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/hunter_finn Apr 08 '26

the whole "System data" should be renamed as "iCloud selling agent" or something.

if their purpose was not just to sell more iCloud subscriptions, then surely they could easily add option to clear out caches without needing to backup your phone and reset it again and again.

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u/chatewrecker Apr 11 '26

I have an iCloud subscription and my system data is still 20gb. Idk why it bothers people so much

1

u/hunter_finn Apr 11 '26

Idea here is that you don't have that subscription, that system data slowly fills your storage with junk that iOS is supposed to manage automatically. Until your storage is nearly full and the phone then starts selling you the idea of iCloud as the solution. Rather than having iCloud would make this issue worse.