Roger Fingas
Apple on Wednesday made its updated iCloud storage plans active, improving some tiers while eliminating another and leaving the free default plan unchanged.
The free tier remains locked at 5 gigabytes, but the $0.99 option has been upgraded from 20 gigabytes to 50, and the 200 gigabyte tier is now a dollar less per month at $2.99. A 500-gigabyte plan has been eliminated, although the cost of the 1 terabyte tier is down $10 to $9.99.
Anyone using 500 gigabytes is being migrated to 1 terabyte automatically, despite the extra cost. Subscribers willing to sacrifice can downgrade to 200 gigabytes.
Fees outside the U.S. vary, and Apple has updated its pricing chart to reflect this. In Canada, for example, paid subscriptions start at $1.29 CAD for 50 gigabytes.
To start or change plans, users must go into the iCloud menu in the iOS Settings app, OS X's iCloud menu under System Preferences, or the dedicated iCloud for Windows client.
Apple announced the revised plans last week during its Sept. 9 press event.
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44 Comments
I had 20GB annually billed in March. I selected the 50GB option today and got a bill for $0.99 immediately. Do I not get prorated the amount I already paid?
Starting to consider using iCloud sync for my main file sync service for the 500 or so GB of client work I keep synchronized between my iMac and MacBook Pro. I started using Adobe's 20GB included with Creative Cloud, but once I started using it regularly, realized I needed more storage to be effective. Then I transitioned to using Synology CloudStation which has no file size limit, aside from the capacity of my Synology DiskStation. Basically a self-hosted sync service built into a NAS device if you aren't familiar with these devices. This has worked reasonably well though there are occasional sync errors. I have a nagging worry that self hosting sync on a non-Mac device may be a problem someday. It's a rather nerdy configuration, though I understand it's pretty user-friendly as this kind of server goes. Has anyone used iCloud for mission critical sync across workstations? If it's simple and error-free, and now reasonably-priced…
No, it is not active. I have a 99cent/month 20Gb plan. It still has only 20Gb total storage. If I go to settings>iCloud>Storage>Upgrade iCloud Storage, it says I have a 99 cent 50Gb plan. So no, Apple has not "switched on revamped iCloud storage options."
I've had lots of problems with iCloud sync. Recently it's been more reliable, though. For mission-critical stuff.... I am not sure.
Since the story is about the 500Gb customers, wouldn't it have been informative to explain what their price point was before migrating to the 1Tb level? "A 500-gigabyte plan has been eliminated, although the cost of the 1 terabyte tier is down $10 to $9.99. Anyone using 500 gigabytes is being migrated to 1 terabyte automatically, despite the extra cost. Subscribers willing to sacrifice can downgrade to 200 gigabytes." It doesn't affect me, but it would have been interesting to see the change in price point.