Let's talk iPhone storage!

The iPhone 15 series is the latest and greatest version of Apple’s iconic smartphone. It’s a small step up from last year’s iPhone 14 and features the same excellent storage capacity options across its range of models as the previous generation. With a minimum of 128 GB of internal space, any iPhone 15 model comes with enough space that anyone can do what they want with it. But with such a wealth of storage, how do you decide which model to choose? Check out our guide below to find out.

Storage Capacities

The iPhone 15 series consists of four models–the iPhone 15, the iPhone 15 Plus, the iPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max–with storage capacity options ranging from 128 GB to 1 TB depending on the model. The table below gives more details.

iPhone 15 storage capacity options by model

Choosing a Storage Option

Here are our tips for knowing how much space you need for your device.

How will you use your phone?

Are you an avid gamer, or a mobile photographer? Do you love listening to music? Do you like to stream shows and movies on your device? Or just browse social media?

How you intend to use your phone is the biggest factor in deciding how much storage space you need. Generally speaking, if you want to play high-end games, you’ll need more space for game files and for your system to use while you play. 128 GB is alright, but more is better. The same goes if you keep a lot of music, photos, or video files on your device rather than streaming them or storing them in the cloud.

And if you do all of the above, then you should opt for as much storage as you can get.

Is the 128 GB iPhone 15 Enough for Me?

The smallest amount of storage space available in the iPhone 15 models is 128 GB. This amount should be enough for average use, especially if you keep most of your files in the cloud. So if you stream your music and shows, don’t play resource-demanding games, and back your photos and videos up externally, any of the 128 GB options are absolutely fine for you. And the extra good news is that these phones cost the least for all iPhone 15 models, so you’ll save some money buying them!

That said, we do recommend opting for even more if you play lots of games or if you like to download your shows and movies. Such things eat up a lot of space.

Plus, average smartphone storage capacity jumped to 100 GB in 2020 and 128 GB is becoming the “minimum standard” for mid- to high-end phones, so in the next few years, this amount of storage might start to feel smaller than it does now.

Luckily, with three other iPhone 15 storage options to choose from, finding more storage space won’t be a problem!

The 256 GB iPhone 15

With double the base storage, the 256 GB iPhone 15 models offer much more space for gaming and media libraries. You won’t need to wonder where to put your old photos so you can take a video of your best friend’s wedding, or which app to delete to make room for that one game you’ve been dying to play.

This added space comes at a £100 increase in price, of course. Also, if you’re looking at the iPhone 15 Pro Max, you should know that its smallest option is 256 GB.

512 GB - Incredible Storage at a Higher Price

The 512 GB option offers incredible capacity to make pretty much any user happy, providing enough space for music, videos, photos, and games. Even though mobile device storage capacity has been increasing (which often means that apps can afford to be bigger), with any 512 GB iPhone 15 option, you are well above the 100 GB average, so you won’t have to worry about increasing your device’s capacity for a long time.

The only downside is, again, the higher price tag: if you want this much storage volume, you’ll have to pay £300 more than the base models (£200 more for the iPhone Pro Max).

When to Choose 1 TB?

When you really want the most out of your smartphone, 1 TB of internal storage is the way to go. You can keep an unbelievable amount of photos, videos, and music locally on the phone, all while having enough space to run the latest games and keep your phone to performing optimally. Hardcore mobile gamers, serious phone photographers, and film/series enthusiasts, rejoice!

To take advantage of this serious storage, however, you have to buy either an iPhone 15 Pro (at £1,499, which is half a grand more than the 128 GB Pro) or a 15 Pro Max (at a whopping £1,599, which could easily get you a good 13” MacBook Pro). Definitely not a casual purchase.

Overview of the Pros and Cons

Here’s a run-down of the pros and cons of each storage option available for the iPhone 15 series:

To make a long story short, when choosing the storage capacity for your iPhone 15, the main things to keep in mind are:

• how you intend to use your phone

• how much you are willing to spend

If you aren’t into graphics-intensive games, you don’t take tons of photos and videos, and you don’t really download music or movies, then you won’t need the biggest storage capacity. 128 GB will certainly be sufficient and 256 GB will cover all your needs easily.

If, however, you do use your phone for resource-demanding activities, then opting for larger storage can be a gamechanger, provided you have the budget for it.

An even better option is to go for the capacity you want in the iPhone 14. It isn’t significantly different from the 15, and you can save money and reduce electronic waste by buying a refurbished iPhone from Back Market. Our expert technicians test and repair  everything, and you get a 1-year warranty and 30 days to decide if you like the phone or not. What’s to lose?