It was nice while it lasted: Samsung reportedly ending free storage upgrades

In about a week, Samsung will be holding Galaxy Unpacked, where it will debut the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Fold 8 Ultra, and Flip 8. In case you want an early peek at all the devices that will be announced, a recent leak delivered official-looking press renders. If you were planning to pre-order one of these foldable phones to take advantage of Samsung’s signature double storage offer, you may want to think twice.

For those unfamiliar with the benefit, customers who pre-order one of Samsung’s phones can have their storage doubled at no cost. So if an early adopter pre-ordered a 256GB model, Samsung would upgrade that to 512GB for free. The company has been running the promotion since the Galaxy S23 series.

A new report from Chosun claims that Samsung will revamp its double storage offer for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series and Flip 8. Instead of upgrading your device to the next storage tier for free, it’s reported that the company will now expect you to cover half the difference. For example, the current price difference between the 256GB and 512GB Galaxy S26 Ultra is $200. Under this rule change, you would have to pay $100 to upgrade from 256GB to 512GB.

Unsurprisingly, the decision to make this change appears to be directly related to the ongoing global RAM and storage crisis. The increase in memory prices is forcing Samsung to defend the profitability of its smartphones.

Going from a free benefit to paying 50% of the cost is a hard pill to swallow. However, the deal still has some value if you want to upgrade for less.