Apple is facing a class-action lawsuit in the United States for allegedly restricting iPhone backups and forcing users to overpay for iCloud storage upgrades.
Finally! As many iPhone owners are aware, Apple is essentially using a bait-and-switch tactic to encourage the purchase of its overpriced iCloud storage by offering just five gigabytes of free iCloud storage per account.
At the same time, Apple intentionally avoids supporting backups to third-party cloud storage for a good reason: Other cloud storage services offer more free storage, like Google (15 GB), as well as more affordable storage upgrades than Apple, which charges $0.99 per month for 50GB of iCloud storage in the United State.
Apple will face a judge over iCloud Backup on iPhone
Reuters reported earlier this week that the Northern District of California denied Apple’s motion to dismiss, so the class action lawsuit will move forward in light of “substantial new allegations about the importance of data storage for all iPhone files, including restricted ones like settings data.”
Originally filed in March 2024, the lawsuit hits Apple with antitrust claims for allegedly forcing iPhone and iPad owners to either overpay for iCloud storage (which violates US competition law) or risk losing their precious memories in case their device breaks and they don’t have a full device backup in Cloud.
Apple also permits backups over the wire using a computer, but many iPhone owners don’t own a computer, so cloud backup is their only option. Plaintiffs allege that Apple intentionally restricted consumer choice by preventing backups to third-party cloud storage like Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and similar.
Apple defended its policy in its motion to dismiss by arguing that supporting device backup via third-party cloud services would compromise user security and privacy. It also argued that plaintiffs didn’t bring their antitrust claims within four years of the alleged violation, and sought to dismiss the lawsuit as untimely. The Cupertino tech giant must file its response to the complaint by July 7, 2025.
No competition for iCloud Backup
Although individual apps like Google Photos or OneDrive support backing up the user’s photos, video and other files, it’s not the same as the built-in backup feature that backs up other crucial data, like user settings, app data and more, allowing people to restore their device and continue right where they left off.
A 2024 survey conducted by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) confirmed that Apple’s policy is pushing people into iCloud storage upgrades, noting that “paid iCloud storage has almost no competition.” In fact, iCloud storage is the most popular paid Apple service in CIRP’s survey. “iPhone users are prompted to subscribe when their backup and storage of photos and other data crosses the free-to-paid capacity threshold.”
iCloud storage tiers
Apple offers several storage tiers, including 50GB, 200GB, 2TB, 6TB and 12TB for a monthly subscription of $1, $3, $10, $30 and $60, respectively. Even more storage is available with the Apple One bundle. The Individual tier includes 50GB of iCloud storage for $17/month, the $23/month Family plan boosts your iCloud storage to 200GB and the flagship $33/month Premier tier includes 2TB of iCloud storage.
Aside from device backups, you can use iCloud storage for app features like Messages and Photos sync, saving documents and files to your iCloud Drive, and so forth. In Apple’s defense, the company does permit customers switching to a new iPhone to create a temporary device backup in iCloud for restoring to a new device within 21 days, no matter how much free iCloud space they have.
How much free storage does Microsoft offer?
Microsoft gives you fifteen gigabytes of free Outlook.com mailbox storage for emails, contacts and calendars. In addition, each Microsoft account gets five gigabytes of free cloud storage shared across OneDrive, Outlook.com and Microsoft 365.
However, even the basic $2/month Microsoft 365 subscription boosts your cloud storage to 100GB and the mailbox storage to 50 GB. The $7/month and $10/month tiers boost that to 1TB and 6TB (1TB per person), respectively.
Google storage: Pricing and plans
Google includes fifteen gigabytes of free cloud storage shared across Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos. Extra storage is available with Google One plans. The Basic tier ups your cloud storage to 100GB in exchange for $2/month.
The Premium plan gives you 2TB of cloud storage for $10/month. And the AI Premium plan includes 2TB of storage for $20/month. Like Apple One, Google One tiers include many other perks besides cloud storage.