Coming just ahead of the launch of iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite which will also see the arrival of iCloud Drive, the new plan includes options of 500GB and a whopping great 1TB of cloud storage.
While Apple customers can still get up to 5GB of space for free, beyond that and up to 20GB will now cost you $0.99 a month. Up to 200GB costs $3.99 monthly, while 500GB will set you back $9.99. If you really must go for the full terabyte, you’ll have to fork out $19.99 a month.
With the launch of iCloud Drive in the fall, users will be able to start storing and syncing documents, files and folders across multiple devices and platforms – OS X and Windows – making it a much more Dropbox-like service than before.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at how Apple’s pricing compares to not only Dropbox, but Google Drive, too. While the tech giant’s iCloud pricing may now be a little more competitive, its $19.99 monthly fee for a terabyte of space is still double what Dropbox is charging. And like Dropbox, Google Drive’s terabyte fee also comes in at $9.99 a month.
Related: How to use iCloud
The pricier terms could well deter some potential customers, though Apple may also face resistance from those worried about security following the recent celebrity photo hack scandal in which hackers stole highly personal photographs from the iCloud accounts of a number of famous figures.
In an interview last week, Apple boss Tim Cook said the breach was the result of phishing scams that allowed hackers to get hold of password information, and not because of a weakness in its computer systems. Either way, the incident came as a massive embarrassment to the company, with Cook forced to promise new security measures in an effort to reassure customers and decrease the chances of such an incident happening again.
