An iPhone 15 costs $799 with just 128GB of storage. For an extra $100, you can get the 256GB model, putting 128GB at a $100 price point in Apple’s book. The 512GB model costs $1099, so that’s an extra $200. That’s $1.28 per gigabyte, and you can’t upgrade internal storage any other way.
That’s a shame, because there’s an absolutely stonking deal on SanDisk’s 400GB microSD card in the Black Friday sale, down from $69.99 to to just $27.99.
That’s a measly $0.07 per GB!
Where to find the best Black Friday storage deals
- Amazon — Up to 60% off microSD cards
- Best Buy — Save $170 on 4TB SSD drives
- Target — big savings on external drives
It really shows the value imbalance between Apple’s storage costs, and the flexibility that your average Android phone allows you. For less than $30, you’re getting almost quadruple the storage that the entry level iPhone 15 offers you, and the majority of Android handsets will let you just plug that in, no questions asked. It’s a fantastic deal.
- iPhone deals: Verizon | AT&T | Mint Mobile
- MacBook deals: Amazon | B&H Photo | Best Buy
- iPad deals: Amazon | B&H Photo | Best Buy | Walmart
Yes, of course you could plug the microSD card into a converter/reader, and plug it into the bottom of an iPhone or iPad. And I am not forgetting the fact that modern MacBook Pro and Mac Studio computers have an SD card slot for removable storage expansion, either.
But when you look at how easily (and in this case, affordably), Android phone users can upgrade their internal storage with a card like this, and essentially merge it with onboard memory, it can’t help but sting a bit. Storage costs, alongside RAM on the Mac side of things, is the place where cries of ‘paying the Apple tax’ ring the most true.
Thankfully, things are a little better now that iPhone 15 range the majority of iPads all now support USB-C accessories, making at least external storage options more accessible than they previously were. But it’s still a world away from the plug-and-play microSD card joy those on the other side of the tech divide enjoy.
Still, as a self-respecting tech fan, this is likely a handy deal whatever handset you’re rocking. Whether you’re boosting a DSLR’s photo capacity, expanding the recording capabilities of a security camera, or indeed plugging this into the side of your Mac, $0.07 per gigabyte, for a card with respectable 120MB/s transfer speeds, is a deal you shouldn’t miss.
