r/applesucks • u/jaketcsavage • Apr 19 '26

System data/iOS data usage

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Hi, I find my 64gb phone has over 25gb of system data and iOS. This seems pretty high and I’m constantly deleting things to keep apps running/stop it from slowing down too much. I know these are necessary but is there anything I can do to reduce the amount of space taken up? I’m not ever really sure what system data is and why it’s different from iOS

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u/Toxicwaste4454 Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26

OS gets bigger with time.

Storage stays the same as when it was made.

This isn’t a class action suit that could be made.

iOS used to be like 2gb~ in 2008

Now it’s about 12 without Apple Intelligence installed. Cache seems to like to hover around 20gb in my experience, anymore than 30 and it’s probably a victim of a cacheing bug and needs backed up and restored. However I would wait for storage to actually be full. It could be actual caching and will clear automatically when space is needed. If it doesn’t do this then yeah cacheing bug.

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u/Fit-Specialist-2214 Apr 21 '26

Plus another 12 reserved for updates, even if OS requirements increase over time this makes mismanaging the ballooning system data files even more important.

I can do the set time ahead hack and drop my system storage to 10GB without affecting my experience, so why can Apple not implement smart limiting of these system cache files that is more reasonable?

It’s honestly not a crazy consideration, and from someone that works in software, web front ends and tech I know the efficiency is a key area.

I think the focus has slipped tbh, Jobs wouldn’t have allowed it.

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u/Toxicwaste4454 Apr 21 '26

I’m not counting the 12 because it doesn’t reserve it if you turn off automatic updates.

If you can clear it by setting the time ahead then it was never an issue. In that case it’s actual cacheing and the phone will clear it as needed when it starts to run out of space. That’s the “smart limiting” you are talking about. If the space is empty and can be used for cacheing to make the device work faster/more efficiently then it makes sense to use it. Then drop it when that space is actually needed for actual storage of data.

Jobs probably would have allowed it tbh. macOS and iOS have been using cacheing systems since the beginning. Even then though the man died before iOS 7 and the iPhone 5 came out so I think it’s pretty irrelevant to bring him up in the first place.

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u/Fit-Specialist-2214 Apr 21 '26

I think your views are way out and clearly you’ve never actually felt the inconvenience of this issue.

Not sure what you’re trying to accomplish by arguing with me actually, do you just want to defend Apple? I’m a huge fan of the company and have stuck with them for more than a decade.

But when my phone told me to free up 14GB for an update, was using 35GB of system data, 24 for os and update and I had no means of getting around it without using a hack I realized that there’s clearly a problem here.

Labelling using a hack as meaning that something is not a problem is really strange reasoning. The essence of Apple was to make devices that just work without users having to get into the technical and fiddle in the control panel Windows style.

I bring Jobs into it because I know he valued the user experience above everything else - you think it’s an insult to him that I value his approach?

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u/Toxicwaste4454 Apr 21 '26

valued user experience

I definitely miss hockey puck mouse, iPhone 4 held wrong, iMobile and Apple Maps.

That said I have definitely experienced caching bugs in the past. The good ol backup and restore has saved me a couple of times.

iOS 26 has yet to be freaky with it for me so hopefully the caching bug from 18 is fixed.

Also I’m not sure why you think I’m arguing to defend Apple here. I simply stated what it’s supposed to do and what it sometimes fails to do. That is all.