Why Are iPhone 16es 128GB Base Models Selling the Best? A Deep Dive into the Cost-Effectiveness and Risks of Storage Expansion

Why Are iPhone 16es 128GB Base Models Selling the Best? A Deep Dive into the Cost-Effectiveness and Risks of Storage ExpansionA week after Apple released the iPhone 16e, priced at 4499 with a starting storage of only 128GB, it sparked heated discussions online, with many criticizing it as another instance of CEO Tim Cooks price gouging. However, despite the controversy, sales data from various platforms shows the iPhone 16e performing surprisingly well

Why Are iPhone 16es 128GB Base Models Selling the Best? A Deep Dive into the Cost-Effectiveness and Risks of Storage Expansion

A week after Apple released the iPhone 16e, priced at 4499 with a starting storage of only 128GB, it sparked heated discussions online, with many criticizing it as another instance of CEO Tim Cooks price gouging. However, despite the controversy, sales data from various platforms shows the iPhone 16e performing surprisingly well. While not surpassing the standard iPhone models, its sales significantly exceed those of Apple's previous SE series. (Image source: JD.com) Even more surprising is that the 128GB base model is the best-selling of the three versions, prompting a deeper examination of consumer buying behavior: Why are people choosing this entry-level configuration?

To unravel this mystery, we delved into major digital forums and discovered the answer: many users opt for the 128GB version not because the storage is sufficient, but because of its lower price, intending to expand storage later for maximum cost-effectiveness.

So, is phone storage expansion reliable? It's not unreasonable. Currently, the iPhone 16e 128GB version sells for 3999 on major e-commerce platforms, while the 256GB and 512GB versions are priced at 4999 and 7499 respectively. A simple calculation reveals the shocking cost of storage upgrades from Apple: upgrading from 128GB to 256GB costs an extra 1000, and upgrading to 512GB costs 3500, meaning each GB of storage costs 9. No wonder consumers joke that Apple's memory is made of gold. (Image source: Apple official website)

However, third-party storage expansion services are significantly cheaper. We consulted several top-selling stores on e-commerce platforms, and expanding to 512GB costs around 500, while expanding to 1TB costs about 700, resulting in a cost of only 0.7 per GBmore than ten times cheaper than Apple's official pricing. (Image source: Lei Technology)

We also interviewed several forum users, most of whom stated they chose expansion for ultimate cost-effectiveness. Some users lacked sufficient storage on their backup phones, and buying a new phone was too expensive, making expansion a more economical solution. This massive price difference explains why many Apple users are willing to risk storage expansionnobody's money grows on trees, especially considering Apple's unreasonable memory pricing. (Image source: Xiaomi official website)

A simple comparison: other domestic manufacturers have far more reasonable price differences between storage versions. The price difference between 256GB and 512GB versions is usually around 300 (not to mention most manufacturers have already discontinued 128GB versions). This proves that the cost of memory itself isn't inherently high; Apple is intentionally inflating profits in this area. Claims by some netizens that "Apple uses better memory with faster read/write speeds than ordinary phones" lack evidence.

While Apple uses faster, more advanced NVMe flash memory compared to the UFS flash memory commonly used in Android phones, NVMe does provide a smoother read/write experience for iOS. However, with the rapid advancement of technology in the Android camp, flagship models now often boast UFS 4.0 read/write speeds around 4000MB/s, while iPhone speeds remain at 1500MB/s and 850MB/sa significant gap. With such a disparity, Apple's high-price strategy lacks credibility.

Simply put, phone storage expansion involves replacing the internal storage chip with a higher-capacity version, for example, from 128GB to 256GB, 512GB, or even 1TB. While it sounds simple, Apple's memory chips are directly soldered to the motherboard, unlike other electronic devices, requiring technicians with extensive experience in disassembly and reassembly. Errors during this process can render the phone unusable or cause other problems.

Expansion also has two significant drawbacks: First, once expanded, even if the phone develops other hardware problems (even unrelated to the expansion), Apple will not provide warranty service, as they will deem it unauthorized modification, violating warranty policy. Therefore, most consumers choose to expand storage on out-of-warranty phones, minimizing potential losses in case of damage. (Image source: Lei Technology) Second, expanded phones are less desirable for resale. An expanded phone indicates it has been opened, and with Apple's refusal to offer warranty, its resale value is significantly reduced.

While the supply chain is now quite mature, and using reliable vendors minimizes the risk of secondhand or defective parts, many secondhand iPhones advertised as original 512GB models are actually expanded, so caution and careful verification are crucial when buying secondhand iPhones.

Why Don't Manufacturers Offer Official Expansion Services? Given the problems with expansion, why don't manufacturers offer official expansion services? This could retain customers and provide marketing benefits. Huawei once offered official expansion services, for example, with the Mate 30 Pro, upgrading from 128GB to 256GB cost 559, and to 512GB cost 999. This is twice the price of third-party services, but offers official warranty and uses new storage chips.

Huaweis official expansion service was linked to its difficulties at the time. Facing a downturn and significant market share loss, Huawei offered this service to retain customers and maintain market share. This helped Huawei navigate its challenges and enhanced brand loyalty. (Image source: Huawei official website)

However, for other manufacturers, offering official expansion services might be more harmful than helpful. iiMedia Research data shows that nearly 50% of Chinese smartphone users replace their phones every 3-4 years, primarily due to insufficient storage. If users could expand storage for a few hundred yuan, the frequency of phone replacements would decreaseclearly not what manufacturers want.

Early users could expand storage with microSD cards. However, to pursue a sleek, unified design, most manufacturers removed the microSD card slot. Data shows that the external storage card slot configuration rate plummeted from 78% in 2018 to 12% in 2023. Few phones on the market now support memory card expansion. This isn't entirely manufacturer-driven; current phone read/write speeds reach 4000MB/s, while mainstream microSD cards are still below 200MB/s, unable to meet the phone's speed requirements.

So, is phone storage expansion worthwhile? Our opinion: If your phone is a year or two old, and you don't plan to sell it soon, choosing a reliable vendor for expansion is a cost-saving method. However, if your phone is relatively new or you intend to sell it soon, we don't recommend expansion, as neither the expansion vendor nor the manufacturer will be responsible if problems ariseyou will be the one to bear the consequences.