Being poor is expensive. Can’t afford to keep the electricity on? You’ll need another fee on top of the debt to turn it back on. Overdraft your account? You can’t just get it back into the black, you also have to cover the fees that drug it deeper into the red. Can’t afford healthy food? It’ll come back in medical expenses. Can’t afford the security deposit on a new place? The motel charging by the day will be more expensive than rent ever would have been. Can’t afford the down payment on a house? The rent on your apartment will be larger than any mortgage. There are so many ways our society taxes the poor. These poverty taxes take people who don’t have the capital to get started, and instead need to choose more expensive options over time, trapping them in a cycle of poverty.
I know, seems like an over-the-top introduction to a discussion about… storage sizes. Especially since this was inspired by a recent iPad mini purchase (yes, I did it, review in the works!). But while thinking about storage sizes, I realized a familiar pattern: you start off barely being able to get your foot in the door, and you quickly get taken advantage of.
An iPad shopper isn’t necessarily likely to be poor, but they could be. They could be a student who saved up for something they’ll need for college classes. It could be an adult looking to learn some skills to get a higher-paying career. Maybe it’s just someone looking to write a resume, or expand their career options. A piece of tech isn’t just a fun toy, it can be a tool, an investment in one’s on future.
What do people get with that investment? Well, if they choose the cheapest option, perhaps the only option they can afford at the time, it could lead to difficulties and more expenses. It was all the mitigations around a small storage space issue that made me realize this was yet another poverty tax, another way to take advantage of those who couldn’t afford a higher cost up-front. In the end, it can be wasteful for consumers, as well as for the environment.
But it sure is profitable.
How does Apple find a balance between price, profits, and providing what customers need? It can be a delicate balancing act. Right now, however, Apple may be on the wrong side of that act.
What Does 64GB Give You?
I’m on day two of my review of this iPad mini… but I’ve been testing the iPad mini for about a week now. What happened? Well, the iPad mini was a bit of an experiment for me. I wanted something that would be easier to take in to the office, if I ever decide to go back in, something that fits on my desk nicer, something I’d be more willing to use on my couch, and something that would fit in a smaller bag. But I didn’t want it to replace my iPad Air, or my MacBook. It was to take notes, maybe skim news stories on the couch. I figured a small size would be enough.
I didn’t realize how hard it would be to keep my iPad storage under 64GB, even with the reduced uses of this iPad vs my iPad Air. First, I couldn’t fully restore from my backup. I couldn’t have downloaded playlists, and I had to offload my photos to iCloud. I deleted unused apps and offloaded others. But it was so hard to keep my iPad under 64GB of usable storage. Part of this is because you don’t get that full 64GB, at least, not for app and document storage. There’s about 8GB or more going to iPadOS, another ~4GB for a memory buffer. Then there’s 2Gb in Apple Music, even without any downloaded songs. Another 2Gb in photos. Then there’s simple messages, which, for some reason, are downloaded on device, taking up nearly 20GB. At the end of the day, I could never get my storage below ~40GB. I had less than 24GB to myself. A micro SD card from a reputable brand would give me more storage space, and it would cost only $9!
This all came to a head yesterday. My notes wouldn’t download in my notes app (Notability), and they wouldn’t tell me why. I was trying to load one of my ongoing notes for a meeting and couldn’t. I quickly offloaded a few apps and removed downloads, and it seemed to work, I was able to use my iPad mini in that meeting. But I was now using 60GB. I just couldn’t use this for work without jumping through hoops, plenty of iCloud storage, and offloading photos and documents to an SD card, which I could only use with my iPad with an adapter!
I had already invested in a lot of this technology. I had the USB-C dock for my iPad, I have micro sd cards, I have an iCloud storage subscription. But if I didn’t? That would all have been additional costs that I’d have to pay over time.
An Expensive Miscalculation
I returned the iPad mini, bit the bullet, and bought the same iPad mini with 256GB of storage. I had been able to get the iPad mini during a sale, and couldn’t make that back on the purchase of the new iPad, so I was out roughly $270 for the upgrade. At multiple points of my life, that amount alone would have been unfathomable, let alone the full, nearly-$600 price of the iPad mini itself. This iPad cost me far more than I thought it would, more than I budgeted for. Good thing I love the thing.
What would I have done if I needed it for work, or for school, and couldn’t just run to the store to replace it? What would I have done if the base model alone had required substantial credit card debt I’d have to pay off over eight months? Apple would have been happy to charge me $10/month to make up for the lack of storage. And, in over a year, that would add up to the difference for the better option… but it would keep going, becoming more expensive. An expensive mistake that gets worse with time. Apple knows how to make money, but are they taking advantage of those who don’t have it?
What Do Better Options Cost?
For iOS devices, the minimum storage should be 128GB. For Macs, I’d argue that 256GB might be too small, requiring 512GB. My first MacBook for college had 512GB. It was enough for me, never became a problem, but I did often use more than half for all my files. With that in mind, I took a look at what Apple had to offer.
Every iPad besides the Pro comes with just 64GB. There’s the iPad 10, which you shouldn’t buy for any reason, as it’s $449, has limited USB-C capabilities, only works with the old Apple Pencil, and requires a dongle to charge and sync with that Pencil. It’s $599 to get useful storage in that iPad. Then there’s the iPad mini, $499 for 64GB, and, again, $150 to upgrade, so $549 for a useful one. And the iPad Air? The iPad Pro in nearly every way? Also starts with just 64GB for $599. $600 for only 64GB? Are you crazy? For a useful iPad Air, you’re looking at $749.
For the Macs, those storage upgrades start at $200. Fortunately, Macs are better at making use of external storage, and won’t need it as much. Unfortunately, that’s an expense for down the road.
You can get a 256GB micro sd card for $30. Apple charges $150 to get an additional 192GB of storage, or $200 for that same amount of storage in a Mac. This forces users to rent iCloud storage, buy dongles, additional storage devices, and more from Apple or other retailers down the road. Up-front, the cost is likely too much for many people. Down the road, those other expenses add up.
A Compromise?
Apple does this to make money. For the users who can afford the upfront cost, Apple makes far more money on the upsell to the larger storage options as the profit margins are much larger than they are on the base model. For those who can’t, Apple has iCloud storage subscriptions, asking users to rent their storage instead of buying it, and MFi certification on accessories. Even the largest sizes often aren’t enough, forcing users into iCloud storage subscriptions anyway. Especially on iOS, Apple controls what you can use external storage for, and limits just how useful it is, forcing you to use their storage options. It’s predatory at every level.
A better option would be a minimum of 128GB for iOS devices. The one iPad I didn’t mention is the iPad 9, which Apple still sells. It does start with 64GB, and I think this is okay. This iPad is targeting education settings, bulk buy programs from schools. 64GB is likely enough for a semester of coursework and no personal files. For the rest? That’s not enough. Along with improvements to base storage, Apple could increase the maximum storage to at least 512GB. Plenty of users will still need iCloud storage, but they’ll also be able to get enough onboard storage to hoard photos, messages, music, and apps.
Is it possible for Apple to both cover expenses and give users what they need so they aren’t constantly struggling? Sure. Apple is one of the most successful companies in the world, a multi-trillion dollar company. They can afford slightly smaller revenue. Of course, that would upset shareholders, who demand constant and unsustainable growth every quarter. Apple set up their storage spaces with mathematical precision. They’re designed to maximize the best return for Apple, the largest profit margins, the most people upgrading to larger devices and iCloud storage. It’s is pure, precise, engineered profit. And it leaves a lot to be desired for consumers, especially those already struggling with their finances.
But Apple made $394,300,000,000 last year, up 8% year over year, and isn’t that all that matters?
Some Good Reads:
- “It Is Expensive to Be Poor,” by Barbara Ehrenreich for The Atlantic
- “Why it costs so much to be poor in America,” by Karen Weese, for The Washington Post