Lawsuit dismissed over Apple's miserly 5GB iCloud plan

A potential class-action lawsuit alleging that Apple tricked users into having to pay for iCloud is probably now completely dead, having lost an appeal before the Ninth Circuit.

The case centered on the claim that it is "virtually impossible" for a user's requirements to be satisfied with the 5GB tier, and that it was effectively impossible for users to reduce their iCloud use. However, as noted by Law360, two of the plaintiffs were reportedly still on the 5GB tier.

Three Ninth Circuit judges considered the appeal, but said the plaintiffs had failed to prove their claims. The judges also noted that users have the option to turn off iCloud if they wish.

The case was originally dismissed on similar grounds in 2022 by Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr, of the US District Court for the Northern District of California. At that time, the judge rejected claims that Apple intentionally misled consumers over iCloud fees, although he allowed that the plaintiffs could amend their complaint.

It's not clear whether they did, but the plaintiffs did take the decision to appeal. They may yet do so again, but this time their only option would be the Supreme Court, which is unlikely to hear their case.

So Apple won this one, but it is still facing similar cases regarding iCloud. The UK's 'Which?' consumer group announced in November 2024 that it was filing suit with the aim of getting a $4 billion payout for "rip-off" iCloud prices.

15 Comments

jeanobeano 3 comments · New User

About 5 days ago

Hilarious! Users mad that Apple gave them something very useful, but that they have to pay for more if they want to use more.

i find iCloud extremely useful. I can carry my data with me without extra hard drives with me. All I need is wifi.

Appleish 717 comments · 8 Years

We pay ten bucks a month to quietly and smoothly backup and sync our devices.

The devices cost thousands and the data is priceless.

I feel so tricked.

baconstang 1159 comments · 10 Years

About 4 days ago

I save hundreds when I buy an iPhone with minimal storage, then have to 'cough up' a whole $5 a month for iCloud storage.

jdw 1457 comments · 18 Years

First off, suing Apple over this is stupid. It should be immediately thrown out of court. I hate suing of any kind, so it's no surprise I say this. People in the USA sue way too much. Take the slap in the face, then turn the other cheek, for crying out loud. Suing has gotten so bad that "lawfare" has become a word in politics now. It's totally outrageous and unacceptable.

With that said, no Apple fan in their right mind should defend the status quo on that ridiculously small and pretty much worthless 5GB of storage. If you do defend 5GB as being all anyone needs, you might as well defend 128K of RAM as being enough because... hey... In January 1984, Apple said that was good enough! You Cupertino Worshippers tend to worship whatever is the norm in Cupertino at any given time, so it makes sense you would do that.

But real thinkers like Jason Snell of Macworld has analyzed the matter very nicely as follows:

Take iCloud storage, for instance. The existing 5GB of cloud storage that’s granted to users for free is insufficient for most users for backup, especially if they have more than one device. I don’t dispute Apple’s need to charge for storage, but a reasonable amount of storage should be supplied for free as a thank-you for purchasing a new Apple device. The 5GB limit causes people to be prompted with scary “failed to backup” errors that immediately turn into a conversion attempt to a larger, paid iCloud storage account. It’s one of the places where it feels like Apple is prioritizing revenue over the user experience. I don’t want to imagine a world where that’s the norm, and my iPhone becomes a device that constantly asks me to pony up for another extra feature because the product wasn’t good enough to begin with.
SOURCE

Snell is 100% right on that. A "thank you" for buying a new device really is logical and reasonable. In other articles, Snell has rightfully suggested that if Apple want's to keep the 5GB magic number, go right ahead. Just give us 5GB for each new device we buy. So if I buy an iPhone, I get 5GB. If I buy a Mac, I get another 5GB, bringing it up to 10GB. If I then buy a third Mac, give me another 5GB. Maybe impose some limits, but you get the picture. Right now, you get only 5GB no matter how much Apple stuff you buy, which makes no sense at all.

And no, Cupertino Worshippers, Apple wouldn't lose a darned dime in doing that because some people would still need more than 10 or 15GB to storage all their photos online, making online backups, etc. Meaning, people would still buy supplementary iCloud storage. But people who opt to not buy it could then have enough free storage to do the most basic things.

I myself refuse to pay for iCloud storage. What I do when that stupid 5GB gets low is turn off things that use it. Backup? OFF! Photos? OFF! And then anything else. Sorry, but I won't be strong-armed into buying storage that I either cannot afford to buy or don't want to buy.

But like I said, even though that stupidly small 5GB pisses me off (mainly because it has never been increased after all these years), I would never sue Apple because that is even more stupid. Complaining about it, or even screaming about it online thought is perfectly OK. And sending Apple tons of FEEDBACK about it is also not only OK, but the right thing to do.

Xed 2889 comments · 4 Years

jdw said:

A "thank you" for buying a new device really is logical and reasonable. In other articles, Snell has rightfully suggested that if Apple want's to keep the 5GB magic number, go right ahead. Just give us 5GB for each new device we buy. So if I buy an iPhone, I get 5GB. If I buy a Mac, I get another 5GB, bringing it up to 10GB. If I then buy a third Mac, give me another 5GB. Maybe impose some limits, but you get the picture. Right now, you get only 5GB no matter how much Apple stuff you buy, which makes no sense at all.

And no, Cupertino Worshippers, Apple wouldn't lose a darned dime in doing that because some people would still need more than 10 or 15GB to storage all their photos online, making online backups, etc. Meaning, people would still buy supplementary iCloud storage. But people who opt to not buy it could then have enough free storage to do the most basic things.

1) How exactly would that work? Let's say that I buy a new iPhone, Watch, iPad, and Mac every year so I would have 25 GB — 5 GB + (4 x 5 GB) — the first year, and then the next year have 45 GB, then 65 GB, and so one simply because I bought a device? What if I bought a device for someone else? If this is based on using your Apple ID then could I buy a device, add my Apple ID, and then stop using the device? What about simply finding old devices that I'd never want to use but keep adding them as authorized devices simply to add more cloud storage?

2) You're correct that Apple wouldn't lose "a darned dime"... they'd lose countless millions and eventually billions. Some people still buying additional data doesn't mean that they aren't missing out on sales. While I don't really expect you to have thought through how this might work like I quickly detailed in the first part of my reply, I would've at least expected you to at least realize that Apple would lose revenue.

3) It's laughable, at best to claim that a company needs to thank you for making a purchase. Are you such a fanboy that you don't need or want the device, but are doing it to help them out? Companies often do say "thank you" but it's all marketing. The transaction is all that matters in a free market. You agree to buy something at a certain price and you get that item or service in return with a reasonable expectation of how it will function. That's the agreement. That's the exchange. You saying that Apple owes you more than what was agreed is about as entitled as it gets. If you don't think a company is giving you enough value for your purchase then choose a different product. It's that simple.

4) Personally, I think iCloud's free tier isn't very competitive so I've created other ways in which to benefit from having iCloud without giving Apple an extra dime. That's how I vote, not with crying that Apple needs to be thank me for using their devices.