For 2019, Apple announced its ‘Pro’ iPhones: the iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro Max. While these phones succeed the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, they carry the ‘pro’ brand for all the pro features they pack. And despite that, Apple ships these pro iPhones with 64GB of base storage. If you are looking to buy the iPhone 11 Pro or iPhone 11 Pro Max and are confused as to which storage variant you should buy, read this guide.
Considering that Apple charges a bomb for higher-end storage tiers, it is important that you buy the right storage variant of the iPhone 11 Pro the first time around. A wrong decision and you end up paying extra and extra space that you won’t need. Or worse, you end up with no storage space on your phone at all within a few weeks or months of purchasing it.
Apple does offer the iPhone 11 Pro series with 512GB storage space but charges an equal amount of money for it. If you have the money, it might seem tempting to buy the 512GB version and be done with it but that won’t be the smart thing to do.
Let’s consider some factors which will help you decide which storage variant you should buy for your iPhone 11 Pro or iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Which iPhone 11 Pro Storage Capacity Should You Buy?
Capacity and Pricing
iPhone 11 Pro
- 64GB – $999
- 256GB – $1,149
- 512GB – $1,349
iPhone 11 Pro Max
- 64GB – $1,099
- 256GB – $,1249
- 512GB – $1,449
As you can see, Apple charges a $150 premium for a jump from 64GB to 256GB storage for both iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. This difference then jumps to $200 when going from 256GB to 512GB.
General Storage Guidelines
On the other hand, if you use music streaming services, stream movies and TV shows exclusively and you back up all photos and videos to iCloud Photo Library, you might just get away with the lowest storage tier. But even then, you should be prepared when you hit the wall. You’ll need to delete apps and back up photos actively to make sure there’s enough storage space available. There’s also the fact that if you use iCloud to backup your photos, you will eventually run out of storage space on it and have to subscribe to a higher storage plan.
Who Should Buy the 64GB Model?
The base 64GB storage is going to be enough for most users….for now. If you are an average joe, go ahead and simply buy the 64GB variant of the iPhone 11 Pro. With most users now streaming music and movies, they are at best going to carry around 5-10GB of media files on their device. And even if you are someone who shoots plenty of pictures and records plenty of videos, the HEIF and HEVC encoding will ensure they take up less than half the space of regular JPEG and video files. iOS 13 also comes with plenty of features which frees up storage space automatically so you are going to be sorted.
You will save a couple of hundred bucks by going for the 64GB iPhone 11 Pro or iPhone 11 Pro Max which you can then use towards buying a case, AppleCare+, and other accessories for the device.
Who Should Buy the 256GB Model?
If you intend on using your iPhone 11 Pro 2-3 years, are heavily into gaming and prefer to have a local copy of all photos taken from your iPhone, you might want to consider buying the 256GB storage variant. This is because apps and games are only going to continue to increase in size over time and so will your picture library. While 64GB of storage space might seem sufficient now, you will end up filling that storage in a few months or a year down the line.
256GB of storage space is definitely going to be overkill for most people. But for power users and people who want that extra room for that additional peace of mind, the 256GB variant makes a lot of sense. You might also want to check the amount of storage space you are currently using on your iPhone and how much it bugs you. If you own a 64GB iPhone which has around 45-50GB of storage space occupied, it makes sense for you to go for the 256GB iPhone 11 Pro. If you are only using around 20-30GB of space, with most of them occupied by apps and photos, you are going to be just fine with the 64GB variant.
Who Should Buy the 512GB Model?
The 512GB iPhone 11 Pro is straight up going to be overkill for almost everyone. Until and unless you have very specific needs like you want to carry around your entire library of FLAC music or Blu-Ray rips of movies and TV shows, there’s little reason for anyone to buy the 512GB variant of the iPhone 11 Pro Pro.
In case you have already made up your mind to buy the 512GB iPhone 11 or iPhone 11 Pro, you likely already have a use case for it which is why you are looking to buy it. Or you just have a lot of money to burn.
Free Apple TV+ Subscription
The good thing is that Apple is giving free Apple TV+ subscription for one year with every iPhone 11 Pro purchase. If you intend to subscribe to the service, this translates into another $60 in savings if you live in the United States. The money you save here can be used to at least partially pay for a storage upgrade of your iPhone 11 Pro.
Which Capacity Will You Buy?
So, what have you decided? Which iPhone 11 Pro storage capacity will you buy? 64GB or 256GB? Or do you have some specific requirements which is why you are looking to buy the 512GB iPhone 11 Pro? Let us know in the comments below.
Buy iPhone 11 Pro
You can buy the iPhone 11 from any of the following retailers and carriers below:
