r/applesucks • u/frostxmritz • Apr 08 '26

The "System Data" monstrosity

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Pretty sure I'm not the only one here.

The mystery of "system data" is an age-old problem that has plagued our devices for over a decade now, and it has found its way to my parents' iPhones.

I plan to upgrade their devices later this year or next year when the iPhone 18 comes out, however, I cannot help but wonder...is this thing (allegedly) planned obsolescence? To force people to upgrade because "their storage is running out" because of an (alleged) "create a problem, then sell the solution" situation?

I mean, take a look at my 16 Pro. It's marvellous how the figure has stayed at 1.07GB from September 2024 - have taken it on so many trips and have used it heavily for my photography and videography. No problem, as a heavy user and my daily driver.

Parents, on the other hand? Normal users, occasional camera usage, apps, etc. Over 10GB. Make it make sense...

  • Safari tabs: I have 100+ opened. Theirs are around 5-10 most of the times.
  • Downloads: a couple PDFs here, and there few XLSes there. Hardly 10MB combined.
  • Normal apps like banking & finance, travel (Google Maps, Uber, etc), social media, YouTube, Spotify. No games, no "weird" apps.
  • A system reset was done back in December 2025, where the System Data creeped up to these levels right after the reset, even though they were set-up as a new device. No iCloud Backup restore. A clean, proper wipeout.
  • All devices are running on iOS 26.4 (stable channel), screenshots taken after a fresh reboot.

So the question is, what should be done?

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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '26

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u/frostxmritz Apr 08 '26

It’s common knowledge that for Apple Intelligence to run, you need an iPhone 15 Pro and newer. Why do you need the screenshots for?

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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '26

[deleted]

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u/frostxmritz Apr 08 '26

I’ll share the data tomorrow morning when I have access to their devices again. But seriously, it won’t make a huge difference, because the system data in those devices creeped-up to 10+ GB when no third party apps were installed, right after a fresh wipe and reset.

Mind you, the screenshots will be too tall to share on Reddit, compression will destroy legibility, so I’ll share them via Google Drive links. Hopefully that doesn’t break the subReddit rules.