Apple's iPhone X storage options are a cruel joke

Apple unveiled its latest iPhones this week, and they are - as ever - impressive. Better screens. Better cameras. Face recognition. Augmented reality.

The list goes on and on. But there's one feature that, while improved, still isn't nearly good enough.

Especially on the premium-priced iPhone X, the storage options still border on absurd.

To be fair, with 64 GB and 256 GB options, the iPhone X are better off than any previous iPhone models.

The iPhone 7 starts at 32 GB, and it hasn't been that long since Apple was offering phones with just 16 GB of storage. So even 64 GB is an improvement.

It isn't enough, though. Surely a US$1,000 phone released near the end of 2017 ought to have more storage than an iPod from ten years ago. But it doesn't.

The iPod Classic, first released in 2007, started at 80 GB.

Let me just restate that, because it bears repeating: Apple thinks you need less storage on a phone that shoots 4K video, takes 12 MP photos, runs augmented reality apps, and plays HD movies than you needed a decade ago on an MP3 player that used a clickwheel.

Even if you set aside the historical comparison, Apple's decision is difficult to defend.

The iPhone X shoots 4K video at 60 frames per second. After you factor in iOS, all of your apps, your face data, maybe a few photos and videos you want to keep stored offline for easy access, how much space do you think is going to be left over for those massive 4K 60p video files?

The iPhone X shoots borderline pro-quality video, but its storage situation is worse than a cheap digital point-and-shoot.

That's by design, of course. This isn't an oversight on Apple's part, it's just an obnoxious tactic.

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