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Apple Defeats Lawsuit Related to iCloud's Measly 5GB of Free Storage

jjwwqq said:
This reminds me - I need to figure out a network attached storage system that will allow me to entirely bypass any paid cloud storage system.
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Synology.

However, are you tech savvy enough to configure the security to keep your private data private?

PS - That is not a dig, I have the Synology but I don't have any cloud functions active for the reason above. I was in IT for a long time but still don't feel comfortable fine tuning firewalls or allowing external connections to devices on my home network. I use the NAS to offload things that don't need to be on my phone/iPad/Mac like pictures and videos.
 
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I still feel like there’s a difference between “they should let users backup their devices for free” and “they should give me the amount of storage I need to not have to pay anything,” but after reading through the thread it seems like that difference is smaller or nonexistent in other people’s minds.

I think the better thing would be if they were forced to open up the system to allow for cloud backups via third-party services. I bet we’d see prices come down and maybe some new tiers added if there were competition in the space. My family is a few hundred gigs away from hitting the 2tb limit and I know I’d like to have something between the 200gb and 1tb tiers to add on
 
I have more than 5GB just in messages. Nowhere near enough to do anything. It would be nice for them to offer more for free, but I don't really think they're obligated to. It's an optional service. Now I am a fan of more easy integration with other cloud services so you have your choice of provider.
 
I wish iCloud were offered as an annual subscription again, does anyone know a good lawyer
 
jjwwqq said:
This reminds me - I need to figure out a network attached storage system that will allow me to entirely bypass any paid cloud storage system.
Click to expand...
I decoupled from iCloud this year and use photoprism running off my 12 bay 2U qnap. All I use from Apple services is imap email and iTunes. All my other subscriptions go outside of Apple purview. I'm not gonna passively give them 30%. Once I have my S24 ultra that will mean I'm back where I started with my Macs and nothing else. Feels good but I can't say I recommend this course for others it requires time and technical know-how
 
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FSMBP said:
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.
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I’m not a Tim Cook fanboy but iCloud started its life as .mac iTools under the watchful eye of Steve Jobs and it’s always been a subscription service (since the .Mac rebrand to be pedantic)

If anything iCloud made it slightly better by offering a measly free tier
 
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mathiasinthe314 said:
I have more than 5GB just in messages. Nowhere near enough to do anything. It would be nice for them to offer more for free, but I don't really think they're obligated to. It's an optional service. Now I am a fan of more easy integration with other cloud services so you have your choice of provider.
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But why? I don't understand why people hold those messages. You can't reasonably scroll all the way back because imessage sucks at that task and eventually crashes. So what's the point?
 
icanhazmac said:
Synology.

However, are you tech saavy enough to configure the security well enough to keep your private data private?
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That's what I need to research. Yes, I am, and I have someone I can consult with. It's all about weighing the pluses and minuses of each option.
 
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Haiku_Oezu said:
I’m not a Tim Cook fanboy but iCloud started its life as .mac iTools under the watchful eye of Steve Jobs and it’s always been a subscription service

If anything iCloud made it slightly better by offering a measly free tier
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Slightly better? That's a low bar when taking MobileMe and .Mac into account as well
 
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bergert said:
Why don't you use Music Match ($24.99/yr) vs 2TB (129/yr)?

Subscribe to iTunes Match - Apple Support

iTunes Match gives you access to all of your music on all of your devices, even songs that you've imported from other sources such as CDs.
support.apple.com

I use match to stream to my 4 HomePods and to my iPhone in my car from a MacMini (with external RAID disk). And the Mini does not even need to be turned on ...
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If Apple would leave my Library untouched, I would.
 
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spazzcat said:
Did you call or contact support?
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No I'm sure that might have worked. But after 3 months and 3 dollars lol I was more annoyed than anything so I decided the DELETE ACCOUNT OPTION. Didn't want to waste time with something that might not have worked over the phone in 2024. Over downgrading my storage.
 
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AppleSOS said:
They are under no obligation to give out any storage for free. I don't understand this mindset.
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I agree.
I think if Apple changed the wording to something like “free 5GB unlimited trial” maybe that will give people perspective.

The 5GB is meant to be a way to check out the service and if you like it, pay for it. Many trials are time limited (30 days) so with this, I feel Apple is generous by not time limiting.
 
Is 5GB actually too small (if you don’t save a lot of photo’s and video’s) or are developers just not optimising apps?

I noticed backups sometime include gigabytes of storage for stuff never used again by the user himself. For instance, some apps (social media, but also games) seem to save images in the backup that are downloaded in the app, while if everybody who reinstalls the app can easily download those again instead of out of a personal backup.

If developers spend more time on making backups smaller, to the point that they really only actually save what should be in a backup, the world would save TBs per app.

Like a random example: one social media app is 70mb in my backup here. I bet if it would be optimised it could be around the 1mb (some messages and the login). Another example are some games: 100’s of mb’s for saving some gameplay?
 
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FSMBP said:
They also don't obligate to give iMovie/Garageband for free - it's a bout customer experience. If it was a free open market where you could easily pick your cloud provider, people would move to competitors.
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You can easily pick your cloud provider.

Don't like what Apple offers, move on to someone who does. Simple.
 
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russell_314 said:
The problem is there’s no penalty for these frivolous lawsuits. We’re all paying as Apple customers for these scams. The plaintiffs should have to pay Apple‘s lawyer.
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Ok but given how many products Apple sells and how many customers they have, the cost of the frivolous lawsuits amounts to very little per Apple customer.
 
turbineseaplane said:
There is no rationale, besides financial benefit to apple, to not offer 500GB/1TB/2TB, etc
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There could be other rationales. Perhaps Apple determined that most of their iCloud+ users fall in the 200GB or less category (home/personal users) or the 2TB or more category (business/enterprise users) and feel there is not enough demand justification to offer anything in between. They want to simplify their iCloud+ offerings and feel that five plan options are enough. It's not that unusual to see notable jumps in lower to higher plan tiers among major cloud storage companies.
 
Chungry said:
But why? I don't understand why people hold those messages. You can't reasonably scroll all the way back because imessage sucks at that task and eventually crashes. So what's the point?
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Why do people take pictures? Why do people collect things? Why have an iPhone? All the same question. You might as well ask, why do people casually shop?

The reason is different depending on who you're asking. I have close to to 80GB in messages alone. Years and years of text's. Messages from deceased family, best friend, partner, friends. Things I wish to keep, even if I may never look at them again. I still want them there to look back on when I feel the need to.

Nostalgia. Memories. That's why.
 
stocklen said:
Americans really will try their luck in the courts for literally anything - and there are lawyers willing to take their money for it.
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There are thousands of law firms willing to work for free on frivolous cases if they think they have a shot at any kind of settlement or their name in the news for trying. In most of these cases I'd warrant the lawfirm "discovered" the problem and looked for plaintiffs after the fact.
 
Chungry said:
But why? I don't understand why people hold those messages. You can't reasonably scroll all the way back because imessage sucks at that task and eventually crashes. So what's the point?
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You don’t have to scroll until it crashes. You can search messages.
 
I can give them my 5GB as I'm not using it at all. I care more about having control over my data than the convenience of synchronized data
 
I want a way to 'icloud' (as a verb) my data to a private store. That will never happen, I realize that.

The 2TB tier of storage is 9.99/month for me --- don't feel that is outrageous. After a few years, I'm using barely half of that.

For larger data, I use other third-party storage providers (drives) and it's a no-brainer.

OTOH, if you purchase an expensive device like iPhone, you have to expect that appendant services will cost "something". But also, if you buy tech and don't know how to utilize it well, that's another issue.
 
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