We have talked about the rising cost of smartphones this year. But today, a new report highlighted by Android Authority suggests that average smartphone storage capacity will continue to increase in 2026, even as component prices climb. According to market research firm TrendForce, average storage across smartphones is expected to rise by about 4.8% this year.

Yes, you read that right. A shop in China has figured out how to upgrade your Apple iPhone or iPad’s storage up to 128GB of space without causing it to brick on you. How did they do it? Hey, it’s China. They can do anything.

Apple products aren’t easy to modify, as they install a software protection that verifies the hardware in the right configuration. That’s not even the main problem, because you need special tools to work on the hardware and chips and it’s difficult to do so. Not to mention, the iPhone 5s’s motherboard is really tiny to be ejected out safely for the memory chip inside. According to the shop owner, he has very little trouble with iPads and the iPhone 6 is easier to handle but the iPhone 6s is still untested.