First time iPhone buyer...16GB or 32GB?

My contract expires in 2 days and I'm finally able to take the iPhone plunge, but I'm still debating on which one will best suit my needs...the 16 or 32GB. I have almost zero experience/knowledge of the phone, so quite frankly I don't know what sort of space the apps, pictures, movies, etc take up. I'm looking at probably no more than 5GB of music, some occasional movies, and the storing/transferring of work-related files (sound recordings, images, Word and Excel documents, emails, PDF's, etc).

It's a two-year investment so I'm willing to spend the extra cash for the larger phone if need be, but I'm curious to hear opinions from current iPhone owners.

I personally have an 8GB iPhone and it's got plenty of space for my needs. I've got several hundred songs, over 40 apps, and I still have room for multiple TV shows and movies. Based on your needs, the 16GB model would be plenty of space.

However, I should let you know that there is a very high likelihood that a new iPhone is going to be released in late June/early July. So if you can hold out until then, I suggest you do so before jumping the gun and locking yourself into a two year contract.

If you can afford the 32Gb one, go for it. Drive Space is like RAM, you can never have "too much" as long as you can afford it and you'll never be sorry or limited by it. I too have an 8Gb iPhone and have less than 1Gb of space left between Apps, Ringtones and most of all Music (almost 700 songs). I'm hoping for a 64Gb iPhone in the summer when my contract ends.

I just picked up a 3GS 16gb iPhone. I could have bought the 32gb, but I did not feel that I needed that extra memory. Some people would need it, but 16gb is more than enough for me. I own a older iPod Nano that has 8gb of space, between my music, songs and pictures I could never fill it past 3-4gb or so.

I don't think you should bother looking at the 8gb, your definitely going to want to step up to the 3GS iPhone. The choice will be should you go with 16 or 32gb. At the end of the day it's your call. Do you have an MP3 player/iPod right now? How many songs do you have? Like to take lots of pictures with you?

Also, I would not wait for a new one to come out, just pull the trigger now. I've shot myself in the foot by waiting for new things to come out like this. And when they finally hit the shelves they were WAY out of my price range and I was forced to wait even longer for the prices to drop. Buy now and enjoy it, if they come out with something 6-12 months down the road sell the old iPhone and upgrade.

mac102004 said:

Also, I would not wait for a new one to come out, just pull the trigger now. I've shot myself in the foot by waiting for new things to come out like this. And when they finally hit the shelves they were WAY out of my price range and I was forced to wait even longer for the prices to drop. Buy now and enjoy it, if they come out with something 6-12 months down the road sell the old iPhone and upgrade.

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That is not very sound advice. For starters, the new one is going to cost the same as the current one with a new contract, $200 for the base model (either 16GB or 32GB, we don't know yet) and $300 for the next model (again, either 32GB or 64GB). Second, he won't be eligible for an upgrade in 6-12 months, so he'll have to figure out a way to sell his by then outdated iPhone for a price close to the amount a new retail iPhone will cost, somewhere in the $500-$600 area. Sounds like a hassle if all he has to do is wait a few months and then enjoy his device for two years.

Kash said:

That is not very sound advice. For starters, the new one is going to cost the same as the current one with a new contract, $200 for the base model (either 16GB or 32GB, we don't know yet) and $300 for the next model (again, either 32GB or 64GB). Second, he won't be eligible for an upgrade in 6-12 months, so he'll have to figure out a way to sell his by then outdated iPhone for a price close to the amount a new retail iPhone will cost, somewhere in the $500-$600 area. Sounds like a hassle if all he has to do is wait a few months and then enjoy his device for two years.

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I'm not forcing my opinion on anybody, the OP asked for opinions and I gave mine....

You would have to take a loss if you wanted to upgrade, that's just the way she goes. You don't sell a 2 year old car for $40,000 and go buy a brand new, better one for the same cost. You wont have any problem selling it, that's for sure.
If Apple set a date, and said, YES! An amazing new iPhone with this that and the other thing will be released today. Then maybe, you may want to wait for it, otherwise don't be fooled waiting on false promises IMO.

I just upgraded to the 16 gig 3gs and have kicked myself every day since for not going for double the space for a 100 bucks !

Clay

Well, I debated for a while on holding out for the next iteration, but then realized that there's no great way to do so and save much money aside from hanging on to my worn out, internet-less Blackberry Pearl that much longer. A refurb would use my upgrade, and buying a used 3G/Gs to tide me over that isn't damaged isn't any cheaper than a brand new one with contract. If OS 4.0 were planned for the next iPhone only, I probably would've forced myself to wait, but that news helped my decision.

My contract runs out in may or june I think, but I'm waiting for the announcement of the new iPhone cause if I got the 3GS and then a new one come out I'd be pretty annoyed that I had 18 months of the "old" iPhone lol!

Unless it is imperative that you upgrade promptly on the expiration of your contract, you'd probably be best off waiting. The upcoming iPhone revision should cost the same; without a doubt it will have superior features (in particular, expect a better camera, LED flash, and Apple's own cpu, similar to what's in the iPad, which reportedly is VERY impressive); and OS updates starting in as little as a year or so will increasingly fail to completely support the 3GS. Worst case scenario in waiting? You save a hundred bucks by settling on the 3GS if the upcoming one fails to sway you. At the least, you can expect Apple to announce the new version in the next month or so and can base a decision on that.

There is no harm in waiting for the new one. If you feel the need to get an iPhone right now, get the 32 gb. You may end up needing the space for apps or music in the future, who knows? Better safe than sorry.

Also, check out the new iPhone here. Chances are that is what it will look like.

Wait a month and a half for the new one. You will regret buying an iPhone right now when the new one is released.

You should be just fine with the 16GB iPhone. That's the model I picked up at AT&T, and haven't had a problem in terms of storage, and only put on 600 of my songs(I have an iPod). Plus 40 some apps, and three movies.

Personally it's more than enough space for me. But if you think you'll be adding more over the years than pick up the 32GB. I am sure though as you've read, I'd just wait out until the iPhone 4G comes out, and just use a prepaid phone until it comes out.

when it comes to hard drive space, BIGGER IS ALWAYS BETTER.

id love to be able to put most of my music on the iphone, as it is i cant even put a quarter on mine without filing it. it stinks.

my contract ends in a few months so ill be picking up the new iphone when/if it comes out before my contract ends.

If you don't want to wait for 4G and buy it right now, 16GB should be plenty. Something tells me that, if you are like me, you will eventually want an iPad - I would save extra $ for it . I have 16GB - about 400 songs, TONS of app - only half full. For normal use requiring tons of contacts, decent amount of music (not like a few THOUSANDS of songs) and apps, 16GB does it all. How much videos you would download and watch would be the biggest factor, I think. I am one of those guys who want "them all" - tend to buy the most expensive model with all goodies "just in case" but the reality is that I only utilize half of what the gadget could do. I thought about the same for the memory. Never had an issue with my old 8GB iPod Touch - I didn't need to jump to 32GB.