Apple hikes iCloud+ storage prices in UK and some countries around the World

Apple iCloud+ storage prices have been increased in some countries around the World. The service's plans are 25% more expensive in specific regions.

iCloud+ offers a few benefits over the free plan including iCloud Private Relay, Hide My Email, Custom Email Domain and HomeKit Secure Video support for one camera.

Comparison of the new and old iCloud+ subscription prices

The old prices are mentioned in parentheses. Only one or two plans have seen a price hike in some Countries, for example Bulgaria, and Denmark. This indicates that the prices of the other subscriptions remain the same as before.

• Brazil - 50 GB R$ 4.90 (R$3.50) / 200 GB R$14.90 (R$10.90) / 2 TB R$49.90 (R$34.90)
• Bulgaria - 2 TB 20.99 BGN (18.99 BGN)
• Colombia - 50 GB $3900 ($2800) / 200 GB $12900 ($8500) / 2 TB $44900 ($27,900)
• Denmark - 50 GB 9 kr (7 kr) / 2 TB 89 kr (69 kr)
• Egypt - 50 GB £29.99 (£18.99) / 200 GB £99.99 (£54.99) / 2 TB £349.99 (£189.99)
• Iceland - 50 GB $1.19 ($1.23) / 200 GB $3.69 ($3.71) / 2 TB $11.99 ($12.39)
• Kazakhstan - 50 GB 499 KZT (349 KZT) / 200 GB 1490 KZT (999 KZT) / 2 TB 4990 KZT (3490 KZT)
• Malaysia - 2 TB RM44.90 (RM39.90)
• Norway - 50 GB 12 kr (10 kr) / 200 GB 39 kr (29 kr) / 2 TB 129 kr (99 kr)
• Poland - 50 GB 4.99 zl (3.99 zl) / 200 GB 14.99 zl (11.99 zl) / 2 TB 49.99 zl (39.99 zl)
• Romania - 50 GB 4.99 lei (4.49 lei) / 14.99 lei 200 GB (12.99 lei) / 2 TB 49.99 lei (44.99 lei)
• Saudi Arabia - 50 GB 3.99 SAR (3.69 SAR) / 200 GB 12.99 SAR (10.99 SAR) / 2 TB 44.99 SAR (36.99 SAR)
• Singapore - 50 GB S$ 1.48 (S$ 1.28) / 2 TB S$ 13.98 (S$ 12.98)
• South Africa - 200 GB R59.99 (R44.99) / 2 TB R199.99 (R149.99)
• Sweden - 50 GB 12 kr (9 kr) / 200 GB 39 kr (29 kr) / 2 TB 129 kr (89 kr)
• Tanzania - 200 GB 6900 TSh (5900 TSh) / 2 TB 24900 TSh (19900 TSh)
• Turkey - 50 GB 12.99 TL (6.49 TL) / 200 GB 39.99 TL (19.99 TL) / 2 TB 129.99 TL (64.99 TL)
• United Arab Emirates - 50 GB AED 3.99 (AED 3.69) / 200 GB AED 11.99 (AED 10.99) / 2 TB AED 39.99 (AED 36.99)
• United Kingdom - 50 GB £0.99 (£0.79) / 200 GB (£2.49) / 2 TB (£6.99)
• Vietnam - 200 GB 69000 VND (59000 VND) / 2 TB 249000 VND (199000 VND)

The iCloud+ prices in Iceland have been reduced. Apple's support page lists the current prices (h/t 9to5Mac). Here's an internet archive version of the page that displays the old prices of the plans. It appears that Apple has introduced iCloud in several new regions.

No price increase in other regions

Thankfully, the iCloud price hike is not a global one. The subscription fees remain the same in Countries like Australia, India, US, Canada, etc. Phew! It is also worth noting that Apple One prices were increased globally last year, along with Apple Music and Apple TV+ subscription fees.

I like Apple's devices, they are great. But the software experience is a different story has been a bit of a roller-coaster experience, what with all the bugs that surface from time to time. iPhones and Macs are so expensive, yet the company hands out the same paltry 5 GB of free iCloud storage to everyone. This is barely enough to backup a single device, let alone to save a backup of your documents, photos and videos. Of course, when you disable it, iOS likes to remind you with a notification that says, you haven't backed up your iPhone. And if you turn it on, guess what? You get another alert that says, hey you have run out of storage, get more storage with an iCloud+ subscription. It's just too annoying.

The storage plans aren't exactly great either, the basic one starts with 50 GB, which may be enough for a while until you run out of space and decide to shell out for the 200 GB plan. Here's where things get weird, there is no middle-tier plan between the 200 GB subscription and the 2 TB plan. Why not offer something like a 500 GB or 1 TB plan which could be cheaper? Or something higher for people who may want more than 2 TB?

What is more ridiculous is that even the latest devices made by the Cupertino company come with a measly 256 GB of storage (and just 8 GB of RAM), and the next option with higher storage usually costs a few hundred dollars ($500 or $600). You can't expand the storage or memory manually. Do you get the picture? Sell a product with limited onboard storage, let the user fill it up, and then sell them cloud storage on a monthly basis. That is one vicious trap. You may as well use a Google account with the free 15 GB of storage to save your photos, or use iTunes to backup your iPhone on your computer locally.

You could argue that Apple is merely adjusting the prices for inflation in various markets, but will it rollback the prices when the economy stabilizes? Nah, let's just keep increasing the prices, that'll fix things.

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