well for me).

If your only Apple device is the iPhone I think that more storage can make sense.

But, let me speak in favor of cloud storage, especially if on your iPhone you're storing files that are important to you, a good practice is to have two backups of your files, one local on an external drive and one in the cloud; however, if you're not using a Mac, then it would be better to check other cloud providers that have better support for other operating systems.

So, the advantage of cloud storage is that your data resides on hardware managed by huge corporations, so it's safe, or at least it should be, even if some of their drives fail, the disadvantage is of course that you'll keep paying for that storage for as long as you want it.

The advantage of your device storage is clear, more storage means that it will take longer for your device to lose performance because it's full of files and you'll have complete control over your files and you'll be safe from corporations' changes in their policies, usually with Apple the big disadvantage is the upfront cost of more storage; but, in your specific case, you've already highlighted the possibile disadvantage (having a device not in mint or very good condition).

 

[Manu_00]

Well, if you have other Apple devices, like a Mac and/or an iPad, iCloud can make a lot of sense, as iCloud's syncing is very nice (it's working really well for me).

If your only Apple device is the iPhone I think that more storage can make sense.

But, let me speak in favor of cloud storage, especially if on your iPhone you're storing files that are important to you, a good practice is to have two backups of your files, one local on an external drive and one in the cloud; however, if you're not using a Mac, then it would be better to check other cloud providers that have better support for other operating systems.

So, the advantage of cloud storage is that your data resides on hardware managed by huge corporations, so it's safe, or at least it should be, even if some of their drives fail, the disadvantage is of course that you'll keep paying for that storage for as long as you want it.

The advantage of your device storage is clear, more storage means that it will take longer for your device to lose performance because it's full of files and you'll have complete control over your files and you'll be safe from corporations' changes in their policies, usually with Apple the big disadvantage is the upfront cost of more storage; but, in your specific case, you've already highlighted the possibile disadvantage (having a device not in mint or very good condition).

That means having huge amount of storage means better performance over time? Is that the iphones perform better as more storage you have???

 

[now i see it]

If a 512 GB iPhone is filled near capacity, backing it up is borderline impossible. Restoring from a gigantic backup will also take forever.

I’m not a fan of storing that much data on a phone. It’s too unwieldy and super slow to back up. And if you don’t back it up and you lose access to the iPhone- way too much data gets lost.
I don’t think keeping more than 256 GB of data on a phone is a good idea.
At least that’s how I see it.

 

[God's Torde]

I see in your post that you say you have a great condition 256Gb iphone that you have already purchased and using.

I would recommend then adding more icloud storage down the line when you need it, with an AppleOne account you get 200Gb or you can go higher.

I also have a 256Gb 11 Pro Max and quite happy with it so far, I have AppleOne with 200Gb, i used to have 2Tb but realised I didn't need that much at this point, been great so fat with the extra 200Gb in iCloud, I have both my iPhone and iPad Pro uploading to iCloud storing Documents, syncing pics and videos etc... and so fat so good.

 

[ian87w]

If a 512 GB iPhone is filled near capacity, backing it up is borderline impossible. Restoring from a gigantic backup will also take forever.

I’m not a fan of storing that much data on a phone. It’s too unwieldy and super slow to back up. And if you don’t back it up and you lose access to the iPhone- way too much data gets lost.
I don’t think keeping more than 256 GB of data on a phone is a good idea.
At least that’s how I see it.

Agree. Storing a huge amount of data locally is highly risky. The moment the iphone got damaged, that's it. And backing them up will be a chore, especially in USB2 speed. This is why I've been converting most of my stuff to the cloud. Storing all your photos and videos on the iphone made no sense.

I'd rather get a smaller storage iphone and utilize iCloud.

 

[fanboy-ish]

That means having huge amount of storage means better performance over time? Is that the iphones perform better as more storage you have???

It means that it will be harder to fill it up, devices tend to perform better when they're not full of data.

 

[promini]

Go with 512. I always choose the bigger storage when possible.