It’s unfathomable these days to own a connected device, whether smartphone, tablet, or computer without using some sort of cloud storage service, bundled or via third-party service providers. A cloud storage solution is crucial for backing up and storing your data — documents, photos, and videos; also keeping your data synced across your devices.
If you use Apple products, the obvious choice points to Apple’s own iCloudservice, which offers much more than mere storage alone. Alternatively, the other usual suspects — from Google and Microsoft to Dropbox, are serious contenders, too.
iCloud is arguably the best cloud storage solution if you’re in the Apple camp, simply because it integrates so seamlessly with the iPhone, iPad, Mac, App Store, and more.
In this post, I’ll be focusing specifically on Apple’s cloud solution. Let me know if you want me to do a comparison post between Apple, Google and Microsoft’s offerings.
By default, Apple provides a paltry 5GB of free iCloud storage with each Apple ID — hardly adequate regardless of what Apple device you’re using. In comparison, Google looks like Mr. Generous in this department, giving users free 15GB of space.
It’s interesting to note that Apple will “loan” you as much iCloud storage space as you need to backup and restore your data onto a new device, for up to two weeks. After which you can choose to take the leap to a paid subscription or take a risk of not having your data protected in an event your Apple device gets lost/stolen/damaged (that would suck).
iCloud+
iCloud paid tiers, now branded iCloud+, offer more than just storage. But before we dive into features, let’s check out a breakdown of how much they cost.
The entry-level $0.99 per month tier will give you 50GB of storage, which is adequate for most cases to backup and sync your documents, photos, videos, and files. With devices like iPhone and iPad featuring denser storage nowadays, you may want to step up to the $2.99 per month tier which will give you a sizeable 200GB. If you’re like me, having a plethora of Apple devices and a paranoia of having inadequate storage and also losing data, then the $9.99 per month 2TB plan would be perfect.
What’s cool, though, is that both the 200GB and 2TB can be shared with family members. This storage pool can be shared with up to six accounts (yourself and five others) under the Family Sharing feature (System Preferences > Family Sharing).
As you may know, Apple’s Family Sharing feature lets you share iCloud+ storage, Apple Books, and App Store purchases, and if you have Apple One, share Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple Music, Apple News+*, and Apple TV+, too.
Beyond storage
Now, as aforementioned, iCloud+ offers more than just storage. Apple’s become quite the proponent for user privacy and security and walks the talk with several security features bundled with its cloud storage service.
Firstly, you can add a trusted contact as an Account Recovery contact to get a security code in the event you need to recover your account.
Next, you can pick a contact as a Legacy Contact, so in the event that you pass on, that person can access your iCloud account.
Apple has created Private Relay to help protect your privacy when you browser websites. When you use Safari, the data sent is encrypted and then travels through two intercept relays to hide your location, IP address, and browsing activity.
If you use an iCloud email account, the Hide My Email feature lets you create aliases that you can use on websites and other use cases like electronic direct mailers. Emails sent to the alias are forwarded to your actual email account. This protects your actual email from being public-facing.
This aside, iCloud+ also allows you to personalise your iCloud Mail email address with a custom domain name.
If you have HomeKit-certified IP cameras at home, iCloud+ lets you use your iCloud storage to store your camera’s footage. Footage is encrypted and the storage does not count against your iCloud quota.
One to consider
Apple One, for the uninitiated, is a pricing plan that bundles Apple services together for a discounted price.
Here are the plans:
- Individual ($14.95 per month): includes Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and 50GB of iCloud storage for one user. Save $6 per month over a la carte pricing.
- Family ($19.95 per month): includes Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and 200GB of iCloud storage. Can be shared with up to six family members (yourself and five others). Save $8 monthly over a la carte.
- Premier* ($29.95 per month): includes Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple Music, Apple News+, Apple TV+, and 2TB of iCloud storage. Can be shared with up to six family members. Save $25 per month over a la carte.
*region dependent
You can try Apple One free for 30 days.
Give it a shot?
With all that said, in my opinion, iCloud+ is competitively-priced, feature-rich, and integrates seamlessly across Apple’s various platforms. If you’re an Apple user, it’s a compelling upgrade that goes beyond just storage.
Still undecided? Perhaps try out the dollar-tier and see if it works out.
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