iPhone and iPad owners will be very familiar with iCloud's nagging "upgrade storage" message – and Apple's tactics are working effectivley, according to a new report. The report reveals that the cloud storage service is now the company's most popular service.
According to a new survey from CIRP (Consumer Intelligence Research Partners), almost two-thirds of iPhone and iPad owners (64%) subscribe to iCloud. That puts the service way ahead of Apple's other software services, with Apple Music subscribed to by 42% of Apple fans and Apple TV Plus way down at 32%.
Even free services like Apple Podcasts (which 37% of iPhone and iPad owners use) can't compete with iCloud, while AppleCare insurance is way down at 17%. And there are good, at increasingly controversial, reasons why that's the case.
Back in March, it was revealed that Apple had been hit by a class-action lawsuit claiming that iCloud is effectively a monopoly due to the way it's implemented. The lawsuit alleged that Apple is effectively forcing people to use iCloud for device backups, which is why it apparently now has a 70% share of the cloud storage space.
iCloud's free quota of 5GB storage is certainly pretty stingy compared to rivals like Google Drive, which offers 15GB before you have to start paying. While it is possible to back up your iPhone to a laptop, there's no easy way to do this to an external drive – which is why many choose the simpler iCloud route.
Apple might argue that a third of iPhone and iPad users don't use iCloud, which doesn't particularly sound like a monopoly. But there's no doubt that iCloud's very deep integration into its devices – including those pop-up messages when you run out of storage – gives it a major advantage over rival cloud services, and that's something that could ultimately be unpicked in the broader Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into what it sees as Apple's illegal iPhone monopoly.
An Intelligent move
Apple clearly sees Apple Intelligence as the next iCloud – which is why we've seen rumors that the collection of AI-powered features will ultimately get a subscription tier.
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, this could take the form of "Apple Intelligence+," which would unlock extra features for a monthly fee. Yet the result of the big Apple lawsuit sparked by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in March could impact how that's implemented.
Apple described the iCloud monopoly lawsuit as "implausible" in its bid to get the case dismissed, but dark clouds are certainly forming over some practices that have previously been accepted as part of the company's 'walled garden' approach.
While we still consider iCloud to be the best free cloud storage solution (up to that 5GB limit) for anyone in the Apple ecosystem, our guide to the best free cloud storage options includes alternatives like Microsoft's OneDrive. Futhermore, if you're mainly looking to back up snaps, check out our guide to the best cloud storage for photos.
