New iCloud Pricing Tiers for All Countries Outlined in Updated Support Document

[MacRumors]

At last week's "Hey Siri" media event, Apple announced new iCloud pricing tiers, expanding the amount of storage provided to users. The company has now updated its iCloud support document to outline the new pricing information in all countries where iCloud storage is available.

While Apple previously offered iCloud storage in 5GB, 20GB, 200GB, 500GB and 1TB tiers, the new tiers include only 50GB, 200GB, or 1TB of storage at lower prices. With the old pricing, 20GB of storage in the U.S. cost $0.99, but now users will get 50GB for the same price. 200GB was formerly priced at $3.99 and is now $2.99, and 1TB of storage, previously priced at $19.99, is now $9.99.

Pricing in 24 countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe are included in the support document. Countries where local currency isn't supported will have storage upgrades billed in dollars, and Eurozone countries will be charged in Euros. For countries with Value Added Tax, VAT is included in the iCloud pricing.

Customers who purchased monthly plans before September 16, 2015, will have their accounts upgraded automatically, presumably when iOS 9 launches tomorrow. Customers on an annual plan will continue to renew annually at that rate.

Article Link: New iCloud Pricing Tiers for All Countries Outlined in Updated Support Document

 

[sniffies]

If Google can offer a lot more for much less, why can't Apple too?? They have money and resources. Come on.

 

[aratuk]

So, the free tier is still only 5 GB, right? Maybe if they had increased the base iPhone from 16 GB, they would have had to also increase the free iCloud tier size.

I'll just back up with iTunes, thanks.

 

[oneMadRssn]

I wish Apple would offer an iCloud server as part of the OS X Server package. I would pay for that, I would pay a lot for that.

I like the idea of iCloud, connecting my iPhone to a cloud and having all the photos and documents synched. But I don't want to trust Apple or anyone else to host it for me. I want to host it myself.

I'm sure other corporations would also love that control. Implementing their own iCloud for syncing documents across users, while maintaining complete control of privacy and security.

OS X server lets you host your own calendar server, mail server, file server, update server, web server, etc. iCloud server would use be a nice addition.

 

[The Tuck]

They need to be even cheaper to remain competitive.

Tuck

 

[iChristos.]

How do I get an annual plan?

 

[iolinux333]

I should get as much cloud storage as my total number of registered Apple devices, including my MacBook, for free, so that everything is always completely backed up. THAT is the seamless Apple experience I expect. If they need to charge more up front per device, fine, but I will never subscribe to subscription model BS for anything, period.

 

[Icaras]

Yea but when does the new plans go into effect?? I want to downgrade now!

 

[iolinux333]

I moved all my photos and movies over to Google Photos, which is unlimited and free forever. I'm not going to pay Apple monthly for the same thing.

 

[aajeevlin]

This pricing is not bad. But it'd be nice if they have some sort of family plan. Like $5 for 1TB for a family of 5(Similar to what MS is offering).

BTW do any other companies actually offers family plan besides MS onedrive? I can't think of any.

 

[aratuk]

If Google can offer a lot more for less, why can't Apple too?? They have money.

Google doesn't make money on its consumer-facing side. For consumers nearly everything is free or at-cost. They make money by serving targeted advertising to those same consumers, who they learn about through the use of their "free" services.

Apple simply makes products and provides services at a cost less they charge for them, resulting in profit. Apple does also sell "dumb" advertising, which doesn't make use of consumers' personal information.

 

[mmendoza27]

Yea but when does the new plans go into effect?? I want to downgrade now!

Someone was told by Apple Support that prices go into effect on September 25th, the same day the new iPhones go on sale.

 

[oodsigma]

I think these prices are very reasonable, if I can get 50Gb of storage for 79p per month then I'm a happy bunny, lets face it, I probably spend more than that a day on coffee, so for the reassurance of having remote backups and the ability to share everything between devices, it is more than reasonable.

 

[tjskywasher]

I moved all my photos and movies over to Google Photos, which is unlimited and free forever. I'm not going to pay Apple monthly for the same thing.

Now ask yourself why it's free and what you're giving up by not paying for the service.

 

[aajeevlin]

Google doesn't make money on its consumer-facing side. For consumers nearly everything is free or at-cost. They make money by serving targeted advertising to those same consumers, who they learn about through the use of their "free" services.

Apple simply makes products and provides services at a cost less they charge for them, resulting in profit. Apple does also sell "dumb" advertising, which doesn't make use of consumers' personal information.

I decided on MS for my photos backup. After reading some article about how MS is more into selling the service than your person info. If I can find that Apple is better in terms of privacy as compared to MS then I'll jump on iCloud.

 

[ratocx]

I moved all my photos and movies over to Google Photos, which is unlimited and free forever. I'm not going to pay Apple monthly for the same thing.

Not exactly the same. Google Photos store up to 16MP for free, but the image quality is compressed. On iCloud you can store RAW photos. I know most people don't see the difference and don't care about RAW, but for some people this is important.

 

[Icaras]

Someone was told by Apple Support that prices go into effect on September 25th, the same day the new iPhones go on sale.

Makes sense. But it would have been nice though if it happened tomorrow instead when iOS 9 gets released.

 

[funnyboy88]

They need to be even cheaper to remain competitive.

Tuck

While Apple's free tier leaves a lot to be desired, both Google and Dropbox are each $9.99/month for 1TB, so Apple's pricing is pretty normal.

 

[KdParker]

So this means that the increased storage will start tomorrow for existing customers?

 

[ConnYoungy]

50p cheaper, SCORE

 

[centauratlas]

Yea but when does the new plans go into effect?? I want to downgrade now!

I've read tomorrow, with iOS 9.

 

[KoolAid-Drink]

I've read tomorrow, with iOS 9.

Someone was told by Apple Support that prices go into effect on September 25th, the same day the new iPhones go on sale.

Makes sense. But it would have been nice though if it happened tomorrow instead when iOS 9 gets released.

Ugh. I was told by Support that the new pricing would be released tomorrow, but they changed their wording at the end of the call to a "few days."

Yesterday, I got charged $3.99 for the 200gb plan (has been charged monthly). I called support today, because it should have been $2.99 instead of $3.99. When calling, I was told they had refunded me and that I should be okay; they were showing 3GB free on my iCloud account.

What. The. Heck?

I have ~50gb of photos/videos plus apps, etc.! They said they only had their system show backups. Wtf. They said initially that iCloud pricing should go down tomorrow, then said in a few days.

Makes no sense, and now I'm down to 5gb of iCloud storage with 0 available and the pricing still showing $3.99. So frustrating!!!!

 

[seamer]

I wish Apple would offer an iCloud server as part of the OS X Server package. I would pay for that, I would pay a lot for that.

I like the idea of iCloud, connecting my iPhone to a cloud and having all the photos and documents synched. But I don't want to trust Apple or anyone else to host it for me. I want to host it myself.

I'm sure other corporations would also love that control. Implementing their own iCloud for syncing documents across users, while maintaining complete control of privacy and security.

OS X server lets you host your own calendar server, mail server, file server, update server, web server, etc. iCloud server would use be a nice addition.

Regardless of who hosts it, you're still at the whim of Apple's security folks. Lots of unassuming targets would now be quite interesting, especially with an "official" version to crack against.

 

[LordQ]

Nice but we need at least 10 Gb as default, c'mon Apple...

 

[aratuk]

I decided on MS for my photos backup. After reading some article about how MS is more into selling the service than your person info. If I can find that Apple is better in terms of privacy as compared to MS then I'll jump on iCloud.

I don't know about Microsoft's photo service in particular, but if Windows 10 is any indication of where Microsoft is headed, I know I don't want to go there.

Apple's own advertising executive recently left the company because Apple has strict rules against using personal information, which he apparently sees as a hindrance to his career:

"While Apple’s iAd service does let marketers advertise within apps on iPhones and iPads based on users’ age, gender, home address, iTunes purchases and App Store downloads, it has been unwilling to push the envelope in how much data it will share with advertisers. ‘I don’t believe they are interested in this capability because they have a strict policy around what they do with user data,’ Crawford said. ‘iAd has great assets and great capabilities, but they are going to follow Apple’s policy to the letter of the law,'”"​