What's Occupying The Space
16 GB isn't a lot anymore but even 256 GB might not be enough, depending on how you use your device. Here's some of what takes up your storage space on your iPhone or iPad:
- Operating system: The first big bite out of your of iPhone storage is iOS itself. Apple has made iOS smaller and more storage efficient over the years, but it still takes up to 5 GB of space right off the top.
- Photos & videos: Recent iPhones have 12-megapixel, 4K video cameras on the back and even older models are 8-megapixel and 1080p. That can lead to camera rolls and photo albums in the double or triple GB digits.
- Movies, TV, and music: iTunes movies can be 1-3GB in size for SD depending on the length. If you prefer watching HD, they can be 3-6GB. iTunes TV shows can be a quarter to half the size of movies, but more than make up for it by the number of episodes typically available. Music files are much smaller, but most people have a lot more songs, which more than makes up for it.
- Apps and games: Apps and especially games can also take up a lot of space on your iPhone. It's not uncommon for some console-quality games to be over 2 GB in size days. Podcast apps, especially if you download a lot of shows, can also grow to 10 GB or more.
- Attachments: If you get a lot of files attached to your email, or receive a lot of Messages with media attachments — looking at you, animated GIFs! — it takes up a lot of space. A lot a lot.
- Files: If you work in GarageBand, iMovie, or otherwise edit a lot of content, those projects can take up considerable space as well.
Define 'Cloud Storage' For Me
Cloud storage is a simple way to store, access, share, and backup data over the Internet. Cloud storage providers such as Amazon, Google, Dropbox and Apple own and maintain the network-connected hardware and software, while you provision and use what you need via a web application. Using cloud storage eliminates the acquisition and management costs of buying and maintaining your own storage infrastructure, increases agility, provides global scale, and delivers "anywhere, anytime" access to your data. Cloud storage is an excellent option for freeing up space on your iPhone, iPad or Mac.
Examples of cloud storage options include:
- Dropbox - 5GB free
- Apple iCloud - 5GB free
- Shutterfly - free, unlimited photo backup
- Google Photos - free, unlimited photo & video backup
- Amazon - free, unlimited photo & video backup (requires Amazon Prime)
Let's work together to determine the most effective, least expensive and secure cloud storage options for your home or office.
Macintosh Drive Upgrades
Depending on the model of your MacBook Pro or iMac, replacing your smaller, spinning hard drive with a larger solid state drive (SSD) may be an option.
Read more about the advantages of upgrading to an SSD here.