rmc.8107

Q: iTunes is misreporting iPhone capacity

I have an iPhone 6 running iOS 10.0.0, capacity is 16GB. According to the phone itself, I have 143.5MB of free storage remaining, but when I attempt to sync on iTunes it says that the phone is anywhere from 3.35 to ~5GB over capacity. Part of what doesn't make any sense about this is that it reports that I have 5.5GB of audio, in 97 songs, but I don't keep any locally stored music, whether on my phone or on my MacBook. I do have podcasts, but not 5.5GB worth, and they are deleted when I am finished with them anyway. This has been an issue since iOS 9.3.5 and I was hoping it'd just turn out to be a bug that would be fixed in the update.

iPhone 6, iOS 10

Posted on Sep 17, 2016 3:39 PM

Close

Q: iTunes is misreporting iPhone capacity

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by sberman,Helpful

    sberman sberman Sep 17, 2016 3:55 PM in response to rmc.8107
    Level 8 (40,086 points)
    Sep 17, 2016 3:55 PM in response to rmc.8107

    rmc.8107 wrote:

     

    ... I have 143.5MB of free storage remaining ...

    This is the really important part of your post.  This is the highest estimate of the space you have available on the iPhone.

     

    Without any other information, this indicates a state of having your storage so full your iPhone cannot possibly operate correctly.  You need an absolute minimum of 1.6GB of free storage in order to have a reasonable shot at a working iPhone.

     

    1.6GB is 10% of your iPhone's total storage.  That is where that number came from.

     

    One other quick thought:  You should update to iOS 10.0.1.

  • by raymond73,Helpful

    raymond73 raymond73 Sep 17, 2016 3:54 PM in response to rmc.8107
    Level 4 (1,738 points)
    Sep 17, 2016 3:54 PM in response to rmc.8107

    I attempt to sync on iTunes it says that the phone is anywhere from 3.35 to ~5GB over capacity

    iTunes is reporting what you are trying to sync to your phone. You are attempting to sync more than your phone can handle.

     

    What does the memory map for the device show? Specifically look at the category called "Other" in iTunes. IOS has never been very good at managing that storage. When deleting items from your phone the memory is sometimes not properly returned to the memory pool and thus stays in "Other" and as such is not usable.

     

    The only reliable way that I know to reduce the amount that "Other" consumes is to back up your device, do a complete restore of IOS as a new device. This will return the "Other" memory to the unused space.

  • by rmc.8107,

    rmc.8107 rmc.8107 Sep 17, 2016 3:54 PM in response to raymond73
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 17, 2016 3:54 PM in response to raymond73

    Okay, that makes sense then, thanks.

     

    In other news: oddly enough, after tooling around off and on for about a week and a half, I unchecked Sync Podcasts and then rechecked it. There is now 1.9GB free according to iTunes, and nothing in the Other category. But also oddly enough, the remaining storage reported by the phone is unchanged. I will continue to move photos to my hard drive as I have been doing to free up more space.

     

    Finally, for some reason, iTunes says I have 12 songs, but I still don't understand what that means. I have four podcast episodes, but that's it, no music.

  • by rmc.8107,

    rmc.8107 rmc.8107 Sep 17, 2016 3:58 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 17, 2016 3:58 PM in response to sberman

    After fidgeting around with some things, I now have, according to iTunes, 1.9GB free space. But the phone itself still reports only 143MB. What is the reason for this disconnect?

     

    Oh, and I apparently have 10.0.1, it just decided to show that on iTunes just now.