The arrival of the iPhone 13 complicates the annual question of how much storage a new iPhone should come with. In the past, answering this question involved examining how much storage came with an entry-level iPhone, rolling your eyes, and then paying for the next level of capacity.

That is changing with the iPhone 13. Instead of offering 64GB as the base level of storage like recent iPhone models, Apple has increased the base capacity of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini to 128GB. And while the iPhone 13 Pro continues to offer 128GB capacity in its entry-level model, a 1TB option has been added for users who can't get enough storage.

Now that the iPhone 13 is available for pre-order, it is time to consider how much storage you need. To answer this question, you need to review the available iPhone 13 storage options and consider how comfortable you are with relying on cloud storage.

If you are considering the iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 mini, you no longer have to give up 64GB of storage if you choose the entry-level price for either model. Instead, starting at $699 for the iPhone 13 mini, you can purchase the 128GB model, and even the $799 iPhone 13 will get you 128GB of space.

The iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini also come in 256GB and 512GB configurations. Just add another $100 to the price to jump to the next level of storage, then another $200. the 256GB iPhone 13 mini is $799 and the 512GB model is $999. the 256GB iPhone 13 ($899) and the 512GB model ($1, 099) are the same. The price increase for the 256GB iPhone 13 ($899) and the 512GB model ($1, 099) is the same.

As for the iPhone 13 Pro models, the 128GB iPjone 13 Pro starts at $990 and the iPhone 13 Pro at $1,099. The 266GB model adds $100 to this price, as the 512BB model costs another $200, The 512GB iPhone 13 Pro will cost $1,299. If you choose the coveted 1TB iPhone 13 Pro, you'll add another $200.

Put another way, if you want the 1TB iPhone 13 Pro Max, you'll pay $1,599; you can get a 13-inch M1-powered MacBook Pro with 512GB of storage for about the same price and still have $100 left.

Can you make do with 128GB of storage? This is not an academic question: the iPhone does not have a microSD card slot to increase capacity, so the storage purchased at launch is the storage you will have on hand months later.

Therefore, if you choose 128 GB, you should make sure that is all you need. It depends on how you use your iPhone to determine if that is all you need.

Unless you have an oversized photo library that you store and carry around on your phone, or a huge music library that you also store on your phone, 128GB should be enough. Right now, my main phone is an iPhone 11 Pro Max. At the moment it uses about 67 GB, with about 550 songs, 800 photos, 20 videos, and 40 apps taking up that space.

Even if my iPhone starts to fill up, Apple has several ways to squeeze more storage out of the phone. iOS 15's temporary iCloud backup feature allows you to transfer everything you need to your new device Grant you the same amount of backup storage on iCloud for up to three weeks after you purchase a new phone to make sure that you have the same amount of storage. Since iOS 11, you can also offload unused apps to free up space on your iPhone.

If managing storage seems like a hassle, paying an extra $100 for the 256GB model may be worth it just to save you the trouble of calculating how much storage you need on the iPhone 13 model. However, the 512GB version, and the 1TB versions of the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, are intended only for those who store everything on their mobile devices.

There is one more thing to consider when calculating the amount of storage space needed. That is how much you plan to use iCloud for hosting photos and backing up other iPhone content. By default, you get 5GB of free storage in iCloud just for signing up.

However, Apple's iCloud Plus service allows users to upgrade to 50GB (99 cents/month), 200GB ($2.99/month), or 2TB ($9.99/month). This storage can hold photos, email, calendar, contacts, and other files. In addition, with the introduction of iOS 15, iCloud Plus adds additional features such as Private Relay for more secure browsing, HomeKit Secure Video Recording for compatible security cameras, and finally, the Hide My Email functionality, and other additional features.

Whether iCloud Plus is worth it is another question entirely, but it is a way to enhance the cloud storage options of the new iPhone.

For most people, 128GB should be enough storage, but those worried about hitting that limit should pay an extra $100 to get 256GB of space. 512GB or 1TB options are the biggest digital packrats need to worry about. only.