Report: iCloud Is the Most Popular Apple Subscription Service in the US

[MacRumors]

Paid iCloud storage overwhelmingly remains the most popular Apple service in the United States, according to a new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).

Nearly two-thirds of Apple customers in the United States opt for paid iCloud storage, surpassing other services like Apple Music, Apple TV+, and AppleCare in terms of user adoption. In comparison, Apple Music and Apple TV+ have achieved moderate penetration rates among Apple customers, with 42% and 32% adoption, respectively. AppleCare, the company's extended warranty service, sees even lower adoption, with only 17% of iPhone buyers opting for the additional coverage.

These other services, while significant contributors to Apple's Services revenue, operate in highly competitive markets, unlike the cloud storage market where no service is able to offer such a deeply integrated experience with Apple devices as iCloud. Many users opt for just one music service and multiple video subscriptions, which limits the growth potential for Apple's subscription offerings. As Apple's hardware sales growth slows, the company has increasingly turned to its services segment as a source of revenue.

Paid iCloud subscriptions start at $0.99 per month for 50GB of storage, $2.99 per month for 200GB, and $9.99 per month for 2TB. These standalone iCloud storage plans can also be bundled with other Apple services through Apple One, which offers three tiers: the Individual plan at $16.95 per month includes 50GB of iCloud storage, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade; the Family plan at $22.95 per month includes 200GB of iCloud storage and extends those services to up to six family members; and the Premier plan at $32.95 per month includes 2TB of iCloud storage and adds Apple News+ and Apple Fitness+.

Article Link: Report: iCloud Is the Most Popular Apple Subscription Service in the US

 

[AppleTO]

Probably because there is no other practical way to automatically backup device content.

 

[aries81]

Probably because there is no other practical way to automatically backup device content.

Precisely.

 

[antiprotest]

Not because it's especially good, but because the 5gb limit makes cloud backup and photos impossible.

 

[turbineseaplane]

It's the only one I pay for and use ... and yet I'm still upset about it as they force me to the 2TB plan for $10/mo as opposed to offering something for less that is somewhere between 200gb and 2TB, which I'm sure they know a ZILLION people would choose

 

[sw1tcher]

Nearly two-thirds of Apple customers in the United States opt for paid iCloud storage, surpassing other services like Apple Music, Apple TV+, and AppleCare in terms of user adoption.

Thanks in large part to Apple not increasing the free 5GB in like forever.

 

[frenchcamp49er]

Not because it's especially good, but because the 5gb limit makes cloud backup and photos impossible.

Doesn't every service charge for higher tiers?

 

[malofx]

Headline should read

"Report: iCloud Is the Most FORCED Apple Subscription Service in the US"​

 

[Sl4ck3r]

Apples done a great job of overcharging for storage in their devices and under sizing the affordable model, forcing you into needing additional cloud storage. Theyve also done of providing too much or too little in their tiers, forcing you to a higher, more expensive tier for icloud storage. 200gb or 2Tb. Wheres the in between sizes?

 

[vegetassj4]

Tried it. Stayed with Dropbox w/ more features (I backup my iDevices locally).

 

[sleven]

Agreed. This is a no brainer.

With cloud being the most convenient, that is the luxury tax you pay to have content backed up.

Your iPhone that cost ~$1000 really costs that plus $36/yr (at minimum).

Maybe we call it a usage charge?

 

[NapZzz]

We were forced indirectly.

 

[joshwithachance]

Because you essentially HAVE to subscribe to it...

 

[turbineseaplane]

Apples done a great job of overcharging for storage in their devices and under sizing the affordable model, forcing you into needing additional cloud storage. Theyve also done of providing too much or too little in their tiers, forcing you to a higher, more expensive tier for icloud storage. 200gb or 2Tb. Wheres the in between sizes?

It's such a huge part of their "business" now

Lock down the Macs from aftermarket upgrades of RAM & SSD and then absolutely GOUGE customers on upgrade pricing at time of purchase

Know that your users probably need between 300-800gb of storage for photos, so only offer 200gb and 2TB plans so everyone has to upgrade to 2TB plans

It's just a rip off factory

Tim has completely MBA'd the place
It's so sad

 

[sw1tcher]

Probably because there is no other practical way to automatically backup device content.

Solution: install iOS 17.5 and you won't need to back anything up 🤣

Troubling iOS 17.5 Bug Reportedly Resurfacing Old Deleted Photos

There are concerning reports on Reddit that Apple's latest iOS 17.5 update has introduced a bug that causes old photos that were deleted – in...

www.macrumors.com

 

[techishi]

This is so disingenuous, of course it is. The base storage has been 5GB since its inception in 2011! We're going on 13 years of no base storage increase.

At this point it's essentially either don't backup your phone (or do it manually and locally) or pay for more storage.

 

[ghanwani]

I pay a buck a month for 50GB to backup my iPhone. Wouldn't touch it for regular file storage.

 

[Digital Dude]

I have the paid plan, but I seldom pay attention to it. It's great for backups and upgrading to new devices, but that's about it for me. I much prefer Dropbox's paid business plan because it's more universal, has a true hierarchical file system, and is a lot more reliable. 🤷‍♂️

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Well yeah. I refuse to pay for it out of principle and it is a PAIN in the ass to keep messages, email and backups from devouring all 5 gigs & breaking syncing across all your devices. Nothing makes me look forward to the day i no longer have to own a cellphone more. iCloud is practically ransomware.

 

[lewchenko]

European Commission should look into this. They have precedent at forcing Apple to change (eg USB-C).
As far as I’m aware iPhone users can’t select alt cloud providers to back up to automatically on their iPhone. So are ripped off by Apple for the privilege.
Or back up to a computer periodically. I take this option purely as I needed more than 50G but not 2TB and didn’t want to pay the 2TB price.

 

[kagharaht]

When I signed up as a Beta Tester for iTools way way back, I never thought it would be this big and this good. Yeah it was a start and a nightmare back them, but I'm glad Apple just kept plugging away and making it better and better. I love iCloud Services and it how all my stuff just syncs and integrate perfectly. That is until your device becomes obsolete like my old iMac with Catalina. That started to have real struggles with iCloud synching.

 

[xpxp2002]

It's the only one I pay for and use ... and yet I'm still upset about it as they force me to the 2TB plan for $10/mo as opposed to offering something for less that is somewhere between 200gb and 2TB, which I'm sure they know a ZILLION people would choose

I pay for Office 365 Family (get a discount through work) and iCloud+ 2 TB. The combination of having both is "enough" for now.

The O365 subscription is kind of a holdover from my days with Windows Phone. I do use the Office apps suite and have always had my photos uploaded to OneDrive. I enjoy its daily "on this day" presentation of old photos. But, like Apple, they have not increased their storage allotment (1 TB) and I'm getting close to filling it. While the easy option would be to pay them to increase it, I really can't bring myself to spend more with Microsoft even though I do like having my photos backed up to a secondary, separate cloud (3-2-1 rule, right? ).

That being said, I do prefer the Photos Library integration in the Apple ecosystem overall more than OneDrive for photo storage. The automatic caching and management ("optimize storage") works well for me, and the OneDrive app's video playback interface often hangs or stalls out when trying to play a video off of OneDrive, even with good connectivity.

In the short term, I pruned away some "junk" photos off of OneDrive that I don't need second copies of and I've been moving non-photo files off of OneDrive and using my "spare" storage in iCloud for the time being. It doesn't integrate as well with MS Office, so I'm basically maxed out on what I can pull off of OneDrive. But that photo library keeps growing and I'll have to do something more permanent in the long term.

I just wish Microsoft would bump the storage up to at least 1.5 TB. It seems like, after years of paying into the service and taking a couple price hikes (albeit smaller ones compared to competitors like Dropbox), they ought to consider that photos (and especially videos) are getting larger, and as time goes on most people will only generate more. The base storage offerings should keep pace with that.

 

[mystery hill]

It’s the only way to have an automated iPhone backup.

Would this be considered anti-competitive?
(“but you can always buy an Android”)

iCloud still does not have version history like every other major storage provider (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox)

 

[Unami]

Big surprise, as it's practically mandatory if you don't want that "icloud storage full" nagging. It's like saying: "Freedom most popular way of living for people being held hostage".

I wouldn't give Tim Cook too much ideas with stupid headlines like that, though. The next thing you know you need a TV+ subscription to watch any video on your phone.

 

[victorvictoria]

I hear a lot of whining from folks. "Gee, why do I have to pay 99¢/month for a 50GB cloud account, when I can get it for free somewhere else?
Answer: you can't get iCloud storage for free anywhere else. Apple is the only one offering iCloud+ and you should have it for that alone. But add in Hide My Email, Private Relay, custom email domain and Homekit Secure Video, well, if all that isn't worth 99¢/month to you, don't pay it.