iCloud Storage Pricing Going In The Right Direction
Apple shared today that the upcoming iOS 9 software update for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch will be released to everyone in one week on September 16th. Alongside the official iOS 9 release date, Apple also introduced new price tiers for iCloud storage upgrades.
Currently in the United States, upgrading from the free 5GB iCloud adds 20GB to 1TB depending on the tiers which range from 99¢ to $20:
20 GB: $0.99 200 GB: $3.99 500 GB: $9.99 1 TB: $19.99
With the upgraded iCloud storage prices, Apple is offering 50GB of data for 99¢, 200GB for $2.99, and 1TB for $9.99.
What I read from this: Apple realises its devices rely on iCloud more than ever and its current iCloud storage pricing was very high. Unfortunately, the free tier remains the same at 5 GB. This is the tier that the vast majority of users have, so most users will see no change and continue to be unhappy. Thanks Apple.
People don’t want to sign up to subscription plans and I don’t think they should be expected to do so. Even if the base iCloud Storage tier was 1 terabyte for $0.99, most iOS users would not budge and would continue hurting themselves. It isn’t the price that is a barrier, it’s the principle of paying a non-zero amount for something non tangible. Subscription have a stigma attached that they are ‘bad’.
The best way for Apple to improve the quality of service of iCloud would be to raise the amount of storage given to users on the free tier. Whether that be 20 GB, 50 GB or 10 GB per iOS device, I don’t really care. It just needs to go up.
The state of play is not going to change when these new prices come into effect because the free tier is the same. Hence, people will continue to run out of space and continue to be upset.