In settings on a reset Apple iPhone 4s storage is 12.1GB

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I believe capacity on iPhone 4s is 8, 16, 32 0r 64gb. Why then does a reset iPhone 4s show 12.1GB with 309MB used? I am guessing the capacity is actually 16GB.
 

pigoo3

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What you're experiencing is absolutely normal. For a 16gig iPhone...formatted capacity of around 12gig is normal.:)

Here are two articles that explain things:

https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/...pads-true-formatted-storage-capacity-3511773/
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201402

- Nick

I've known this, but out of curiosity after reading the OP, I checked on my 256 GB iPhone X (iOS 12.1.4) and both under Settings > General > About > Capacity and under Settings > General > iPhone Storage it lists exactly 256 GB. I wonder what the difference is?
 

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I've known this, but out of curiosity after reading the OP, I checked on my 256 GB iPhone X (iOS 12.1.4) and both under Settings > General > About > Capacity and under Settings > General > iPhone Storage it lists exactly 256 GB. I wonder what the difference is?

I believe what you're seeing is the amount of "advertised" capacity...but not the actual usable capacity (true formatted capacity). If the first linked article above is checked out...it explains the math behind this...and also has a small table listing the actual true formatted capacity of iPhone's or iPad's with 16, 32, 64, and 128gig capacity:

- 128GB: approx. 114gig
- 64GB: approx. 56.5gig
- 32GB: approx. 27.5gig
- 16GB: approx. 11.5gig

The article was written in 2016...and probably at that time 256gig devices weren't available. I did a little searching...and it looks like devices with an advertised capacity of 256gig...have a true useable formatted capacity of around 248gig.

HTH,:)

- Nick
 
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I believe what you're seeing is the amount of "advertised" capacity...but not the actual usable capacity (true formatted capacity). If the first linked article above is checked out...it explains the math behind this...and also has a small table listing the actual true formatted capacity of iPhone's or iPad's with 16, 32, 64, and 128gig capacity:

- 128GB: approx. 114gig
- 64GB: approx. 56.5gig
- 32GB: approx. 27.5gig
- 16GB: approx. 11.5gig

The article was written in 2016...and probably at that time 256gig devices weren't available. I did a little searching...and it looks like devices with an advertised capacity of 256gig...have a true useable formatted capacity of around 248gig.

HTH,:)

- Nick

Like I said, I know about that. What I'm getting at is why am I not seeing the formatted capacity listed on my phone, whereas the OP is?
 

pigoo3

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Like I said, I know about that. What I'm getting at is why am I not seeing the formatted capacity listed on my phone, whereas the OP is?

I'm not 100% sure what the OP is actually seeing...or if some extrapolations are being made form the numbers the OP is seeing. Here's one guess if the OP is actually seeing the numbers mentioned in post #1:

Your 256gig iPhone X is running iOS 12...OP is talking about an iPhone 4s. Newest iOS version an iPhone 4s can run is iOS 9. OP's iPhone 4s could be running iOS 9...or something even older. It's possible Apple tweaked things...and with iOS 12...these values are displayed differently with different iOS versions.

I'll give an example. I have both a 32gig iPhone 5 running iOS 10...and a 32gig iPhone 6 running iOS 12. If I do the..."Settings > General > About > Capacity" series of commands on both iPhones here's what I get:

- iPhone 5 (iOS 10). Capacity = 28.76gig, Available = 13.8gig
- iPhone 6 (iOS 12). Capacity = 32gig, Available = 15.6gig.

As can be seen...the iOS 12 phone is reporting "Capacity" as the full 32gig "advertised" capacity...but the iOS 10 phone is reporting the "Capacity" as 28.76gig (probably the actual useable formatted capacity).

So my conclusion with the numbers is...it's a iOS version difference (Apple tweaked something).

HTH,

- Nick
 
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So my conclusion with the numbers is...it's a iOS version difference (Apple tweaked something).

I bet you're right - they probably changed it to show the advertised capacity so people wouldn't be confused and think they got ripped off ;D
 

pigoo3

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I bet you're right - they probably changed it to show the advertised capacity so people wouldn't be confused and think they got ripped off ;D

My guess is you're right on the money about that!;)

- Nick

p.s. I'm about to run out the door to help my wife spend some money (she's actually gonna be the one doing the spending of course)!;) When I get back...I'll post a photo of the display of each phone...so what I'm seeing can be seen by others.:)
 

pigoo3

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Here are a couple photos I promised regarding iPhone storage capacity & how it's reported via the iOS:

32gig iPhone 5 running iOS 10.2.1:

Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 9.18.15 AM.png

32gig iPhone 6 running iOS 12.1.2:

Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 9.17.51 AM.png
 

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