Former MobileMe members' complimentary iCloud term ends, storage auto-adjusted to 5GB

Posted:
in iCloud edited January 2014
Apple on Tuesday sent out emails notifying former MobileMe members that their complimentary iCloud storage plans have expired, meaning those who have not upgraded will be automatically bumped down to the free 5GB tier.

iCloud Email


As promised in a reminder email from August, Apple has ended the complimentary iCloud grace period extended to former customers of the erstwhile MobileMe cloud storage service.

Since iCloud was first introduced in in 2011, users have been afforded 5GB of free storage for photos, phone data, and other items. As a courtesy to MobileMe subscribers who were on paid subscription plans at the time, Apple offered a free iCloud upgrade equivalent to their then-current data tier. The initial period was set to last one year, but Apple extended the gratis storage allotment to Sept. 30, 2013.

In Tuesday's email, Apple includes the amount of space a member is currently using and offers information on how to upgrade to a higher plan.

Currently, tiered pricing options for add-on storage range from $20 per year for an extra 10GB of space, to $100 per year for an additional 50GB. Former MobileMe subscribers have been able to switch over to the new model for some time via the Settings menu in OS X, iOS 5 and above, and iCloud Control Panel for Windows.

According to a Support Document regarding today's expiry protocols, customers using less than 5GB will be automatically downgraded to the free 5GB option, while those above the cap will see a temporary stoppage of service for iCloud Backup, Documents in the Cloud, and iCloud Mail. If this occurs, there are two ways to restore service: remove data from the cloud or upgrade to a higher plan.

As of this writing, some users have yet to see a change reflected in their storage limits, though that will likely change as Apple's servers update throughout the day.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 40
    macapfelmacapfel Posts: 575member

    I used .Mac, MobileMe and now iCloud and love it. However, they seriously need a more clear strategy for cloud storage. At the moment, Dropbox does a far better job for document syncing than iCloud. And the iCloud integration of e.g. iWork is still very clumsy.

    And I have a 100 GB Dropbox for $70.

  • Reply 2 of 40
    enzosenzos Posts: 344member

    Only paid for Mobile Me once in 2008 (or was it 2009) and now it's finally expired: That's value for money!

  • Reply 3 of 40
    moxommoxom Posts: 326member
    enzos wrote: »
    Only paid for Mobile Me once in 2008 (or was it 2009) and now it's finally expired: That's value for money!

    Same here!

    Just before my subscription was due to expire, I was able to sign up for ASTO training at work which gave me a complimentary free account - so I've had my .mac account for years :) Shame we don't have iDisk anymore as it allowed my to host my website for free...
  • Reply 4 of 40
    It should be 5 Gb per iStuff, not 5 Gb per user
  • Reply 5 of 40
    dugbugdugbug Posts: 283member

    I so wish apple made this 5GB per icloud device.  Actually, why are we even dealing with 5GB in today's cloud world.  This should be 20GB minimum.

     

    Whazzup apple - show us the love and make a storage boost announcement when you pitch the new ipads.

  • Reply 6 of 40
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    5GB is a bit of a joke in today's market.

    Give everyone 10GB free, or 5GB per device.
  • Reply 7 of 40
    I wish they had different pricing. Structure. To go from 20gb to 50gb with no in between is a little drastick. After 20 they should offer 25-30-35 and so on
  • Reply 8 of 40
    robogoborobogobo Posts: 378member
    Definitely should be 5GB per device minimum.
  • Reply 9 of 40
    macapfelmacapfel Posts: 575member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by StephanJobs View Post



    I wish they had different pricing. Structure. To go from 20gb to 50gb with no in between is a little drastick. After 20 they should offer 25-30-35 and so on

     

    Yeah, or simply $3 per 5GB and then you choose how much you want.

  • Reply 10 of 40
    ulfoafulfoaf Posts: 175member
    Photos are often the biggest space consumers. There are other options. I quit backing to iCloud & backed mine up to Google+, you get 15GB for free. Flickr is also an option - up to 1TB. Both can be set so only you can view them. Didn't do Flickr, but Google+ worked automatically, no need to manually copy 1800 photos on my iPhone.
  • Reply 11 of 40
    dugbugdugbug Posts: 283member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ulfoaf View Post



    Photos are often the biggest space consumers. There are other options. I quit backing to iCloud & backed mine up to Google+, you get 15GB for free. Flickr is also an option - up to 1TB. Both can be set so only you can view them. Didn't do Flickr, but Google+ worked automatically, no need to manually copy 1800 photos on my iPhone.

    and don't forget videos.  Videos seem to be the red-headded step child with Apple.  They don't go over photostream so they cannot be automatically backed up to your mac.   Apple can't decide if they should be lost forever inside iPhoto where your iphone and apple TV cannot see them but are organized with your photo collections, or stored disjoint from your photos stuck as home movies inside iTunes.

     

    I have not tried itunes wifi sync.  This may be a decent option for backup.  Not sure what the ramifications are.

  • Reply 12 of 40

    I still think it sucks that they decided to "reward" long time users by decreasing our storage. I've had MobileMe since it started and this is what I get. When you are competing with so many other cloud storage solutions it's a bad move.

     

    I love Apple but sometimes they really do things that aggravate me and make no sense.

     

    I wonder if Steve would have agreed on this.

  • Reply 13 of 40
    I got this email.

    What a weirdly passive note from Apple: there is nothing at all that encourages you to upgrade or why (sure, there is a link that refers generally to iCloud storage and there is info there, but nothing obvious that makes you want to click that link).

    Apple truly needs to significantly improve this service which, in its current form, is utterly mediocre. Needs, at a minimum, up to 500GB storage, lower price points to compete with others (e.g., Dropbox, Google), free storage on a per-device basis, and allow any document one wants (not just media and iWork documents) to be stored.

    Otherwise, they should shut it down and refocus those resources somewhere else.
  • Reply 14 of 40
    yanimac wrote: »
    I still think it sucks that they decided to "reward" long time users by decreasing our storage. I've had MobileMe since it started and this is what I get. When you are competing with so many other cloud storage solutions it's a bad move.

    I love Apple but sometimes they really do things that aggravate me and make no sense.

    I wonder if Steve would have agreed on this.

    I for one think that 2 years of complimentary iCloud was a nice gesture and sufficient for my loyalty.

    Do you think they should allows to have more storage than 20gb or are you saying more time?
  • Reply 15 of 40
    akqiesakqies Posts: 768member
    mac bear wrote: »
    It should be 5 Gb per iStuff, not 5 Gb per user
    dugbug wrote: »
    I so wish apple made this 5GB per icloud device.  Actually, why are we even dealing with 5GB in today's cloud world.  This should be 20GB minimum.

    Whazzup apple - show us the love and make a storage boost announcement when you pitch the new ipads.
    How would that be reasonably achieved? Let's say I buy an iPod Touch, do I get an extra 5GB? How long does it last? How do I make the transfer of storage space? What if I buy a product to get the space and then return it to the store? Do I then get to keep it? What happens when I sell that iPod Touch? Is it tied to the serial number?

    The only method that seems doable to me is based on the new iOS 7 authentication option where you get it when you input your Apple ID for Find My iPhone which locks the device from being registered by another user. That could, in theory, be used to give and take away the storage, but there are issues that also come along with it. Outside of that I just see more trouble than it's worth which makes me think just giving more space to everyone is the easiest and therefore best method for Apple.

    quadra 610 wrote: »
    5GB is a bit of a joke in today's market.

    Give everyone 10GB free, or 5GB per device.

    I agree that it's quite low. I don't take many pictures but between my iPad and iPhone it's nearly filled. I can't imagine how others deal with it. Apple should focus on selling products, not services, expect for the finge case, which 5.1GB is not.

    I wouldn't be surprised if we they do increase iCloud size at the next iTunes event.
  • Reply 16 of 40
    akqies wrote: »

    I wouldn't be surprised if we they do increase iCloud size at the next iTunes event.

    Why do they need an 'event' to increase storage!?
  • Reply 17 of 40
    dugbugdugbug Posts: 283member
    akqies wrote: »

    How would that be reasonably achieved? Let's say I buy an iPod Touch, do I get an extra 5GB? How long does it last? How do I make the transfer of storage space? What if I buy a product to get the space and then return it to the store? Do I then get to keep it? What happens when I sell that iPod Touch? Is it tied to the serial number?

    Are you serious? You would have 5GB * num registered devices under said iCloud account. Done. If you still need more, you can buy 10GB at whatever rate a pop. If you deregister a product (which includes selling or returning it), you lose the space bonus. Just like if you cancelled an icloud 10Gb purchase.

    There is a limit to the number of iDevices and macs you can register with your account but this way it encourages rather than penalizes folks that have additional devices.
  • Reply 18 of 40
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member
    Doesn't iCloud sync among all your devices? Why do people need the same storage for each? I also archive old email to save space. I was only using 1gb of storage anyway so the reduction doesn't bother me. I guess I'm not ready for cloud storage. :-)
  • Reply 19 of 40
    macapfelmacapfel Posts: 575member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by akqies View Post



    I wouldn't be surprised if we they do increase iCloud size at the next iTunes event.

     

    That's what I thought as well. Yet it would be utterly stupid: Force your users to delete files in the cloud (as I did) just to give them back cloud storage 2 weeks or so later. Really why on Earth would that make sense? If so, they would have extended the 25 GB until this event, or had the event before the 25 GB expired. 

  • Reply 20 of 40
    macapfelmacapfel Posts: 575member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post



    Why do they need an 'event' to increase storage!?

     

    No, they don't. But Apple desperately needs an event to make iCloud something great. Not only some contact, calendar, reminder, etc. sync app. And if anyone read the article about dropbox in the current Wired issue, that's exactly what dropbox is doing and extending massively. So Apple needs some bigger strategy for iCloud, or, as someone else said back out here and leave this to dropbox.

     

    Just found the link to this really interesting article: http://www.wired.com/business/2013/09/dropbox-2/

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