iPhone 6s won't be getting rid of the 16GB base model

With Apple's annual iPhone special event just around the corner, it appears that Apple won't be addressing one of the chief complaints iPhone users have been voicing for years now.

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Late last week, an image purporting to show iPhone 6s packaging was leaked via Twitter and suggests that Apple's entry-level iPhone will still feature a paltry 16GB of storage.

This news is especially disappointing because many users have felt, for years on end now, that 16GB of storage simply isn't enough in today's age of heavyweight applications and HD video. Indeed, with rumors that Apple's next-gen iPhone will support 4K video recording, one has to imagine that 16GB of storage can be used up in no time at all.

The resulting nuisance is that the 16GB entry-level model effectively forces many users to shell out an extra $100 to upgrade to the mid-level 64GB model. While this is clearly a smart move from Apple in a business sense, it's certainly frustrating from the vantage point of a consumer. All the more so because the price differential between 16GB and 64GB of storage is decidedly much less than $100. But then again, there's a reason why Apple has over $200 billion in cash in the bank.

On the plus side, Apple last year did increase the mid-level storage option from 32GB to 64GB, so it's not as if Apple is totally fleecing consumers here.

On a related note, Apple executive Phil Schiller was asked point blank about Apple's storage options during an interview with Daring Fireball's John Gruber at this year's WWDC event.

Defending Apple's 16GB iPhone model, Schiller quipped: "The belief is more and more as we use iCloud services for documents and our photos and videos and music that perhaps the most price-conscious customers are able to live in an environment where they don’t need gobs of local storage because these services are lightening the load.”

It's not a totally outlandish point, but the fact remains that many users with 16GB models often have problems even upgrading to the most recent version of iOS. iOS 8 was particularly nightmarish as the update, for some users, required upwards of 5.8GB of free space.

Raising another point, Schiller added that the money Apple saves on 16GB models allows them to purchase more quality components like advanced camera modules.