How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone by Updating it

The Apple’s latest update to iOS 10.3 has freed up as much as 7.8 GB of available storage for many users. It was observed that there was an increase of 7.81 GB of available space after upgrading to 10.3. This was done by testing 256 GB iPhone 7 Plus running on T-mobile network packed with photos and applications. Moreover, the device also reported a 3.64 GB increase in capacity. The measure of capacity is not just based on hardware memory bits; the OS also removes capacity allocated to EFI partition map and other storage overhead.

The Reason Behind iPhone Space Gain

The real reason behind this turnover is the Apple’s new file system called APFS, which has replaced the earlier hierarchical file system. The APFS was recently launched at the Apple’s developer’s conference and will eventually be spread across all products by the end of this year. The file system is designed keeping in mind modern security models. However, iOS 10.3 appears to take a longer time to update because of the in-place update to APFS it includes.

According to Eric Tamura, the manager handling this at Apple, “It’s been built with encryption as a primary feature, from the very beginning, as we brought this idea to fruition.” “We wanted something that was designed and tuned specifically for Apple products”, he added.

The iOS 10.3 also includes the ability to find a missing Airpod headphone. This is done by using the Find My iPhone app in addition to the new Apple File System.

In order to update your iPhone or iPad you need to open the Settings app. Click General->Software Update. You will see the local storage under the General menu tab. This can be done by either clicking on About, further down, or Storage & iCloud Usage.