Apple steps up its game with new iCloud Storage pricing
Update: the new iCloud Storage pricing is now live.
The pricing and capacities of iCloud Storage were always a bit contentious. You just didn’t get the same amount of space, dollar-for-dollar, compared with the competition. That is changing as of Sept. 16, with brand new options to choose from for increased storage above the 5GB you get for free.
In the United States, you will be able to choose a total of 50GB, 200GB, or 1TB of storage. Pricing will begin at $0.99 per month, and go as high as $9.99 per month for those of you with tons of files to store in the cloud. Currently, pricing options include:
- 20GB for $0.99 per month
- 200GB for $3.99 per month
- 1TB for $19.99 per month
Once the new pricing structure goes into effect, presumably after iOS 9 releases, the options will be:
- 50GB for $0.99 per month
- 200GB for $2.99 per month
- 1TB for $9.99 per month
If you are already subscribing to one of the existing plans, Apple says you will get automatically upgraded to the new options.
If you purchased a monthly plan before September 16, 2015, your account was upgraded automatically. If you’re currently on an annual plan, you’ll continue to renew annually at that rate. If you select a new monthly plan, your annual plan won’t be available to you.
Similar plans are available outside the U.S., so check Apple’s iCloud storage pricing Web page for more details. If you want to upgrade your own iCloud storage, you can do so from your iOS device. Just go to Settings > iCloud > Storage > Change Storage Plan.
I’m glad to see Apple improving on its iCloud storage offerings. I upgraded mine for more room for backups and pictures, but it was always a sticking point with me that other cloud storage options were so much cheaper and offered more space. With Dropbox Pro, for example, you get 1TB of storage space for your files at $9.99 per month. Now, thankfully, Apple has matched that offer.