Admit it, the iPhone 14 Pro 1TB is the right version to buy | Digital trends

For a long time, Apple’s iPhone lineup started at 64GB of storage and capped out at 512GB. That stopped with the iPhone 13 series, with the base iPhone 13 model starting at 128GB, and models iPhone 13 Pro even up to 1 TB. The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models carry on this tradition. While Digital Trends’ own mobile editor, Joe Maring, said most people could get by with just 128GB of storage on their iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro, I’m thinking here absolutely not!

When Apple started offering 1TB of storage with the iPhone 13 Pro, that’s what I jumped for — and I’m going to keep getting 1TB until Apple bumps it up to 2TB. Here’s why.

I have (and take) lots of photos and videos

One of the reasons I update my iPhone every year is because I want the latest and greatest camera features from Apple. With the iPhone 14 Pro this year, that means the 48MP main camera, along with the return of 2x zoom for portrait mode images. And ever since I had my first child last year, I knew my use of the iPhone camera was going to be significantly increase. In my daughter’s first year, I think I took 3,000 photos of her alone, and that’s just a small fraction of my entire library of over 37,000 photos and videos that I’ve accumulated over the years. over many years. I’m one of those people who likes to have all their photos with them – I can’t be the only one, can I?

Besides the fact that Why I take so many pictures, the thing is, those pictures and those memories take up space. I would hate to have the bare minimum of storage (in the case of the iPhone it’s 128GB) and get a notification constantly saying I don’t have enough room for new photos/videos and need to free up some the space before can take more.

Sure, I could offload the photos to my computer, but I’m not on my computer much outside of work. I like having my photos and videos on my iPhone because sometimes I get sentimental and like to look back on those special moments in my life. Also, I especially love sharing my favorite photos and videos of my daughter with my friends and family that I don’t always see in person.

The Photos app also has the “For You” feature, which highlights featured photos and even collects nerdy memory slideshow videos. I don’t always watch them, but when I do, I love seeing those old photos and videos popping up. Because I have so many older images and photos, I sometimes forget about them, and this feature is a great way for me to relive those memories.

I also experienced deaths in the family, and I don’t want to forget those good times I had.

Apple image formats require a lot from space

Most phones these days are capable of recording high-resolution 4K video. This format is great if you’re trying to make a cool home video or if you’re working on a more serious project and want it to look your best. Apple even offers cinematic mode from the iPhone 13 series and later. For most people, it’s a bit of a gimmick, but a fun feature nonetheless.

Apple also offers more professional tools, such as ProRes video and ProRaw photo format. ProRes is a professional video format that is high quality and “visually lossless” in terms of detail, so there really is no compression in the end result. Because of this, a single minute of ProRes video can actually consume nearly 6GB of storage. The average person probably won’t use ProRes at all, but people in the film industry may need it. Well, 128GB won’t be enough – in fact, the 128GB models of the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro are limited to just 1080p at 30 frames per second (fps). For 4K ProRes video at 30 fps, you need at least 256 GB or more.

For photographers, ProRaw is Apple’s image format which is like a hybrid of a JPEG/HEIC format and a true RAW format. Although not a pure RAW image, ProRaw is still an uncompressed image format that gives you full control over every little detail of the post-editing process. Although ProRaw images on iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro can take up around 25MB on average due to the 12MP main camera, iPhone 14 Pro ProRaw images taken at full resolution of 48 MP can reach 75 MB each. Unedited ProRaw images can look a bit dull compared to standard processed photos, so they rely heavily on the actual editing process to look their best.

So if you like to take a lot of photos or videos, especially in higher quality formats, 128GB won’t be enough. You could probably get away with 256GB or 512GB for these, but the 1TB option lets you get super creative without worrying at all.

It’s all about apps and games

“There is an application for that.”

Remember that old saying from the start of Apple’s App Store? That’s because there really is an app for just about anything and everything. Since I practically started my career reviewing apps, I’ve acquired a vast collection of hundreds, if not thousands of apps over the past decade. Of course, not all the apps I downloaded yet exist or even work properly on modern iPhones, but right now my iPhone 14 Pro has 553 downloaded apps and games.

Honestly, I’m not proud of all the digital clutter I have on my phone in terms of apps and games, but I find it nice to have something when I need it – or even something for entertain me when I’m bored and just wait somewhere. Sometimes I might need an app for a specific thing, and as bad as it sounds, it comes into play in those specific situations. I guess it’s part of my “always be ready” mentality.

Also, even though I don’t play mobile games as much as I used to, I like to play games once in a while to keep myself busy, especially on Apple Arcade because it’s included in my Premium Apple One subscription. . And games these days can take up a lot of space! There are plenty of games that are actually ports of old console games, and there are even mobile versions of popular titles right now. For example, you can find Call of Duty: Mobile, Genshin Impact, Diablo Immortal, Asphalt 9, NBA 2K22and dead cellsJust to name a few.

If you like to play mobile games, especially those that are more graphics-intensive, it’s better to have more storage. After all, some of these games can take up a few gigabytes of storage on their own, not including game save data and patches and updates. When you only have 128GB of storage, those action-packed games can really go through that storage quickly.

More space for on-the-go entertainment

I don’t travel very often, but when I have to fly across the country, I like to have fun on the plane. I subscribe to many streaming services, such as Apple Music (via Apple One), Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix, etc. But you know what I don’t like? Paying for spotty Wi-Fi 35,000 feet above the air. Luckily, most streaming services let you download media for offline listening or viewing, or you can still just buy it through traditional methods, like the iTunes Store.

When I flew from California to New York earlier this year, I made sure to load up my iPhone with plenty of content to keep me busy. I’m talking about whole seasons for a few different shows, and maybe a movie or two. I may not watch everything on one flight (maybe on the way home), but I like having options. And since these are downloaded directly to my device, I don’t have to worry about stuttering or other issues that might occur if I was streaming.

Since a show or movie season can be a few gigabytes on its own, that adds up quickly. Having just 128GB won’t give you much headroom if you also have a lot of photos or videos, as well as apps and games, so 1TB would be best for many local media.

1TB means never worrying about storage

I guess if you don’t use your iPhone 14 Pro to take a lot of photos and videos, don’t download a lot of apps or games, stream everything, and use cloud storage services to access files, then fine sure – maybe you can get by with just 128GB. But if you want to use your iPhone 14 Pro to the fullest, then having more storage, especially capping it at 1TB, is the best bet.

This is especially true if you love taking photos and videos with your iPhone, even more so now with the stunning new 48MP main camera won by the iPhone 14 Pro. Honestly, I love taking photos with my iPhone 14 Pro, especially of my daughter. Having so much space means I don’t have to worry about missing those special moments. Apps, games and downloaded media are just the icing on the cake.

As long as Apple continues to sell a 1TB iPhone model, I will continue to buy it. In fact, I hope one day it will go up to 2TB. It’s just great to never have to worry about running out of space. As of this writing, I’ve used over 300GB on my 1TB iPhone, in case you were wondering.

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