Former MobileMe members' complimentary iCloud term ends, storage auto-adjusted to 5GB

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.