Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I don’t see people (nor me) asking for this service to be free, they are simply pointing out the fact that as time has gone on 5GB is not sufficient to use iCloud features, especially if you have an iPhone, iPad and MacBook. It also does not make sense for the tiers to be so far apart, that is what people are mentioning here.

To keep within the 200GB tier, I tried to utilise my iCloud storage and on device storage, but it works out the same size if I back-up my device, so I am stuck, I refuse to go to the next tier, as it does not meet my needs. I am sure we will also see back-ups opened to 3rd party providers soon.
 
  • Love
Reactions: rmadsen3
It's not the clearest written complaint, but the actual lawsuit doesn't read to be frivolous. In essence (since no one is going to read the novel below), California has tough consumer protections and the allegations, if true, could be violation of California law.

In April of 2021, the underlying lawsuit was filed in Santa Clara County (21-CV-380480) and the plaintiff's were seeking "damages, restitution, declaratory, and injunctive relief."

Count 1 being a violation of Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code secs. 17600 and 17200, as they related to a "continuous service offer" and "unfair competition."
- In essence it comes down to the allegation that the free trial doesn't include a "clear and conspicuous" explanation of the price and subscription upon conclusion of the trial.
- According to the statute, Apple was supposed to obtain an "acknowledgement" of "how to cancel, and allow the consumer to cancel" the "continuous service offer" before the end of the trial period.
- And as a result of not sending an acknowledgment to its customers: Apple failed to obtain the consent of consumers, which is a violation under California law.
- For that reason it is alleged to be "unfair competition."
- Additionally, because consumers are likely to exceed the 5GB (as pointed out by many people here that's a tiny amount of storage), and because consumers are already integrated with iCloud they "either hav[e] to pay an increasing amount of money for the next highest level or take[e] affirmative steps to cancel."
- The relief requested for Count 1 is declaratory relief (the judge says "this is wrong"), injunctive relief (the judge says "you can't do this anymore"), and restitution (the judge awards money for the "this is wrong" part).

Count 2 being the violation of Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code secs. 17600 and 17200 ("automatic renewal offer" and "unfair competition")
- This is connected with the "automatic renewal" without the 17602(a)(1) "automatic renewal offer terms" that are "clear and conspicuous ... description of the cancellation policy that applies to the offer." i.e. it must be in larger font than the surrounding text, [or otherwise 'conspicuous'].
- The violations being that: (a) Apple's emails advising of the exceeded 5GB storage isn't "clear and conspicuous." And (b) There is no post-purchase "acknowledgment" including the "cancellation policy."
- Again, the relief requested for Count 2 is declaratory relief (the judge says "this is wrong"), injunctive relief (the judge says "you can't do this anymore"), and restitution (the judge awards money for the "this is wrong" part).

Count 3 being "automatic renewal offer" and "unfair competition" same codes as Count 1 and 2.
- Continues Count 2, the post-purchase "acknowledgment" doesn't provide "information regarding how to cancel in a manner that is capable of being retained by the consumer." (i.e. simple for all people to remember).
- Again,the relief requested for Count 3 is declaratory relief (the judge says "this is wrong"), injunctive relief (the judge says "you can't do this anymore"), and restitution (the judge awards money for the "this is wrong" part).

Count 4 through 7 being "continuous service offer and automatic renewal offer" and "unfair competition" (same codes as Count 1, 2, and 3)
- Continuing the previous counts...
- C4 - Apple does not include an "easy-to-use mechanism for cancellation" described in the post-purchase "acknowledgment" (because there's not post-purchase acknowledgment according to code).
- C5 - lack of consent for the renewal offer in escalating price subscriptions
- C6 - breach of contract and code 17200 (unfair competition) - i.e. promises consumers they can manager their data, but fail to explain how data is managed upon downgrading or canceling iCloud (which data is deleted, which is kept)
- C7 - breach of contract and code 17200 (unfair competition) - i.e. data management again if you terminate the 5GB backing up and downloading iOS data is convoluted to another storage option (HD or third-party cloud), breach of 'good faith and fair dealing'.
- Again, the relief requested for these Counts (4-7) is still 'just' declaratory relief (the judge says "this is wrong"), injunctive relief (the judge says "you can't do this anymore"), and restitution (the judge awards money for the "this is wrong" part).

Count 8 being Cal Civ Code 1770 CLRA and 17200 (unfair competition again)
- Advertising doesn't match the true ability to identify or manage storage (on/off switches).
- Concerns about data loss if a consumer removes the iCloud plan.
- This count is seeking again, declaratory relief, injunction, restitution, but also nominal damages (at least $1).

Count 9 through 13, Code 17500 (FAL) and 17200 (again)
- C9 - Deleting and downgrading is not easy nor an accessible policy on the matter.
- C10 - unfair competition - difficulty in downgrading or removing keeps consumers stuck.
- C11 - unfair competition (again) - lured into paying for iCloud, and opaque terms, leads is statutorily "fraudulent ... business act or practice"
- C12 - Elder abuse - if C11 is true, then it is also specifically elder abuse which is also separately illegal.
- C13 - CLRA and unfair competition - There is no pro rata refund for terminating early.
 
That's not it at all. Cost of goods includes things that aren't tangible. Imagine that, businesses include in "goods" things that aren't tangible, but still COST something. Just like goods that you SPEND money on once that you get additions to periodically after that initial sale might be included.
So server space and bandwidth aren’t tangible? I know people call it the cloud and some non techy people think their data is stored in an actual cloud, but the reality is you’re using someone’s hard drive. They have to provide the storage, processing power and network to keep your data.

Most of the time “free” tier storage levels are so you can test to see if you’d like how it works. Companies like Google can offer more storage because they are selling your data to advertisers.

Apple could offer more storage as a means to entice people to buy hardware but in a business sense it’s never free. Anything that costs the company money isn’t free.
 
I’m still on the 5GB plan. It’s pretty easy to stay under the limit if you don’t store your photos there…
Same, I’ve had iPhone since 3GS, never needed more than 5GB, I make backups fun iTunes and have photo backups disabled in iCloud, recently just started paying for google one as it’s cheaper via Turkey.
 
This is just how Tim Cook operates these days...Less on customer experience, more on bottom-line.
It's how he's always operated. He may have been appointed by Steve Jobs, but he's a run of the mill Vanilla CEO whose only concerns are the bottom line, and the stock price. Apple's giving an inch on this would have a negative impact on both.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: I7guy and Krizoitz
I don’t see people (nor me) asking for this service to be free, they are simply pointing out the fact that as time has gone on 5GB is not sufficient to use iCloud features, especially if you have an iPhone, iPad and MacBook. It also does not make sense for the tiers to be so far apart, that is what people are mentioning here.

To keep within the 200GB tier, I tried to utilise my iCloud storage and on device storage, but it works out the same size if I back-up my device, so I am stuck, I refuse to go to the next tier, as it does not meet my needs. I am sure we will also see back-ups opened to 3rd party providers soon.
I dunno; the arguments I have seen appear to be all over the place.

First, people are seem to be complaining about actually having to even pay for iCloud storage in the first place. Or in the very least, they seem to be hoping that Apple raises the free tier just enough to meet their own personal use, and the rest can continue paying for all they care. That's what suggestions like giving 5gb per active device or doubling it to 10gb seem to imply. There is no internal consistency as to what a reasonable free tier ought to look like (and there won't be, because Apple's user base is so diverse and varied in their needs and user habits).

Second, they criticise the lack of additional storage tiers. I would point out that even services like dropbox have a 1-size-fits-all approach, where I am forced to subscribe for 1tb of storage regardless of whether I need that much (back when I was subscribed to it, I was utilising well under 50 gb). So Apple is already being pretty generous by letting me pay a pro-rated fee for 50gb of storage, which is enough to sync my photos and back up my iPhone and iPad nightly, rather than forcing me to pay more for 200gb or even 1tb of storage outright.

A lot of these arguments just feel very self-serving at its core. It's always been about not wanting to pay that extra dollar here or there; not because it's somehow a worse user experience at the end of the day.
 
So server space and bandwidth aren’t tangible? I know people call it the cloud and some non techy people think their data is stored in an actual cloud, but the reality is you’re using someone’s hard drive. They have to provide the storage, processing power and network to keep your data.

Most of the time “free” tier storage levels are so you can test to see if you’d like how it works. Companies like Google can offer more storage because they are selling your data to advertisers.

Apple could offer more storage as a means to entice people to buy hardware but in a business sense it’s never free. Anything that costs the company money isn’t free.

You don't prove there are no intangibles by choosing one other tangible and saying "see? no intangibles!"

Software development and value add features that exist to promote good will. Marketing. Advertising. The "cost" of 5GB as a loss-leader. Intangibles.
 
I "don't understand" how someone can think it is a fair expectation to receive free things like this to the level that they complain about not. It's looking a gift horse in the mouth.

you don't think people deserve to complain about things they get "for free".
 
You don't prove there are no intangibles by choosing one other tangible and saying "see? no intangibles!"
I’m saying cloud storage is not intangible. I’m not sure how this is confusing.

Software development and value add features that exist to promote good will. Marketing. Advertising. The "cost" of 5GB as a loss-leader. Intangibles.
Apple doesn’t need to give away freebies to promote the iPhone. If Apple was a startup company introducing a new product sure. Apple makes quite a bit of money with subscription services like iCloud. There’s no reason to give this away for free. The only reason they give the 5 GB is to let customers try the service. This way they can decide if they want to pay for it. They could still choose to use the free service to backup things like contacts and notes or have their entire device backed up for a small monthly fee.
 
  • Like
Reactions: I7guy
This is just how Tim Cook operates these days...Less on customer experience, more on bottom-line.

Either way, it's a bad look for the 5GB free iCloud storage. They obviously thought the 5GB was sufficient in 2012 - with everything growing over the past 12 years (file sizes and what we store), this should have at least increased.

And also, I don't care if it's one penny a month - why nickle & dime customers? Just a bad experience.
no. nobody ever thought 5gb was sufficient.

it’s a paid service.

5gb is fine if all you want to sync is bookmarks and passwords. you’re free to turn it off.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.