Apple gives you 5GB of free iCloud storage by default, but is that enough? You may be able to handle it well, or you may soon have to buy extra storage space. In this tip, we will discuss which option suits you best.
How can I buy iCloud storage?
iCloud is an essential part of iOS and lets you store important data – such as your photos, backups of your Apple devices, files and more – in the cloud. To get you started, Apple gives each user 5GB of free iCloud storage. That may sound like enough, but if you are going to keep files and your backups in the cloud, you will be through that space in no time.
That’s why Apple offers some storage plans for iCloud to give you more space. That option is quite hidden in the Settings app and can be found via the following steps:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad and tap your Apple ID / name at the top;
- Then choose ‘iCloud> Manage storage’;
- After this you can see how much space you have left in iCloud, with the various apps that use iCloud below. Go to ‘Change storage plan’ to view your current plan and possible upgrades.
What options are there?
If your standard (free) subscription of 5GB is full, you have three choices to expand your iCloud storage. These are:
- 50GB to iCloud storage: 0.99 euros per month
- 200GB to iCloud storage: 2.99 euros per month
- 2TB to iCloud storage: 9.99 euros per month
Good to know is that you can share the 200GB and 2TB plan with your family. This means that the total amount of storage is used by multiple people, but everyone has their own iCloud account and private storage. Individual members can always purchase additional storage. Pay attention: the 50GB plan cannot be shared with your family.
How Much iCloud Storage Do I Need?
Do you have an iPhone and do you not make much use of cloud functions and do you prefer to store your files and photos with other services (such as Dropbox and Google Photos)? Then the free 5GB plan is probably sufficient. Backup copies, which store all important data from your iPhone, can easily be stored in the free subscription and if you keep an eye on which apps use iCloud, you will not easily run into problems.
50GB
Do you want to store photos and files in iCloud and never have to worry about the amount of free cloud storage? Then the subscription with 50GB storage is the most interesting. For 0.99 euros per month you get ten times as much storage, which is more than enough for most users. And in addition: if you notice that you do not need the extra space, you can always take out your subscription downgrade. So you never have to pay too much.
→ So you can downgrade or buy iCloud storage
200GB or 2TB
If you have multiple Apple devices, such as an iPhone, iPad and Mac (Book) and you want to back them all up regularly, then a larger subscription may be interesting. Especially if you use iCloud Drive to store all your files, so you can access them anytime, anywhere.
You will probably have enough with 200GB. If you are a real large user and plan to store a lot of (media) files in the cloud, then the 2TB subscription is worth it. You then pay a little more, but you never have to worry about iCloud.
Alternatives
Of course, you may also prefer not to spend extra money on iCloud storage or already use other services. Dropbox or Google Drive are popular services for storing your data in the cloud.
With a free account from Dropbox you receive 2GB of storage, with Google Drive that is 15GB. If you have a huge collection of photos, we recommend the Google Photos app. This allows you to back up an unlimited number of photos and videos, which saves you a lot of space in iCloud.
Looking for more helpful iPhone tips?
The iPhone is a device with an enormous amount of applications, if you know where to look. Would you like more of these handy tips to learn more about essential apps that belong on every iPhone, how iPhone fast charging works and much more? Then take a look at our iPhone beginner’s guide.
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