Apple has announced on Tuesday, Aug 30, an expansion of its iCloud data storage options to include a 2 TB tier priced at $19,99 per month, in a move that answers the call of avid iPhone photographers and other power users.
Apple's New 2 TB iCloud Storage Option
The new iCloud storage tier has been introduced by Apple as part of an update to its iCloud storage support webpage. According to this, the upgrade is already live in all regions where iCloud is already available, including North America, Asia Pacific and EMEA.
According to Apple Insider, the company last updated its iCloud pricing almost a year ago. Back then, Apple scaled back monthly pricing for its two top tiers and discontinued a 500 GB option. Customers subscribed to the 200 GB plan had to pay a monthly fee of $3.99 prior to September 2015, while those opting for a 1 TB package paid $19.99 per month.
After the update officially introduced on Tuesday, Aug 30, Apple is keeping existing plans unchanged at 99 cents a month for 50 GB, $2.99 a month for 200 GB and $9.99 a month for 1 TB. The newly introduced 2 TB iCloud storage option is priced at $19.99 per month.
According to The Verge, this pricing is slightly more than Microsoft's 1 TB plan for $6.99 a month and similar to Google Drive's terabyte pricing that starts at $9.99 a month for 1 TB. Users of iOS and Mac who don't pay for iCloud will also get for free a default amount of 5 GB storage.
This expansion in iCloud storage options comes as Apple aims to build a growing online services business. CEO Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the company's most recent quarterly earnings conference call that he expects that by the year 2017 the online services business will generate revenue equivalent to that of a Fortune 500 company.
Aside of iCloud storage, the sector also includes Apple Music, iTunes, Apple Care, Apple Pay and the various App Stores. For the June quarter, Apple's online services business sector brought in a record $6 billion. This figure represents an increase of 19 percent year over year.
