Apple’s staging math is brutal. Pro tip: update via a computer. It uses the PC’s storage for the heavy lifting, saving you from the "delete everything" hunger games. 64GB is a bold choice in 2024!

No doubt. FWIW, when I recently helped a family member with their iPhone, I noticed iOS will offer to automatically remove apps if space is tight. It temporarily deletes apps to free up space for the update, keeps all the app data, then reinstalls the apps after the update finishes.

Yeah, this is what I still had to do even after having 11GB free from deleting a couple apps I didn't use anymore.

Brutal. It seems like Apple’s phased out 64 GB being practical—updates have gotten so big that even phones that were totally fine not that long ago are starting to struggle.

Not surprising. They did it once before and got caught, so now they just make things such a hassel that it's easier to just upgrade your phone.