To buy more storage on your iPhone, you actually purchase additional iCloud storage rather than physical storage on the device itself. Here’s how to do it:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Tap your name at the top to access your Apple ID account.
- Tap iCloud.
- Tap Manage Storage or Manage Plan.
- Choose Buy More Storage or Change Storage Plan.
- Select the storage plan that suits your needs. Plans start at 50 GB for $0.99 per month and go up to 12 TB for about $60 per month.
- Confirm your purchase using the Apple ID payment method on file.
This iCloud storage is used to store your photos, videos, messages, backups, and other data, allowing you to free up space on your iPhone itself. This storage can be accessed from any device signed into your Apple ID. If you want to optimize local storage on your iPhone alongside buying more iCloud space, you can enable "Optimize iPhone Storage" in Settings > Photos, which keeps smaller versions of photos locally while full versions are stored in iCloud. The steps will ensure you never run out of storage for important data and backups on your iPhone.
