Apparently there’s a problem with 32GB iDevices

Dec 19, 2014 18:55 GMT  ·  By

You’d think that after buying a brand new, factory-sealed iPhone you’ll be able to use all the stock apps without a hiccup. Well, according to Apple, you shouldn’t expect that 100% of the time.

The Cupertino company published a support document this week titled “If you can't open iMovie, GarageBand, or iWork apps in iOS 8,” which is basically a troubleshooting article for instances where these first-party apps won’t launch. Normally, this wouldn’t be particularly worrisome, but Apple seems to suggest that 32GB iDevices might experience problems out-of-the-box. The reasons are unclear.

Standard procedure

The company states that “If you bought an iOS 8 device that's 32 GB or larger, it came with a new bundle of apps from Apple, including iMovie, GarageBand, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and iTunes U. Find out what to do if you can't open these apps on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.”

The iPhone maker proceeds to outline the steps a user can take to get these apps to work. If you can’t launch these apps, as described by Apple, you need to back up your device using iCloud or iTunes, delete the apps, reboot the unit, re-download these apps from the App Store (don’t worry, they’re free), and finally try to launch them again.

The company notes that you might not see the apps listed in your Purchased screen, which could be the culprit in this situation, but we’re not sure. If this is the case with your device, then visit the Featured screen and tap on the section that says Apps Made by Apple.

All this may well apply to third-party apps as well, so if this is the standard procedure outlined by the people who sold you the device, then by all means you could try these troubleshooting steps to fix other apps on your iPhone or iPad, not necessarily just those made and sold by Apple.

Not for iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus

What’s particularly intriguing about Apple’s sudden realization is that this can happen on a 32GB device. Why not apply the same troubleshooting procedure to 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB units?

One pertinent assumption we can make is that, starting this year, Apple has made some changes to the storage options in iPhones and iPads. Specifically, the 32GB option is no longer available on new models. Which means that the troubleshooting article specifically refers to older models, which still come in this configuration – 32GB. This includes the iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, iPod touch, and several iPads. In other words, these steps don’t apply to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

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