Just before the new iPads hit the stores, would-be consumers might want to consider that the 16GB that has served you well in the past might get eaten up a lot quicker now that the Retina display has become the hallmark feature.

Meghan Kelly of the Washington Post reports that the iPad apps have swollen in size to meet the new display’s high-definition potential. Kelly gives the hat tip to Vietnamese tech blog Tinhte for pointing out the difference in app sizes (translated post):

That’s a huge increase and a potential suck on data storage in even the newest 16GB iPad. Because Apple wants apps in the App Store to work universally with any of its mobile devices, the company isn’t going to make an exception for the new display. We checked the App Store to see if the Pages app had actually increased to 269MB, and indeed it has.

The Cult of Mac blog also reports that iPad apps have more than doubled in size and offers their own comparison (you’ll note a discrepancy in the reported size of the Pages app between the blogs; 269MB is the number listed in the App Store):

APP iPad2 iPad Retina
Keynote 110MB 327MB
Numbers 104MB 375MB
Pages 89MB 331MB
iMovie 82MB 404MB
iPhoto N/A 129MB

This could make a significant difference to iPad users who are app-aholics. If you’ve settled for 16GB in the past, you might want to consider your needs (or wants) and go for the 32GB or 64GB version instead.

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