Some iCloud Storage Plans Unavailable to Purchase Today, Likely Due to Server Issues

[MacRumors]

A number of MacRumors readers received an email from Apple today stating that their 50GB iCloud storage plan subscription has been "discontinued" and will no longer automatically renew. Several users on Reddit and Twitter have also reported receiving the email, which may have been sent mistakenly.

Relatedly, some iCloud storage plans were unavailable for purchase on iOS and macOS Sierra. When we checked the "Upgrade iCloud Storage" menu on an iPhone, both the 50GB and 200GB tiers were no longer listed. Later, the 1TB tier disappeared as well. On another iPhone, the menu wouldn't load at all.

Apple has not announced any changes to its iCloud storage plans, and it has not recently updated its iCloud storage plans and pricing support document, so this was likely simply a server-related issue on Apple's backend. Apple's System Status page does not reflect any ongoing iCloud-related issues.

Apple has not indicated why the "discontinued" emails were sent, but all four of the 50GB, 200GB, 1TB, and 2TB tiers appear to be available for purchase again for most users. We'll update this article if we hear anything else, particularly if Apple does have surprise changes to its iCloud storage plans in the works.

Article Link: Some iCloud Storage Plans Unavailable to Purchase Today, Likely Due to Server Issues

 

[marioguarneros]

Glad to read it wasn't just me, I thought it was linked to my payment method needing updating.

I wonder if they are actually changing the plans/rates.

 

[quatermass]

I got one too - "
Your current 50GB subscription has been discontinued, and will not automatically renew.

Sincerely,

Apple"

Ignore?

 

[gsmornot]

Glad to read it wasn't just me, I thought it was linked to my payment method needing updating.

I wonder if they are actually changing the plans/rates.

If we're talking about my personal needs then yea, I would like to see a change in the plans. I need 54GB at the moment so I'm buying the 200GB plan. I would like to have a 100GB option for a dollar less. Ha.

 

[markiv810]

I am still seeing mine as 50 GB

 

[willmtaylor]

Glad to read it wasn't just me, I thought it was linked to my payment method needing updating.

I wonder if they are actually changing the plans/rates.

We've been discussing it since early this morning here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/50gb-icloud-plan-discontinued.2042375

 

[marioguarneros]

We've been discussing it since early this morning here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/50gb-icloud-plan-discontinued.2042375

Cheers, I really hope they don't discontinue the 50GB plan or at least offer something similarly priced. I don't feel like paying for the next tier up.

 

[tatty27]

I got the same error and call Apple support and they knew nothing about it, they just confirmed that my subscription was intact. About 30 mins later I got a message on my iPhone asking to update my payment method

 

[dominiongamma]

I got the same error and call Apple support and they knew nothing about it, they just confirmed that my subscription was intact. About 30 mins later I got a message on my iPhone asking to update my payment method

Apple support seems useless sometimes >.<

 

[drewyboy]

Apple doing Apple things. This shouldn't surprise anyone. Apple + Cloud services = stuff like this.

 

[baller1308]

Damn, was hoping for free 50GB storage for everyone, lol.

 

[xinn3r]

So that's why it asked me to update my payment method. Seems likely because of this issue.

 

[AronDraws]

Yeah I cant even get the menu to load for me. Im glad it's not just an issue on my end though

 

[Creepitor]

.

 

[nutmac]

Dang it, I was hoping for a price drop. At the very least, Apple needs to do Mac Pro like price adjustment.

Current:

• 50GB @ $0.99/month ($0.24 per GB)
• 200GB @ $2.99/month ($0.18 per GB)
  
• 1TB @ $9.99/month ($0.12 per GB)
  
• 2TB @ $19.99/month ($0.12 per GB)

My wish is $0.06 per GB across the board:

• 200GB @ $0.99/month ($0.06 per GB)
• 1TB @ $4.99/month ($0.06 per GB)
• 2TB @ $9.99/month ($0.06 per GB)

Better yet, offer flexible $0.99/month per 200GB used, with family sharing.

In case anyone's wondering, Dropbox is $0.10 per GB and Google Drive varies between $0.20 and $0.10 per GB. And neither offer flexible pay-as-you-use pricing, nor family sharing.

 

[willmtaylor]

Dang it, I was hoping for a price drop. At the very least, Apple needs to do Mac Pro like price adjustment.

Current:

• 50GB @ $0.99/month ($0.24 per GB)
• 200GB @ $2.99/month ($0.18 per GB)
  
• 1TB @ $9.99/month ($0.12 per GB)
  
• 2TB @ $19.99/month ($0.12 per GB)

My wish is $0.06 per GB across the board:

• 200GB @ $0.99/month ($0.06 per GB)
• 1TB @ $4.99/month ($0.06 per GB)
• 2TB @ $9.99/month ($0.06 per GB)

Better yet, offer flexible $0.99/month per 200GB used, with family sharing.

In case anyone's wondering, Dropbox is $0.10 per GB and Google Drive varies between $0.20 and $0.10 per GB. And neither offer flexible pay-as-you-use pricing, nor family sharing.

Great breakdown.

 

[macduke]

If we're talking about my personal needs then yea, I would like to see a change in the plans. I need 54GB at the moment so I'm buying the 200GB plan. I would like to have a 100GB option for a dollar less. Ha.

You think that's bad? I had to go from $2.99/mo 200GB to $9.99/mo 1TB because I'm using barely over 200GB of data. I culled down my photos and videos over the course of last year, but ran over on data again towards the end of the year so I just upgraded. I have nearly 800GB of space I don't use and what's worse is that I can't even share that with my wife or anyone else on my iCloud Family. I have to pay extra for my wife's storage, and she only needs 50GB! It's ridiculous.

I wrote in this post about a week ago what I hope Apple does going forward, given the pricing trends over time. Hopefully this "glitch" today is a sign that they're working on some changes ahead of WWDC. In that post I put the prices I hope to see for this autumn, and here they are again. These are my "Apple Adjusted" numbers. Of course I'd love to see lower, but given we're talking about Apple, I think this is more realistic (aside from them maybe never increasing the free tier because they're tightwads).

• 20GB free (5GB isn't even enough to really try it out any more)
• 100GB for $0.99/mo
  
• 500GB for $3.99/mo
• 1TB for $7.99/mo
• 2TB for $14.99/mo

 

[solardudesf]

This is not only related to iCloud storage. I got the same email this morning that said "Your current Apple Music family membership subscription has been discontinued, and will not automatically renew."

A number of MacRumors readers received an email from Apple today stating that their 50GB iCloud storage plan subscription has been "discontinued" and will no longer automatically renew. Several users on Reddit and Twitter have also reported receiving the email, which may have been sent mistakenly.

Relatedly, some iCloud storage plans were unavailable for purchase on iOS and macOS Sierra. When we checked the "Upgrade iCloud Storage" menu on an iPhone, both the 50GB and 200GB tiers were no longer listed. Later, the 1TB tier disappeared as well. On another iPhone, the menu wouldn't load at all.

Apple has not announced any changes to its iCloud storage plans, and it has not recently updated its iCloud storage plans and pricing support document, so this was likely simply a server-related issue on Apple's backend. Apple's System Status page does not reflect any ongoing iCloud-related issues.

Apple has not indicated why the "discontinued" emails were sent, but all four of the 50GB, 200GB, 1TB, and 2TB tiers appear to be available for purchase again for most users. We'll update this article if we hear anything else, particularly if Apple does have surprise changes to its iCloud storage plans in the works.

Article Link: Some iCloud Storage Plans Unavailable to Purchase Today, Likely Due to Server Issues

 

[drewyboy]

Dang it, I was hoping for a price drop. At the very least, Apple needs to do Mac Pro like price adjustment.

Current:

• 50GB @ $0.99/month ($0.24 per GB)
• 200GB @ $2.99/month ($0.18 per GB)
  
• 1TB @ $9.99/month ($0.12 per GB)
  
• 2TB @ $19.99/month ($0.12 per GB)

Um... either I'm completely wooshing on this one or you're horrible at math.

$0.99/50GB= $0.0198 per GB
$2.99/200GB= $0.01495 per GB
$9.99/1000GB = $0.00999 per GB
$19.99/2000GB = $0.00999 per GB

My wish is $0.06 per GB across the board:

• 200GB @ $0.99/month ($0.06 per GB)
• 1TB @ $4.99/month ($0.06 per GB)
• 2TB @ $9.99/month ($0.06 per GB)

At $0.06 per GB this would be the cost:
200GB = $12.00
1TB = $60.00
2TB = $120.00

As for your wish of $0.06 per GB, SURPRISE it's not more than $0.02 right now. Why would you want to pay 3x?

Math is important. Use it responsibly.
[doublepost=1492625659][/doublepost]

Great breakdown.

Shame on you for not even bothering to check his math.

 

[BuckeyeShaw]

Um... either I'm completely wooshing on this one or you're horrible at math.

$0.99/50GB= $0.0198 per GB
$2.99/200GB= $0.01495 per GB
$9.99/1000GB = $0.00999 per GB
$19.99/2000GB = $0.00999 per GB



At $0.06 per GB this would be the cost:
200GB = $12.00
1TB = $60.00
2TB = $120.00

As for your wish of $0.06 per GB, SURPRISE it's not more than $0.02 right now. Why would you want to pay 3x?

Math is important. Use it responsibly.
[doublepost=1492625659][/doublepost]
Shame on you for not even bothering to check his math.

Shame on you for taking the time to compose a detailed message and call out people when you arrogantly avoided one detail. There are 12 months per year. He was calculating everything x12....

 

[motm95]

Better yet, offer flexible $0.99/month per 200GB used, with family sharing.

^This would solve a lot of problems. I hope it comes some day.

 

[zorinlynx]

I doubt that Apple will ever increase the free tier, and if they do, they won't increase it much.

Here's why: By ensuring people have to pay $1 a month to use more than 5GB, they are making sure only those who are actively using their iCloud storage will be taking up more than 5GB of space.

Think about it: They give out 50GB free, and you have Joe Schmoe sign up, upload his 40GB photo collection, then switch to Android a year later and never use iCloud again. Now Apple has 40GB of data that'll stick around on their servers forever since the 50GB tier is free.

By charging $1 a month, Apple will recover the space when Joe stops paying for it. It's an easy way to ensure long gone users don't take up many petabytes of space. $1 a month is something pretty much anyone can pay, but most people will stop paying it if they're not using it.

It's a similar reason big cities charge for street parking; it's not so much about making money but about controlling usage of a limited resource.

 

[drewyboy]

Shame on you for taking the time to compose a detailed message and call out people when you arrogantly avoided one detail. There are 12 months per year. He was calculating everything x12....

Then maybe all of his math shouldn't have been in "/month". Absolutely no mention of year. I was simply going on the math and details/numbers he provided. I'm not a mind reader.

 

[willmtaylor]

Um... either I'm completely wooshing on this one or you're horrible at math.

$0.99/50GB= $0.0198 per GB
$2.99/200GB= $0.01495 per GB
$9.99/1000GB = $0.00999 per GB
$19.99/2000GB = $0.00999 per GB



At $0.06 per GB this would be the cost:
200GB = $12.00
1TB = $60.00
2TB = $120.00

As for your wish of $0.06 per GB, SURPRISE it's not more than $0.02 right now. Why would you want to pay 3x?

Math is important. Use it responsibly.
[doublepost=1492625659][/doublepost]
Shame on you for not even bothering to check his math.

I teach English for a reason. That reason is math.

 

[radioisotope]

I tried to connect to icloud and could not, guess its cause there are literally no clouds where im at today.

Ill show myself out.