One of the biggest downsides of iPhones is their limited storage which restricts you to use basic functions at the time of an emergency. Replacing the NAND IC of the iPhone is the only solution to increase internal storage permanently, which can cost you around $50-$100.
You’ll get the chips for only $10-$40 depending on the iPhone model and NAND capacities. The labor cost is under $50. Besides, getting an iCloud storage upgrade for $1-$10 or getting a lightning flash drive for $40 are safer and cheaper approaches than NAND replacement.
Since such an approach voids the official iPhone warranty stay tuned to learn more about the safer alternatives to increase your iPhone storage.
How To Increase iPhone Storage?
First, let us know about all possible options to increase iPhone storage before jumping into the cost. It is important to choose the most viable and safer alternative.
Replacing NAND IC
Similar to laptops or desktops, iPhones have a storage chip or ROM soldered into the main board of the device. This part is called the NAND IC (integrated chip). In simple words, this small chip is the only storage that comes with your iPhone since it doesn’t allow external storage.
However, it takes a lot of specialized tools, skills, and experience to make such a replacement. The NAND needs to be desoldered, recalled, and replaced with a newer NAND IC with higher storage.
Besides, the newer NAND must be reprogrammed for your iPhone, and all system files should be installed to run the device nominally.
The NAND chips are quite cheap. On average it costs only between $10-$40 for 64-512GB capacity variations. However, the labor charge varies but it’s confined under $50. Hence, you can increase your iPhone storage permanently by spending below $100.
In terms of risk, this procedure requires a skilled technician who’s experienced with micro-soldering. Because if anything goes wrong during the procedure, you can lose your iPhone for good.
Using Cloud Storage
Apple itself provides its iCloud service for cloud storage. Besides, there are Google Photos, Google Drive, and different other services that you can use to store your files safely.
By using automatic backup, all your HD pictures, and videos would be directly stored in iCloud, which you could access later on.
As a result, you can keep your internal storage free to a great extent and increase storage effectively for other tasks. You can also upgrade your iCloud storage by purchasing different plans.
A 50GB iCloud storage costs $0.99 only. Moreover, you can get 200GB and 2TB of iCloud for $2.99 and $10.99 respectively.
This will give you expandable and usable storage for more data. Although the cons include being connected to the internet all the time to access the stored files.
By Using An External Flash Drive With Lightning Port
A feasible way to increase iPhone storage is to use a flash drive. You can connect a lightning port-enabled flash drive to your iPhone and store all important files, such as high-resolution pictures, videos, or documents.
This will save a lot of storage on your iPhone. Depending upon the brands and capacity you’ll get flash drives for iPhones spending only $30-$50.
Other Ways To Increase iPhone Storage
Be advised that it’s not a direct approach to increasing iPhone storage. But, at a time of an emergency, it could be handy to get some storage.
- Clean up your device by deleting unnecessary files, pictures, and videos, as these use most of the storage.
- Clean up cache files from different applications such as Safari, messaging, social media, etc.
- Remove any unwanted applications as well.
- Delete downloaded movies, podcasts, etc.
Cost To Increase iPhone Storage
Since you already know that to increase iPhone storage, the replacement of the NAND IC is a must. And the official Apple service center doesn’t allow such an operation as it voids the warranty.
Hence, you need to go to third-party service centers that are experts in micro-soldering. Moreover, for different iPhone models, and the storage capacity of the NAND IC, the cost varies.
For example, a NAND IC for 1 TB of storage on the iPhone 13 Pro costs around $100. Including the labor charge, you can be charged up to $130-$140 because of a newer model.
In newer models, such as the iPhone 12 series, the IMEI, Bluetooth, and WiFI addresses are not written on the NAND.
Hence, you do not need to reprogram the NAND after replacement, as these data are now stored in the eMMC or the CPU.
However, in older models such as iPhone 6, 7, and 8 series, the cost to change the NAND is around $70, including all labor charges.
Moreover, for older iPhone models that start with a 16GB variant, you can increase the storage up to 128GB for just only $50-$60. Above all, you can increase iPhone storage at a cost under $100 for most variants.
| iPhone Models | 64GB | 128GB | 256GB/512GB |
| 6 series | $10-$20 | $30-$35 | NA |
| 7 series | $34 | $45 | $49 |
| 8 series | $16 | $38 | $45 |
| X series | $9 | $20 | $40/45 |
| 11 series | $8-9 | $19 | $42/45 |
| 12 series | NA | $15 | $33-35 |
| 13 series | NA | $17 | $40/43 |
Is Increasing iPhone Storage Worth It?
Apple launches a new iPhone model with different storage variants. Mostly, the difference between the base variant and close to its next variant with higher storage is more than $100.
That could be unfair to those who are on a budget. Hence, increasing your iPhone storage to the maximum limit for just under $60 could be worth it.
However, compared to the risks and total price of the device, it won’t be worth it if you do not have a backup. It is because increasing iPhone storage voids the official warranty.
Moreover, there’s always a risk of complete device damage and data loss because of desoldering and resoldering the NAND into the mainboard. A tiny mistake can completely damage the device.
Apart from that, even if you have successfully upgraded the storage in your iPhone, it is likely you won’t get Face ID or iOS updates anymore.
How To Save Money When Increasing Your iPhone Storage?
It is better to take the risk of increasing iPhone storage through NAND replacement if your device is quite old. That way, you need not worry about the Apple warranty.
To save money while NAND upgrading, you can choose the highest storage that is applicable for your iPhone’s model.
As a result, you’ll get more storage by spending a bit more money. For example, a 64GB NAND costs around $20. But you can get a 128GB for $30 only.
It is highly recommended to go to a renowned service center to increase your iPhone’s storage.
NAND replacement is a complex job, and going to local shops for such a purpose could be equivalent to gambling with your investment.
FAQs
For more information about storage upgrades, go through the following queries from iPhone enthusiasts.
Can I upgrade my 64GB iPhone to 128GB?
You can upgrade your 64 GB iPhone to a 128GB version. All you need to do is get the specific 128GB NAND for your device and solder it in place of the older NAND, followed by reprogramming.
Is it worth buying an iPhone with bigger storage?
It is better to get an iPhone with higher internal storage by spending some extra money. This takes the risk of the table upgrading storage in an unauthorized way that voids the warranty.
What will happen if iPhone storage is full?
You cannot take pictures, record videos, or download anything from the internet if your iPhone’s storage is full. Moreover, newer apps cannot be installed on an iPhone with full storage.
Final Words
Although Apple has no official policy for increasing the device’s internal storage. However, you can get it done for only $100 or less.
But, it is a highly unrecommended procedure as it can damage your device permanently, which will cost even more than swapping and getting an iPhone with more storage.
Nevertheless, for iPhone users of older versions, the risk is worth taking; otherwise, you can always use iCloud to save up your files.