iPad 32gb iPad storage in 2024 and beyond

[Funny Apple Man]

I've heard discussions and comments of 64gb storage being barely enough for an iPad. It strangely reminds me 3 years ago, Apple was still selling 32gb iPads. 😬

I can't imagine myself using 32gb today. I can survive with 64 (I'm only using up around 45gb), but 32gb will be a bit too restrictive.

I'm curious to those who have a 32gb iPad and running the latest iPadOS 17 or 18 beta, how is it holding up for you these days?

 

[NastyMatt]

ahhhh.. I remember adding the 16k ram pack to my zx81 and thinking that was a beast!

 

[rui no onna]

I'm curious to those who have a 32gb iPad and running the latest iPadOS 17 or 18 beta, how is it holding up for you these days?

Pretty much can’t do an OTA update without offloading almost all apps. Thankfully, the 32GB iPad 7 is just a backup/beater or I would be super frustrated.

Apart from the firmware updates issue, it works just fine for streaming and web browsing.

 

[Shirasaki]

While I 9000% can’t survive with 32GB internal storage only (not even 256GB for that matter, need minimum of 512GB and preferably 8TB or above), regardless of the device, l think those kind of capacity works great on the group that treats their devices as some sort of cloud terminal or thin client. That is, barely anything stored locally other than junks. Heck, for those folks, 16GB would be plenty if not for the reason that iOS nowadays are quite big.

 

[rui no onna]

l think those kind of capacity works great on the group that treats their devices as some sort of cloud terminal or thin client. That is, barely anything stored locally other than junks. Heck, for those folks, 16GB would be plenty if not for the reason that iOS nowadays are quite big.

Even for mostly cloud-based stuff, 32GB has gotten too tight unless all you’re using is Safari.

When the iPad’s got 10GB of firmware + 10GB system data, that doesn’t leave a lot of room for apps.

 

[Shirasaki]

Even for mostly cloud-based stuff, 32GB has gotten too tight unless all you’re using is Safari.

When the iPad’s got 10GB of firmware + 10GB system data, that doesn’t leave a lot of room for apps.

Maybe for those folks safari (a bad browser admittedly) is all they need.

 

[Richard8655]

Although I've since moved on to a 64gb iPad 9, I never felt constrained with my prior 32gb iPad 5. It was the slow processsor that got me to finally upgrade. But yes, it was iCloud for all data (books, spreadsheets, word processing, and PDFs). And my wifi connected Mac Mini hard drive for music and video.

In checking my iPad 9 storage just now, it shows 26gb out of 64gb used. 78 apps installed. But my iPad use and needs might be the exception rather than the rule.

 

[Funny Apple Man]

Pretty much can’t do an OTA update without offloading almost all apps. Thankfully, the 32GB iPad 7 is just a backup/beater or I would be super frustrated.

Apart from the firmware updates issue, it works just fine for streaming and web browsing.

Wow it's gotten that bad already. Glad its just a backup iPad.

How many apps do you have minus the ones that are preinstalled?

While I 9000% can’t survive with 32GB internal storage only (not even 256GB for that matter, need minimum of 512GB and preferably 8TB or above), regardless of the device, l think those kind of capacity works great on the group that treats their devices as some sort of cloud terminal or thin client. That is, barely anything stored locally other than junks. Heck, for those folks, 16GB would be plenty if not for the reason that iOS nowadays are quite big.

Yes, it should be okay if used as a thin client. It’ll be okay as a work or school iPad where almost all of the data is in the cloud.

I guess it's more of a challenge for those who bought them for personal use.

Although I've since moved on to a 64gb iPad 9, I never felt constrained with my prior 32gb iPad 5. It was the slow processsor that got me to finally upgrade. But yes, it was iCloud for all data (books, spreadsheets, word processing, and PDFs). And my wifi connected Mac Mini hard drive for music and video.

In checking my iPad 9 storage just now, it shows 26gb out of 64gb used. 78 apps installed. But my iPad use and needs might be the exception rather than the rule.

Interesting. iCloud does help a bit. If you have good internet and don’t plan on downloading games or offline downloads on it, then it should be fine. I'm glad it worked out for you.

 

[Funny Apple Man]

Since the OS takes up a lot in such a tight storage space, it would be nice to give users more control to delete features they don't need.

If I am forced to only get 32gb, I’m willing to delete some features like the Lock Screen customizer and Siri just so that I have more room to store apps and files. Anything to make it more tolerable lol.

edit: typo removed

 

[1BadManVan]

If i only had 32gb, i woudnt even bother trying to update it to a later OS anyways. Would just slow it down. I have a 64gb air and its fine for my usage, just for browsing and streaming while i travel for work

 

[rui no onna]

Since the OS takes up a lot in such a tight storage space, it would be nice to give users more control to delete features they don't need.

If I am forced to only get 32gb, I’m willing to delete some features like the Lock Screen customizer and Siri just so that I have more room to store apps and files. Anything to make it more tolerable lol.

I’d prefer if iOS would allow us to clean up System Data. I remember Android used to have a clear cache option.

System data is taking up 10GB on my 32GB iPad 7. A lot of that can probably be deleted without losing actual user data. Would probably just need to re-cache or something so some performance hit.

 

[rui no onna]

Although I've since moved on to a 64gb iPad 9, I never felt constrained with my prior 32gb iPad 5. It was the slow processsor that got me to finally upgrade. But yes, it was iCloud for all data (books, spreadsheets, word processing, and PDFs). And my wifi connected Mac Mini hard drive for music and video.

In checking my iPad 9 storage just now, it shows 26gb out of 64gb used. 78 apps installed. But my iPad use and needs might be the exception rather than the rule.

Iirc, my iPad also has around 26GB used out of 32GB (left it at the office so can’t check right now). I still run into problems with some bigger OTA updates as some require like 10-12GB free space in order to install.

Iirc, 32GB was just fine from iOS 14-16 with the same apps installed. Maybe you had already replaced your iPad before iOS got too bloated for 32GB.

 

[Shirasaki]

Since the OS takes up a lot in such a tight storage space, it would be nice to give users more control to delete features they don't need.

If I am forced to only get 32gb, I’m willing to delete some features like the Lock Screen customizer and Siri just so that I have more room to store apps and files. Anything to make it more tolerable lol.

edit: typo removed

Reminds me of early-ish Windows era where you could pick what feature you want to install to save disk space. I don’t Remember any version of system software developed by Apple had that feature. I guess in Apple’s core, customisation is a sin and must be condemned and quashed fully, Until recently.

 

[rui no onna]

Wow it's gotten that bad already. Glad its just a backup iPad.

How many apps do you have minus the ones that are preinstalled?

21 apps. It's currently at 20.5GB used (11.5GB free).

I haven't really used it after updating so a lot of my apps are still offloaded or had been uninstalled hence the free space.

I'm waiting for the iOS 18 update first before re-downloading/re-installing apps. I don't wish to re-download/re-install apps only to have to clear them up again for the iOS 18 update.

 

[Richard8655]

Iirc, my iPad also has around 26GB used out of 32GB (left it at the office so can’t check right now). I still run into problems with some bigger OTA updates as some require like 10-12GB free space in order to install.

Iirc, 32GB was just fine from iOS 14-16 with the same apps installed. Maybe you had already replaced your iPad before iOS got too bloated for 32GB.

I can't recall if I kept on iPad 5 on iPadOS 15 or upgraded to 16. But I think you're right... as time goes by installing more apps and upgrading to the latest OS / updates would have made 32gb pretty tight.

 

[rui no onna]

I can't recall if I kept on iPad 5 on iPadOS 15 or upgraded to 16. But I think you're right... as time goes by installing more apps and upgrading to the latest OS / updates would have made 32gb pretty tight.

I wasn't even installing any new apps. The problem is iOS 17 added like 2-3GB firmware + 2-3GB other so 4-6GB gone just like that.

 

[joeblow7777]

It really just depends on what the iPad is used for. Some people use their iPad purely for streaming and web surfing. I have an iPad that I use sole for work (teaching), on which I'm using 30.93GB out of 64GB.

 

[winxmac]

Apps are getting bigger and more space consuming even without the data...
Photos are getting larger - 5MP to 8MP to 12MP to 48MP
Videos are getting more advanced - 720p 30fps to 1080p 30fps to 4K 60fps then Cinematic mode then ProRes then LOG recording
Even iOS updates are consuming more and more space that even 128GB no longer seems to be enough as base storage...

 

[rui no onna]

It really just depends on what the iPad is used for. Some people use their iPad purely for streaming and web surfing. I have an iPad that I use sole for work (teaching), on which I'm using 30.93GB out of 64GB.

If you had a 32GB model though, you’d probably be getting a lot of not enough free space messages by now.

Even for streaming, 32GB sucks. I was looking at my 32GB iPad 7 yesterday and it was missing Hulu, Prime Video, HBO Max and Crunchyroll. All it had left was YouTube, Netflix and Disney+ and all those had been offloaded so I could install an OTA update (switched back to stable from 17 beta).

 

[Funny Apple Man]

Apps are getting bigger and more space consuming even without the data...
Photos are getting larger - 5MP to 8MP to 12MP to 48MP
Videos are getting more advanced - 720p 30fps to 1080p 30fps to 4K 60fps then Cinematic mode then ProRes then LOG recording
Even iOS updates are consuming more and more space that even 128GB no longer seems to be enough as base storage...

Yep, apps are getting bigger. I recall back in 2018, my shopping apps were like 50mb more or less. Now those same apps today are around more than 4x larger than 2018.

Walmart app for some reason is taking up 546.6 mb. Why is that?

64gb is tight but manageable. 128gb as of today is still good enough as base storage for most people.

 

[joeblow7777]

If you had a 32GB model though, you’d probably be getting a lot of not enough free space messages by now.

Even for streaming, 32GB sucks. I was looking at my 32GB iPad 7 yesterday and it was missing Hulu, Prime Video, HBO Max and Crunchyroll. All it had left was YouTube, Netflix and Disney+ and all those had been offloaded so I could install an OTA update (switched back to stable from 17 beta).

Definitely, but I could be using even less space if I actually needed to. My work iPad really just needs the handful of apps I use for work. My files are mainly stored on the cloud. I could make do with 32GB if that's all I had. I would guess that most of the storage on most people's iPads is used up by media. My camera roll, music library, and games are definitely what accounts for most of the storage use on my personal iPad and phone.

 

[rui no onna]

Definitely, but I could be using even less space if I actually needed to. My work iPad really just needs the handful of apps I use for work. My files are mainly stored on the cloud. I could make do with 32GB if that's all I had. I would guess that most of the storage on most people's iPads is used up by media. My camera roll, music library, and games are definitely what accounts for most of the storage use on my personal iPad and phone.

The 32GB iPad was a backup so that actually didn’t have anything stored on it. It’s on my beta account so Photos just had a handful of screenshots and optimize was even enabled. All files were on iCloud, too.

I had 5GB free on the 32GB iPad and that still wasn’t enough for some OTA updates. It wanted 10GB free.

There’s a limit to how low you can go when firmware+system data is already taking up 20GB all by itself.

 

[joeblow7777]

The 32GB iPad was a backup so that actually didn’t have anything stored on it. It’s on my beta account so Photos just had a handful of screenshots and optimize was even enabled. All files were on iCloud, too.

I had 5GB free on the 32GB iPad and that still wasn’t enough for some OTA updates. It wanted 10GB free.

There’s a limit to how low you can go when firmware+system data is already taking up 20GB all by itself.

Of course. To be clear, I wasn’t disagreeing with you, just saying that they are some scenarios where it’s usable, but those cases are increasingly rare in this day and age.

 

[rui no onna]

Of course. To be clear, I wasn’t disagreeing with you, just saying that they are some scenarios where it’s usable, but those cases are increasingly rare in this day and age.

For me, the main problem is how big iOS has gotten and that there’s no way to clear up system data/cache.

32GB is fine most of the time except when I need to update firmware. It’s extremely frustrating needing to delete/offload almost all apps just to update. I don’t even have any locally stored data on the iPad that I can delete. Everything’s on iCloud already. System files using 20GB and updates requiring 10GB free space means I only have 2GB available to use for apps. 🤦‍♀️

I remember seeing a school district IT staff posting here complaining how 32GB was too tight for the schools’ educational apps.

If the 32GB had been my main iPad, I’d probably want to throw it against the wall or something. Thankfully, my primary iPad has 1TB. 🙂

Anyway, iOS 18 is the last major update for the iPad 7. After this, OTA updates should no longer be an issue.

 

[Richard8655]

I wasn't even installing any new apps. The problem is iOS 17 added like 2-3GB firmware + 2-3GB other so 4-6GB gone just like that.

Good info. Didn't know that, thx much.