Apple has long advertised iCloud as being a cloud storage platform for iPhone, iPad and Mac, but it has never had a front-facing file management system like its main competitors in Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. iCloud Drive is about to change that, making the service a much more competitive offering in the cloud storage space.
Even better is that Apple has introduced new iCloud storage plans that are significantly cheaper than what the iPhone maker used to offer. iPhone, iPad and Mac users still get 5 GB of storage for free by default, but the paid tiers offer a lot more storage for drastically lower prices. Now, it simply comes down to choosing what plan is best for you.
We’re here to help: we’ve prepared this guide that will help make your decision process a little easier. Whether you are a casual user or a power user, we examine the iCloud storage plans available and give you a rundown of which is most suitable for various needs.
Keep in mind that it is recommended that iPhone and iPad users that upgrade to iOS 8 refrain from enabling iCloud Drive in the short term, as the service relies OS X Yosemite on the Mac side to function properly. Until the latest Mac operating system version is released, likely in October, you could encounter syncing issues between iOS and OS X.
The new iCloud storage plans are broken down as follows:
- 5 GB (Free)
- 20 GB (99¢ per month)
- 200 GB ($3.99 per month)
- 500 GB ($9.99 per month)
- 1 TB ($19.99 per month)
5 GB
There could be two reasons why the free iCloud storage plan is sufficient for you: either you have a device with a large amount of internal storage, such as a brand new 64 GB or 128 GB iPhone 6, or you simply do not have many apps or data altogether to be backed up to the cloud. If you are a fairly lightweight iOS user, this plan is for you.
Just keep in mind that if you ever plan to fully backup your device using iCloud, you might not have enough space to do so. If you are switching between an old iPhone to a new iPhone soon, which lots of people are currently in the process of doing, you might want to consider spending a few extra dollars to get a larger iCloud storage plan.
20 GB
For just a dollar per month, you get four times the amount of space that Apple offers iCloud users for free. Upgrading to the 20 GB storage plan is recommended in most cases, since some baseline devices like the 16 GB iPhone 6 do not even have that much physical flash storage. For less than the price of a coffee per month, you get double the space.
Plus, with the emergence of iCloud Drive, and the ability to store and access files across iPhone, iPad and Mac, this is probably a much more ideal plan for most users than the standard free offering. As long as you don’t hoard photos, videos or movies on your device, this plan should be sufficient for storing your iCloud backups on a regular basis.
200 GB
There is a big jump between the 20 GB and 200 GB storage plans for iCloud, but only a minor difference in price. For $3.99 per month, this is an attractive cloud storage plan that is recommended to any Apple user that does not already pay for a similar service like Dropbox or Google Drive.
Alternatively, if you are that person I mentioned above who has thousands of photos, videos and movies on your device of every birthday party and encounter you have ever experienced, then you will benefit greatly from being able to backup your Camera Roll and other media and data to the cloud.
500 GB or 1 TB
At this point, you are almost purchasing an external hard drive in the cloud. This cloud storage plan is quite large — and more expensive than the rest, at $19.99 per month — and is recommended only for power users that store or transfer a lot of files between their iPhone, iPad or Mac.
I’m not talking five photos of your cat and a half-dozen apps. I’m talking over a dozen full-length movies, several pages of apps in folders and the largest music library in the history of mankind. On a more serious note, purchasing a 500 GB or 1 TB storage plan through iCloud is the cream of the crop and should leave you with plenty of space.
If you have an iCloud storage plan, let us know what tier you have in the comments below.
