Apple kicks 16GB to the curb — no more low-storage iPhones

As part of Apple's spring updates across its iPhone and iPad line, it doubled the iPhone SE storage capacity without changing the price. This is fantastic news for 4-inch fans that need 128 GB of storage — you can have it all now. It also means Apple has officially done away with the 16GB storage option for all of its devices (except the iPod line), and the cost of doubling storage hasn't changed. In a world where photos, videos, music, and movies are taking up more space, it's good to see Apple making accommodations for that.

Why would anyone want 16GB of storage anyway?

"Gee, I could get 32GB of storage for the exact same price as the 16GB model, but I just don't need that much storage," said no one, ever. Price is the only reason I can think why a person would ever choose 16GB over a device with more storage.

Now that Apple has made the base iPhone of any model 32GB, every handset is on the same playing field, storage-wise. As an iPhone SE user, it seemed to me that Apple wasn't thinking right when it launched the 4-inch model with a starting size of 16GB of storage. Even though iCloud can reduce the amount of content we store on our devices, it still doesn't take into account such things as apps and books or media we want to download onto our devices for offline use.

One of the great features of Apple Music is that you can download your favorite albums and listen to them without depleting your cellular data usage. But anyone with only 16GB of storage will tell you that that precious space is likely used for such things as pictures.

Now maybe Google will stop making fun of Apple's low storage issues

Remember that commercial where Google spotlights its Google Photos app, which frees up space on your phone? That "Storage Full" pop-up hits a little too close to home for me. I've been on the receiving end of it before. If you only have 16GB of storage on your iPhone, chances are, photos and videos take up a large percent of it.

Critics (and fans) of Apple have been complaining about the 16GB iPhone for a while now. There never really seemed to be a reason to keep it around, especially in today's era of growing storage needs.

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus started the trend last fall by having the base model start at 32GB. Many iPhone users celebrated the upgrade, but iPhone SE buyers missed out on the storage upgrade only a few months before, much to our chagrin.

It's about time

Though I would have been much happier if the premier iPhone SE started at 32 GB for the same price in March of 2016, it makes sense that the flagship iPhone 7 would get the upgrade first. I'm fairly certain there would be a level of outrage if Apple's entry-level iPhone got there first.

It's been a year since the iPhone SE launched and for some, that means upgrade time. Admittedly, I'm not planning on replacing my iPhone SE this year, but I'm not in a hurry to upgrade my storage right now.

If I had the 16GB iPhone SE, though, I'd be waiting in line on Friday morning for my chance at an upgrade.

In the meantime, I've got my eye on that Product(RED) iPhone 7. That beautiful color is hard to resist!

Are you happy to see the 16GB storage capacity option go the way of the dinosaur? Tell me how you feel in the comments section.