With the launch of theiPhone 16eand11th - gen iPad , Apple has officially phased out all devices with 64 GB of computer storage in favor of 128 GB as the ingress - stratum option . That ’s great for new buyers , but there are a lot of people who still have 64 GB iPhones and iPads that are too new to replace . I know from experience : I own aniPhone 12 miniand a6th - gen iPad miniskirt , both otherwise great devices , and it ’s become a headache to handle the latest version of iOS with such a small amount of place .
If you also have a gadget with 64 GB of storage and have been struggling with constant low storage alerts , I ’m here to aid . Here ’s how I made my devices operational again without experience to buy a Modern one .
iOS has a storage management problem
The idealistic amount of storage varies from person to somebody . For people who mainly use their telephone for messaging and browsing the web , the 64 GB accounting entry - level selection was commonly enough . But over the last several years , iOS itself as well as many apps have required much more space .
For exemplar , if you only install Instagram , WhatsApp , Facebook , and YouTube on your sound , you already end up direct up more than 1 GB of memory board before any caches or downloads . As for iOS itself , the latest interpretation of the operating organisation bring up more than 10 GB and possibly twice that withSystem Data . Given that you ’ll probably want to download more than four apps onto your sound , filling up 64 GB of storage does n’t take long .
With just 64 GB of storage , sometime iPhones can bleed out of space rapidly .
With just 64GB of storage, older iPhones can run out of space quickly.
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While big organisation and app sizes are inevitable as we get more advanced features , Apple is partly to blame for not optimize how iOS and iCloud deal storehouse . In hypothesis , iCloud automatically decides what to download to your gimmick base on useable space , but what happens most of the clip is that iCloud attempt to download all your files , even when you do n’t need them . iMessage can also become a problem , as the organization keeps a large memory cache of all your messages and attachments . ( Speaking of Cache , read : How to clear cache on iPhone & iPad . )
All of that is to say , when an iPhone or iPad reach its warehousing terminus ad quem , the gadget becomes well-nigh unusable . Apps smash , the camera wo n’t establish , it becomes impossible to install organization update … the situation receive sorry .
With just 64GB of storage, older iPhones can run out of space quickly.
But matter are n’t hopeless . If you’redealing with an iPhone or iPad that has run out of available storage , here are a few things I do to make it usable again .
Remove unused apps
This might seem obvious , but the first step is to retrieve out what on the nose is taking up your iPhone ’s warehousing . To do this , go to configurations > General > iPhone Storage . There you ’ll see details of how much space each app is using , as well as the system .
If your gimmick has make the state of barge in due to a lack of free storage , you’re able to start by take away some installed apps . Start by blue-pencil apps you no longer expend . you could sort the inclination by size or last used date , which will make it easy to see any seldom - used apps that are eating into your storage space .
If you ca n’t bring yourself to part with any of your apps , you may also temporarily remove an app from your gimmick without deleting its data . To do this , tap on an app in the iPhone Storage preferences and choose the “ Offload App ” choice . This will delete the app itself by salt away its information , documents , and configurations . That room , when you reinstall the app , everything will be restored as if it were never delete .
You can set your iPhone to automatically delete messages after 30 days or a year.
Also in the iPhone Storage configurations , you may want to turn on the choice “ Offload Unused Apps , ” which will mechanically dispatch apps that have n’t been used in a while , but without deleting any data .
Delete old iMessage chats
If you ’re a enceinte iMessage substance abuser , be cognisant that your conversations can take up a passel of space on your iPhone or iPad . Unfortunately , even though iCloud backs up all your substance in the cloud , it also keeps them downloaded and eats up storage on your phone .
you could place your iPhone to automatically delete substance after 30 days or a twelvemonth .
Until Apple solve this , we advocate blue-pencil your old chats . Go to preferences > Apps > message and seem for the choice “ Keep Messages . ” you could set iMessage to automatically delete older messages after 30 days or 1 class , which will continuously free up your iPhone ’s memory board . However , just remember that changing this will also edit message from your other Apple machine .
Optimizing photo storage can help free up precious space on your 64GB iPhone.
It ’s an all - or - nothing scenario , however , and there ’s no easy way to save individual conversation or back them up to an outside effort , so if you want to keep any specific conversations , you ’ll need to put in a lilliputian work . There are some third - political party apps that could assist , but for the most part , you involve to preserve each attachment individually and screenshot conversation .
Change the iCloud Photos settings
Photos and videos are the biggest culprits when it comes to eating up reposition infinite . Similar to iMessage , iCloud Photos also back up your photo without removing them from your devices , and that can be a problem when you ’ve only mother 64 GB of storage .
There are a duo of things you’re able to do . Obviously , the first is to go through and delete old picture , screenshots , or duplicate photos from your tv camera roll . The Photos app has a lozenge under Utilities where you may easily line up any duplicate photos and video in your program library — you may be surprised by how many you have .
Optimizing photo storage can serve give up up precious space on your 64 GB iPhone .
you may also head over preferences > Apps > Photosand condition that the “ Optimize iPhone Storage ” choice is on . This will allow your iPhone to take some of the full - resolution photo from your equipment and only download them when you want to see them .
But in some display case , you may need an even more aggressive result . On my devices , for example , I have more than 700 GB of photograph and video in iCloud . So , even with optimized iPhone depot , there ’s still a circle of information that end up being download to my sound .
If you ’re in a similar gravy holder , consider bend off iCloud Photos and removing all the picture and picture stored on your equipment . Instead , you may periodically transfer the photos you snap or make unnecessary to your Mac or an external drive .
Worried about lose the photos on your iPhone ? Read : How to delete photograph from iPhone but not from iCloud