AppleInsider Staff
Apple on Tuesday sent out emails notifying former MobileMe members that their complimentary iCloud storage plans have expired, meaning those who have not upgraded will be automatically bumped down to the free 5GB tier.
As promised in a reminder email from August, Apple has ended the complimentary iCloud grace period extended to former customers of the erstwhile MobileMe cloud storage service.
Since iCloud was first introduced in in 2011, users have been afforded 5GB of free storage for photos, phone data, and other items. As a courtesy to MobileMe subscribers who were on paid subscription plans at the time, Apple offered a free iCloud upgrade equivalent to their then-current data tier. The initial period was set to last one year, but Apple extended the gratis storage allotment to Sept. 30, 2013.
In Tuesday's email, Apple includes the amount of space a member is currently using and offers information on how to upgrade to a higher plan.
Currently, tiered pricing options for add-on storage range from $20 per year for an extra 10GB of space, to $100 per year for an additional 50GB. Former MobileMe subscribers have been able to switch over to the new model for some time via the Settings menu in OS X, iOS 5 and above, and iCloud Control Panel for Windows.
According to a Support Document regarding today's expiry protocols, customers using less than 5GB will be automatically downgraded to the free 5GB option, while those above the cap will see a temporary stoppage of service for iCloud Backup, Documents in the Cloud, and iCloud Mail. If this occurs, there are two ways to restore service: remove data from the cloud or upgrade to a higher plan.
As of this writing, some users have yet to see a change reflected in their storage limits, though that will likely change as Apple's servers update throughout the day.
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40 Comments
I used .Mac, MobileMe and now iCloud and love it. However, they seriously need a more clear strategy for cloud storage. At the moment, Dropbox does a far better job for document syncing than iCloud. And the iCloud integration of e.g. iWork is still very clumsy.
And I have a 100 GB Dropbox for $70.
Only paid for Mobile Me once in 2008 (or was it 2009) and now it's finally expired: That's value for money!
[quote name="enzos" url="/t/159863/former-mobileme-members-complimentary-icloud-term-ends-storage-auto-adjusted-to-5gb#post_2408888"]Only paid for Mobile Me once in 2008 (or was it 2009) and now it's finally expired: That's value for money! [/quote] Same here! Just before my subscription was due to expire, I was able to sign up for ASTO training at work which gave me a complimentary free account - so I've had my .mac account for years :) Shame we don't have iDisk anymore as it allowed my to host my website for free...
It should be 5 Gb per iStuff, not 5 Gb per user
I so wish apple made this 5GB per icloud device. Actually, why are we even dealing with 5GB in today's cloud world. This should be 20GB minimum.
Whazzup apple - show us the love and make a storage boost announcement when you pitch the new ipads.