Apple loves cloud storage for the same reason most of us do—but with an added bonus. It is convenient for customers and businesses, but it’s also quite profitable for companies like Google and Apple that offer storage solutions. Many people use Google Cloud’s storage without even realizing it.
Apple provides a free version of iCloud for anyone that uses iPads, iPhones, and Mac computers but there are also paid options that provide users with more space. Apple gives everyone 5GB of storage for free and lets users purchase up to 2TB for $12.99 CAD a month. Users can also get additional storage by subscribing to Apple One, which is a service that provides a bundle of services for a monthly fee. The tech giant offers the service at a relatively good price but like many companies, they use Google Cloud storage.
Apple just became Google Cloud’s biggest customer and is on track to spend $300,000,000 USD as they prepare for the launch of iCloud+, which will not only provide much more storage, but also includes some new features for data management.
iCloud+ includes features that are essential these days with everything being online and the amount of data being transmitted in our digital lives. Private Relay protects users and their data by encrypting data leaving your devices, which makes it harder for companies to track and build profiles around users. Think of it as a VPN that works across all of your Apple devices.
Hide my Email creates unique email addresses that can forward emails to your personal email account, and you can create as many of them as you need and delete them when you’re done. There are websites dedicated to this but this lets users do it within Apple’s ecosystem and it’ll be built right into Mail, Safari, and iCloud storage. iCloud+ will also let users utilize unlimited storage for HomeKit Secure Video so you can monitor your home without having it count against your storage limit.
iCloud+ launches later this year and unless anything changes, prices should match current iCloud pricing based on what Apple said during the company’s 2021 Worldwide Developers Conference.
