iPhone 16 Pro Storage Expansion 128GB to 1TB [video]

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Cost of NAND vs Apple’s Pricing

  • Commenters estimate 1 TB mobile NAND around $100–130 retail per chip; significantly cheaper in bulk.
  • Industry prices are usually quoted in bits (e.g., 8 Tbit = 1 TB) at the NAND-die level.
  • Many see Apple’s $500 storage upsell as extreme markup relative to component cost.

Technical Process and Craftsmanship

  • Viewers are impressed by the precision: disassembly, foam gasket removal, and especially CNC grinding the original NAND.
  • The original chip is epoxied/underfilled to the PCB; heating enough to desolder it risks damaging nearby components and the opposite side of the board.
  • CNC removal is presented as safer and more consistent than hot air for an underfilled BGA.
  • Underfill epoxy is said to help shock resistance and cope with thermal expansion.
  • The torque screwdriver “clicks” are noted; some find the whole video almost ASMR-like.
  • Foam inside is speculated to serve vibration damping, acoustic tuning, and thermal equalization.

Storage Needs and Removable Storage Debate

  • Some say phone storage barely matters due to cloud offload (photos, videos).
  • Others strongly prefer local media and backups: offline access, bandwidth/battery concerns, distrust of cloud providers, and cost comparisons.
  • Use cases for large local storage include RAW/pro video and multiple on-device LLM models (tens–hundreds of GB).
  • Many lament the lack of SD/microSD or any user-expandable storage; others argue current OS/storage performance needs make soldered primary storage standard.
  • There’s debate over whether waterproofing truly precludes card slots and removable batteries; examples of water‑resistant phones with those features are cited.

Repairability, Lock‑In, and Apple’s Business Model

  • Grinding the original NAND “to dust” is seen as emblematic of non‑upgradable modern hardware.
  • Some argue Apple’s storage and RAM segmentation is pure price discrimination and a sign of weak competition/oligopoly.
  • Complaints extend to Macs’ soldered RAM/storage and rapid obsolescence, seen as generating e‑waste and inflated upgrade costs.
  • Others justify choosing Apple anyway: long software support, perceived quality, security, and better overall integration than Android alternatives.

Feasibility, Limits, and Lock‑Down

  • Questions arise about whether larger-than-official capacities (2–8 TB) would work; some suspect firmware/SoC controller limits tied to Apple’s official configs.
  • For Macs, there’s mention that even “modular” NAND is effectively vendor‑locked via controller behavior/serialization.
  • The mod is widely admired technically, but many doubt it is economically viable at scale given equipment, skill, donor parts, and risk.