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Where Google's Pixel 4 and Apple's iPhone 11 fail

Hey, smartphone makers, wake up!
Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Contributing Writer

Smartphone manufacturers like Google and Apple need to wake up and realize that it's almost 2020, not 2017. Selling smartphones -- even the basic models -- with only 64GB of storage is an insult to buyers.

Yes, it's insulting.

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So, Google has unveiled the Pixel 4, and, surprise surprise, the base model comes with only 64GB of storage.

Yes, in an era of massive displays and high-resolution cameras, storage is still stuck in the past. The Pixel 3 and Pixel 2 -- released September 2018 and 2017, respectively -- both had storage capacities that started at 64GB.

It's not just Google that's at it though. Apple is just as bad, although that company has the audacity to call a device with 64GB of storage a "Pro" device. And like Google, Apple has offered 64GB as the starting capacity since 2017, with the launch of the iPhone 8 and iPhone X lines.

So for both the Pixel and iPhone lines, starting capacities haven't changed over three iterations.

And don't be fooled into thinking this is a pro-consumer decision. Neither Apple nor Google offers 64GB of storage to keep the price down -- the difference between 64GB and 128GB is around $20. No, they do it to upsell -- at a steep markup -- models with more realistic storage capacities.

And bear in mind that neither the Pixel 4 nor the iPhone 11 offer any slots to expand local storage, so it's either cloud storage or relying on clumsy external storage options.

Give your heads a shake, Apple and Google. You guys could do better. A lot better. You're already selling a device with a more than respectable profit margin, and yet you choose to play silly storage games in a desperate attempt to rake in more cash.

It's very disappointing.

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