I think it's a huge hit to their brand image with consumers if this is true, because they haven't sold woefully underprovisioned current-model-year iPhones before, at least that I can recall.
I have heard the argument that they offer the smaller storage devices for institutional bulk purchase (think high school iPads with a narrower range of use cases and a managed and/or limited base of installed software), but if that's the case they should stop offering those models to consumers in general.
Re:Dear Apple, why is my iPhone always full?
by wlesieutre on Monday December 15, 2014 @09:52AM
(#8752216)
I was in the same boat. Instead of buying an iPhone 6, I saved $250 (500 vs 750) and got a Z3 Compact instead.
It's not perfect (the camera is garbage in low light), but it has a MicroSD slot, fits in my hand, and costs a lot less. And I can pick what app I want to use for web browsing, mailto: links, maps, etc.
I'm betting Apple finally concedes default apps in iOS 9, but I don't see them ever adding expandable storage.
For example, in the past I've always purchased the "base" model. First 8GB then 16GB. But now, for me, 16GB is probably 1/2 my ideal storage size, so I'd probably purchase the more expensive 64GB model.
The new "base" model is effectively $100 more expensive.