My iPhone 15 Plus has 126 GB of storage and is now completely full. Over the past few years I've started attending more concerts, so my photos and videos have taken up most of the space. I want to keep my old photos, videos, text messages, and other data.
I really like the Plus-sized screen, but Apple appears to have discontinued that model. The Pro Max is outside my budget, and I've heard mixed opinions about the Air models. I'm considering upgrading to a 16 Plus with more storage, but I'm not sure whether that makes sense or whether there are better options.
I'd prefer not to pay for a recurring cloud-storage subscription, although I'm willing to consider it if it's the safest and most practical choice. What would you recommend?
3 Answers
The practical choices are either moving your photo library to cloud storage or buying a phone with more internal capacity. Cloud storage works well because the full-resolution library can stay online while your phone keeps smaller, optimized versions. It also protects your memories if the phone is lost or damaged. A larger-capacity phone helps, but photos and videos will continue getting larger over time, so it may only delay the problem.
Upgrading to a higher-capacity phone is reasonable if you want the convenience of keeping everything locally, but compare the storage-price difference with several years of cloud storage first. A larger Plus-style model would preserve the screen size you like, whereas moving to a standard-sized model may feel noticeably smaller. The best long-term approach may be a combination: keep recent media on the phone, archive older material to a computer or external drive, and maintain a separate backup of that archive. That gives you more space without requiring the most expensive phone or cloud tier.
That’s why I was considering a 16 Plus with more storage. I rarely took photos in the past, but concerts changed that, and I don’t want to keep running out of space every few years. I’m mainly concerned about losing the larger screen if I move to a newer non-Plus model.
If these photos and messages are important, some form of backup is worth paying for. Cloud storage gives you automatic syncing and protection against losing the phone, while a computer or external drive gives you a one-time hardware cost. Ideally, keep at least two copies in different places rather than relying only on the phone or a single drive. You can also export older photos and videos to a computer or external drive, then remove them from the phone after verifying the backup.
A local backup is appealing because it avoids another subscription, but I’d want to make sure it preserves the photos, videos, messages, and metadata correctly before deleting anything from the phone.
I understand the safety benefit, but I’m hesitant about paying indefinitely. The 200 GB plan costs about $3.99 per month, while the larger plan is considerably more. Over many years, that adds up, so I’m wondering whether upgrading to a phone with more storage would be better value.