iCloud - The Latest Straw on my Back from Apple

[CA2DC]

The latest straw on my back from Apple is their outrageous prices for iCloud storage.

My family has 2 iPhones, 2 iPod Touch's (our young kids), and 2 iPads, not to mention an Apple TV and Mini. We've spent a bundle on Apple products and yet I feel like they're nickel and diming me on iCloud storage for all my portable devices.

Seriously, $100/year for 55 GB of iCloud storage is outrageous!! I can BUY a 3 TB drive for about that price, and I'm assuming Apple is buying TB's of cloud storage servers at just a small fraction of what I pay. As for their competition….for comparison’s sake, 50 GB on Amazon's Cloud Drive is $25, 50 GB is $25 from Microsoft and 100 GB from Google runs you $60. Do the math, Apples prices are well over 3 X the competition. We’re not talking about the typical +20% or +30% (because we can) Apple premium, I’m talking a +200% premium. And don’t try telling me that iCloud is 3 X better, sorry, it’s not. It’s got plenty of issues – just read these boards or independent reviews.

It just boggles my mind how, given the stiff competition, Apple just keeps giving me reasons to switch out of their ecosystem.

I know it won’t be an easy switch and will have to occur over the course of a couple years, but I’m already slowly starting the process out of frustration with Apple. I like Apple products overall, but innovation has slowed considerably in the face of intense competition and Apple seems to be treating it’s customers like a cash cow to be exploited, by pricing their products as high as they can to eek out every last penny us customers have to spend. Apples arrogance seems astounding given the current competitive landscape.

My iPhones contracts up and I'm ready for a new phone, but don't see anything truly compelling about the most recent iPhone model. I’m waiting for the next Galaxy release before making a decision. I’ve also already bought two Kindle Fires because the Kids FreeTime Unlimited App is brilliant (+innovation) and avoids those often difficult conversations with our small kids when it’s time to put the iPads away. It’s not a foregone conclusion that our family will switch away from iOS, it’s entirely dependent on Apples future product offerings, prices and how it decides to treat its previously loyal customers.

I know it’s a rambling post, but I just needed to vent.

 

[MacManTexas56]

The latest straw on my back from Apple is their outrageous prices for iCloud storage.

My family has 2 iPhones, 2 iPod Touch's (our young kids), and 2 iPads, not to mention an Apple TV and Mini. We've spent a bundle on Apple products and yet I feel like they're nickel and diming me on iCloud storage for all my portable devices.

Seriously, $100/year for 55 GB of iCloud storage is outrageous!! I can BUY a 3 TB drive for about that price, and I'm assuming Apple is buying TB's of cloud storage servers at just a small fraction of what I pay. As for their competition….for comparison’s sake, 50 GB on Amazon's Cloud Drive is $25, 50 GB is $25 from Microsoft and 100 GB from Google runs you $60. Do the math, Apples prices are well over 3 X the competition. We’re not talking about the typical +20% or +30% (because we can) Apple premium, I’m talking a +200% premium. And don’t try telling me that iCloud is 3 X better, sorry, it’s not. It’s got plenty of issues – just read these boards or independent reviews.

It just boggles my mind how, given the stiff competition, Apple just keeps giving me reasons to switch out of their ecosystem.

I know it won’t be an easy switch and will have to occur over the course of a couple years, but I’m already slowly starting the process out of frustration with Apple. I like Apple products overall, but innovation has slowed considerably in the face of intense competition and Apple seems to be treating it’s customers like a cash cow to be exploited, by pricing their products as high as they can to eek out every last penny us customers have to spend. Apples arrogance seems astounding given the current competitive landscape.

My iPhones contracts up and I'm ready for a new phone, but don't see anything truly compelling about the most recent iPhone model. I’m waiting for the next Galaxy release before making a decision. I’ve also already bought two Kindle Fires because the Kids FreeTime Unlimited App is brilliant (+innovation) and avoids those often difficult conversations with our small kids when it’s time to put the iPads away. It’s not a foregone conclusion that our family will switch away from iOS, it’s entirely dependent on Apples future product offerings, prices and how it decides to treat its previously loyal customers.

I know it’s a rambling post, but I just needed to vent.

Apple prices have always been high. Why do people think this is a new concept with them? iPhone 5c comes out and everyone cries that its not a cheap option. Apple doesn't do cheap....everything has always been pricey.

Apple does what apple wants to do. People still continue to buy their products. Why throw in the towel completely? Why not just quit using iCloud and use google services?

 

[Boyd01]

I have an iPhone and a MacBook Air (plus some old macs running old versions of OSX that aren't compatible). iCloud seems like a screaming bargain to me - I am only using about 150MB of space so it's free and I can't imagine ever needing more than 5GB. The free e-mail account is great.

But for the OP, you are supporting 6 devices and (evidently) 4 people and you pay $8/month for iCloud. That would only be $2/month per person. Doesn't sound too unreasonable to me.

 

[zorinlynx]

Why not have everyone use their own personal Apple ID for iCloud storage? Each one gets its own 5GB. If each person has their own account there should be more than enough space for everyone.

I don't get why people share Apple IDs. It's an accountability nightmare. You can have apps and media from multiple Apple IDs on one device, so media sharing is not a good reason.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

The latest straw on my back from Apple is their outrageous prices for iCloud storage.

My family has 2 iPhones, 2 iPod Touch's (our young kids), and 2 iPads, not to mention an Apple TV and Mini. We've spent a bundle on Apple products and yet I feel like they're nickel and diming me on iCloud storage for all my portable devices.

Seriously, $100/year for 55 GB of iCloud storage is outrageous!! I can BUY a 3 TB drive for about that price, and I'm assuming Apple is buying TB's of cloud storage servers at just a small fraction of what I pay. As for their competition….for comparison’s sake, 50 GB on Amazon's Cloud Drive is $25, 50 GB is $25 from Microsoft and 100 GB from Google runs you $60. Do the math, Apples prices are well over 3 X the competition. We’re not talking about the typical +20% or +30% (because we can) Apple premium, I’m talking a +200% premium. And don’t try telling me that iCloud is 3 X better, sorry, it’s not. It’s got plenty of issues – just read these boards or independent reviews.

It just boggles my mind how, given the stiff competition, Apple just keeps giving me reasons to switch out of their ecosystem.

I know it won’t be an easy switch and will have to occur over the course of a couple years, but I’m already slowly starting the process out of frustration with Apple. I like Apple products overall, but innovation has slowed considerably in the face of intense competition and Apple seems to be treating it’s customers like a cash cow to be exploited, by pricing their products as high as they can to eek out every last penny us customers have to spend. Apples arrogance seems astounding given the current competitive landscape.

My iPhones contracts up and I'm ready for a new phone, but don't see anything truly compelling about the most recent iPhone model. I’m waiting for the next Galaxy release before making a decision. I’ve also already bought two Kindle Fires because the Kids FreeTime Unlimited App is brilliant (+innovation) and avoids those often difficult conversations with our small kids when it’s time to put the iPads away. It’s not a foregone conclusion that our family will switch away from iOS, it’s entirely dependent on Apples future product offerings, prices and how it decides to treat its previously loyal customers.

I know it’s a rambling post, but I just needed to vent.

It all goes back to the same argument in the Google vs Apple vs Amazon worlds.

Google and Amazon want as many users as humanly possible. Google wants the data so they can sell ads. Amazon wants folks in the door to sell content. So they are in a position where they sell hardware and services at cost (or less) just to get users in the door.

Apple's business model is very different. Their number one goal is to sell hardware. They use services like iCloud to help push those hardware sales, but they aren't going to give away upgrades and cut into margins there just to have some higher amount of free storage that most folks won't use. They want to be a premium brand and, for better or worse, they are what they are. Whether or not the cost to be in that ecosystem is worth it to you is something that everyone has to answer individually.

My family has 2 iPhones, 2 iPads, 2 Macs and 3 Apple TVs that my wife and I use. We have a family account for content and then our own personal iCloud accounts for mail and such. Even with backups we're still only using about 4GB each of our iCloud storage. I'm not sure how other user setups are, but I would imagine that most individuals don't get up past that 5GB free limit too often.

How do you have all of your devices setup? Does everyone have their own iCloud account or is the family just sharing a master account?

 

[aicul]

Share many of the above comments.

I actually decide myself what I think is a correct price (not the cheapest) and then compare what I am getting on the market. This helps in eeking out those cheap offers that have something hidden, and the expensive ones that offer little extra goodies.

But, all in all, apple is still a little expensive...

 

[Gav2k]

As above you setup each persons device with its own iCloud account and that solves your issue.

iTunes account can be shared seperatly!!