Is Icloud Storage Worth It

It’s Tied Into Photos For Mac And Ios

If you’re a die-hard Lightroom user, iCloud Photo Library won’t really help you it’s dependent on Photos for iOS and Photos for Mac. Photos for Mac does support external image editors like Photoshop and Pixelmator, and you can set up automation workflows to move your favorite Lightroom snaps to Photos. You can even upload images straight to iCloud.com, if you don’t mind the workflow. But these alternate solutions aren’t as easy as the default iCloud Photo Library checkbox that you get inside the Photos app.

There’s also the question of reference libraries: Officially, iCloud Photo Library doesn’t support syncing with an additional referenced Photos for Mac library , because of the potential for sync conflicts. There is a workaround that involves multiple libraries and turning iCloud Photo Library on and off, but it may not be worth it for those who regularly need access to referenced images.

Whats The Difference Between Device Storage And Icloud Storage

1 Device storage. When you buy your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, it comes with a set storage capacity ranging from 16GB to 512GB for iPhone, 16GB to 1TB for iPad, 2 iCloud storage. When you set up iCloud, you automatically get 5GB of free storage. 3 Learn more.

How much does it cost to upgrade iCloud storage?

1. For countries and regions where the local currency isnt supported, such as Argentina, storage upgrades are billed in U.S. dollars . Learn more about countries and regions that bill in U.S. dollars .

How much storage do I need for iPhone 12?

1 Free: 5GB of storage 2 $0.99/month: 50GB of storage 3 $2.99/month: 200GB of storage 4 $9.99/month: 2TB of storage

How To Clean Your Mac To Spend Less

No one likes to waste money. And even though the Apple iCloud storage is definitely not the most expensive thing you can purchase, the difference between the lowest paid tier and the highest is still over $100 a year .

So one of the best ways to pay less for storage is to have less stuff sitting around. Why pay for duplicate photos, unneeded email attachments, and other support files ? Luckily, just one app can help you out here.

CleanMyMac X is the best Mac optimization software around thats not only able to clean dozens of gigabytes of unused files from your Mac but also maintains your privacy, security, and optimal performance.

For a simple cleanup with CleanMyMac X:

CleanMyMac X features lots of scans for every need. For example, another one you can use to fit into one of the lower iCloud plans is Large & Old Files, which visually shows you all the hefty documents you havent used for a while.

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The Icloud Storage Cost

The cost of Apple’s iCloud storage offerings has improved greatly over time, with $10 per month now netting you 2TB of iCloud storage space. However, while Apple’s $10 a month plan now outdoes Dropbox, it still hasn’t been able to match Google’s 15GB free storage tier .

While 2TB and the lesser-priced tiers should be enough for most people, that’s still up to $10 each month, and Google’s offer can look awfully tempting especially when most photos taken on an iPhone come in below 16MP.

There is an Apple-based alternative out there for those who don’t want to pay for an iCloud storage plan: Photo Stream. While the older sync service has largely been supplanted by iCloud Photo Library, it still offers a quick way to sync the most recent images to your other devices and back them up to your local hard drive.

Best Cloud Storage If All Your Gear Is Apple: Icloud+

Because it integrates so seamlessly with all of Apples products and services, iCloud really is the best cloud storage solution for someone who is all-in with Apple. And I do mean all-in: All your computers are Macs, your mobile devices are iPhone or iPads, you work in Apples productivity software , and so on.

Apple has a full suite of web apps, but theyre not as robust or performant as Googles.

Frustratingly, Apple still only provides a paltry 5GB of free iCloud storage, which isnt so bad if all you want to do is store some Pages and Numbers documents, but is grossly inadequate for photos and videos. 5GB probably doesnt even give you enough cloud storage to back up your iPhone, let alone an iPad as well. Apple is years overdue for increasing this limit, but at the very least, it should stop counting iOS backups against it. Starting in the fall of 2021, 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. Its a good feature for those buying a new Apple device, but it wont help you protect your data if your iPhone gets lost/stolen/damaged.

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You Really Can Access Your Photos From Anywhere And Manage Them Too

With iCloud Photo Library, my images are accessible everywhere even on iCloud.com if I don’t have one of my devices handy and when I’m offline, I can still view low-resolution thumbnails of any pictures I haven’t downloaded locally to my machine. I can even manage that library while offline: Delete an image while you’re away from internet access, or add it to an album, and all of that syncs when you pop back online.

In addition, iCloud Photo Library solved one of my oldest iPhone photo management irritations: I can manage albums on my Mac and have them sync to my iPhone, and vice versa. That includes the People album, which automatically finds faces in images of your friends this data now syncs across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, too.

Why Should You Delete Old Icloud Backups

Your iCloud backups include the following data and files:

• Apple watch backups
• Visual Voicemail password
• Home screen and app organization

As you can see that your iPhone backups are taking plenty of storage on your phone, it is wise to keep deleting older backups. It is indeed a useful feature, but it can become your baggage if not taken care of. You can save a lot of storage on your Apple devices by taking these small steps.

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Make More Space Available In Icloud

If you run out of iCloud storage, your device wont back up to iCloud, new photos and videos won’t upload to iCloud Photos, and iCloud Drive, other iCloud apps, and messages won’t stay up to date across your devices. And you also won’t be able to send or receive emails with your iCloud email address.

You can free up storage in iCloud by deleting content that you’re not using:

Before you delete anything, you might want to archive or make copies of the information that you store in iCloud.

Should You Use Icloud Photo Library

Apple’s online service, iCloud Photo Library, lets you seamlessly access, manage, edit, and share pictures and video from your iPhone, iPad, and your Mac. It’s free to use though if you want to store any real amount of data, you’re going to have to pony up for a paid iCloud plan. I’ve had a lot of people over the years ask me whether they should turn on iCloud Photo Library: Is it safe? Is it secure? Is the cost of an iCloud plan worth it?

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But I Dont Want To Lose My Photos

You wont. If you turn on My Photo Stream on your Mac or PC , your pictures will automatically download to your computer when your iPhone and iPad are connected to Wi-Fi.

The limitation of My Photo Stream is that photos only stay up there for 30 days, but if your iPhone is on any Wi-Fi network, home or abroad, your computer will automatically download all your photos as long as its connected to Wi-Fi too.

The other limitation of My Photo Stream is this: It doesnt synchronize your videos. Youll never have to pay for iCloud Storage again, but you will have to plug your iPhone into your computer every once in a while to back up your videos.

Heres why this usually isnt a big deal: Videos are huge and youre probably doing this anyway.

You could spend a zillion years uploading all those videos to iCloud Drive over Wi-Fi , or you can quickly transfer them to your computer with your USB cable and be done with it.

In my opinion, your photos and videos are safer stored on your own computer than on iCloud Drive, as long as your computer is backed up too. iCloud Storage is extremely secure and Im not saying its going to get wiped out, but issues with passwords and user accounts can make it difficult to access your own photos if theyre not stored on your computer.

Who Should Stick With The Free Icloud Option

If you own only one iPhone or iPad and don’t use many iCloud features, or if you’re already heavily invested in a different cloud service like Dropbox or Google, you can stick with the free iCloud tier â at least for a while. Keep in mind that you’ll likely need to back up your iPhone to your Mac, rather than iCloud, as 5GB probably won’t be enough storage to back it up online.

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Delete Backups And Turn Off Icloud Backup For Your Device

You can delete old iCloud backups for the device you’re currently using, or older devices you might not use anymore. iCloud backups are available for 180 days after you disable or stop using iCloud Backup. Backups that are currently being used to restore a device can’t be deleted.

iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

When you delete a backup, it also turns off iCloud Backup for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. You can turn iCloud Backup back on in iCloud settings on your device.

Mac

When you delete a backup, it also turns off iCloud Backup for your device. You can turn iCloud Backup back on in iCloud settings on your device.

Windows PC

When you delete a backup, it also turns off iCloud Backup for your device. You can turn iCloud Backup back on in iCloud settings on your device.

The Difference Between Icloud Photo Library And My Photo Stream

iCloud Photo Library permanently uploads and stores your photos and videos in iCloud. My Photo Stream uploads your photos to iCloud so theyre automatically downloaded on devices with My Photo Stream turned on. It only works over Wi-Fi and doesnt fill up your iCloud Storage space.

This is really important: The only thing thats eating up all your iCloud Storage and preventing your iPhone from backing up to iCloud is your Photo Library.

Photos are big files and a few hundred photos can eat through your 5 GB of free iCloud Storage fast. Videos are huge files and you dont stand a chance with 5 GB of iCloud Storage if youve got more than a video or two.

If we turn off Photo Library in iCloud Backup and use My Photo Stream to back them up instead, boom! iCloud problems are solved forever. Most people dont realize that you can choose what backs up to iCloud.

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How To Buy Icloud Storage On Mac And Iphone

As you now know how much is iCloud storage for all the iCloud plans, you might feel ready to part with your money. But which iCloud storage cost is the most optimal for you?

50 GB is the first paid tier after the free 5 GB. It essentially gives just enough space for a casual user whos not that much into photography and simply wants to buy iCloud storage so it doesnt run out doing everyday tasks. And for just $0.99, its a no-brainer.

200 GB is more of a prosumer level, or someone whos really into taking lots of pictures, which occupy more and more space as our iPhone cameras get better. This tier also works for professionals who want to keep lots of documents safe on their Mac and families, since youre able to share 200 GB between five family members .

Finally, 2 TB is perfect for those who are into filming videos from their travels and want to make sure they have their media collection accessible at any time. iCloud prices this tier at $9.99 a month, so it also might be just worth paying if you never want to think about iCloud storage pricing ever again.

When you know which of the iCloud storage plans you want to go for, you can upgrade on your Mac in just a few clicks:

All the extra space will be accessible to you from any device. But if you want to upgrade iCloud storage from your iPhone, you can do that too:

You Need A Lot Of Storage To Use Every Icloud+ Service

As we mentioned above, iCloud includes several useful services like Backup, Photos, Calendars, Keychain, Notes, and Safari. However, youll likely end up using a lot of paid storage space if you want to maximize iCloud+.

For instance, lets check the iCloud Photos and iCloud Backup options. Although both services synchronize your videos and photos through iCloud, they dont consume the same storage space and iCloud Storage classifies them as separate data. If you have a lot of content on your iPhone, these two services can take up tens or hundreds of GBs of data.

And thats not to mention any documents you may want to keep in iCloud Drive or any other iCloud services.

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The Three Best Reasons To Get Icloud+

Lets be honest, some of these features just arent going to appeal to a wide array of users. For example, unless you have a home security system, you probably arent going to benefit from HomeKit Secure Video. A custom email domain is also unlikely to appear to most users.

But these are the THREE main features that make iCloud+ worth it:

#1 Hide My Email spam is annoying as hell. Many websites or apps will continue to do so, however, once they have your email. Or worse, some will even sell your email so you soon start getting marketing messages from sites or services you never signed up for.

Hide My Email lets you put a stop to all this going forward. Its so useful being able to give a site or app a disposable email that you can use delete should they start sending you too much junk.

#2 iCloud Private Relay iCloud Private Relay isnt really a VPN, but its the next best thing. You cant set your location to say, Japan or Mexico, but you can hide your most personal information from sites you navigate to . This alone makes iCloud Privacy Relay a feature that is worth subscribing for.

#3 More iCloud Storage its ridiculous that Apple only gives users 5GB of free iCloud storage, but hey, what can you do? But if you use iCloud Photo Library, youre going to need some extra storage. Given that an iCloud+ account will get you up to 2TB of extra storage, its a no-brainer to consider subscribing.

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Why Your Icloud Storage Is Full

You might wonder why your iCloud storage is full when you havent stored a lot of data. Many times, it gets full without your realization. If youve any of these concerns, you need to know that your iCloud storage is used for storing files and backups your iPhone or iPad. Imagine backing up your entire photo library to your iCloud account!

Some of the data that you can sync to iCloud includes:

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Ways You Can Use Icloud Storage

Here are some examples of what you can store in iCloud.

• You can use iCloud Photos to store your photo library in iCloud and see it everywhere. Your original, full-resolution photos and videos are stored in the cloud. Smaller versions of your photos and videos appear on your devices, but you can download the original versions at any time. See .

• Files: You can store your documents, presentations, and other files in iCloud Drive, and access them on all your devices and on the web. Your files stay up to date everywhere. See Keep your files up to date and share them with iCloud Drive.

• iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch backups: You can use iCloud Backup to automatically back up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to iCloud. Your backups are available if you ever need to restore a device or set up a new one. See What is iCloud Backup?

Reduce The Size Of Your Icloud Backup

When you back up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to iCloud, the most important information on your device is backed up automatically. Learn more about what iCloud backs up.

Many apps automatically back up to iCloud after you install them. You can decrease the size of your iCloud Backup and free up space in iCloud when you stop backing up apps that you don’t use or delete old iCloud backups.

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