Apple discontinues sale of MobileMe retail boxes as overhaul looms

Apple on Thursday removed the $99 MobileMe product from its online store and notified resellers that it has discontinued the retail box for its cloud-based syncing product, suggesting the company is prepared to launch a rumored overhaul of the service.

The MobileMe single license and family pack are no longer available on Apple's online store. In addition, resellers have indicated to AppleInsider that both the MobileMe Single User product (identified as MC660Z/A) and Family Pack (MC661Z/A) have been declared "End of Life" by Apple.

Users of MobileMe were also notified of scheduled maintenance for the me.com website. The service's Web-based applications may not be accessible to some users for about a half-hour tonight, after which normal service is expected to be restored.

The changes come as Apple is rumored to be revamping the MobileMe service, and is also said to be considering making the product free. The New York Times reported this month that Apple plans to turn MobileMe into a free service that would serve as a digital "locker" where users could store photos, music and videos.

Apple has been rumored to be pursuing a cloud-based iTunes service, particularly for music streaming, for years. The Times said that such a move would negate the need for a large amount of local storage on mobile devices like the iPhone.

And on Wednesday, Apple executives revealed at the company's annual shareholder meeting that its massive $1 billion data center in North Carolina is set to open this spring. The usually tight-lipped company also let slip that the data center will be used to support iTunes and MobileMe.

62 Comments

pmz 3429 comments · 15 Years

About 13 years ago

Hopefully, nothing will happen to piss off paid through users.

superbass 683 comments · 18 Years

I get the feeling MobileMe will be folded directly into iTunes/The App Store.

object-x 42 comments · 16 Years

Makes you wonder if the iPad 2 event will include the MobileMe overhaul for use with the iPad.

yensid98 311 comments · 16 Years

Interesting. Does this mean the service is going the free route? I'm a bit worried if it does. I don't want a Google set-up where ads are present and my personal information is sold for profit. I'd rather to pay to keep my personal information private.

I just re-subscribed in January. Hopefully, Apple stays true to it's past and looks out for those with paid subscriptions. Will be watching these developments closely.

rob55 1291 comments · 15 Years

Well, an overhaul has been a long time coming. Dot Mac was slow and so is MobileMe. It shouldn't have to take 2-3 tries to update my webpage.