Apple is making iPhone and iPad upgrades easier by giving users a temporary boost in iCloud storage free of charge.
The change, which comes with iOS and iPadOS 15 this fall, will allow you to backup the entire contents of your device and transfer it all to a new one — even if you’re using the free 5GB storage plan.
5GB of storage isn’t a lot these days. You’ll use that up pretty quickly once you taken some photos, downloaded some apps, and backed up your most important data. And it seems that limit isn’t increasing soon.
Fortunately, upgrading to a paid iCloud plan with more storage is affordable, with plans starting at just $0.99 a month. But if you only want that additional storage for device upgrades, it won’t be necessary soon.
iOS and iPadOS 15 users get iCloud storage boost
“Now when you buy a new device you can use iCloud Backup to move your data to your new device, even if you’re low on storage,” reads Apple’s new iOS 15 feature preview page.
“iCloud will grant you as much storage as you need to complete a temporary backup, free of charge, for up to three weeks. This allows you to get all your apps, data, and settings onto your device automatically.”
That’s a nice little bonus that will make the upgrading experience a lot easier. But later this year, a permanent storage boost won’t be the only reason to upgrade to a premium iCloud plan.
iCloud+ gives you even more
iCloud+, a new service included with paid iCloud subscriptions at no extra cost, bolsters your privacy and security with Private Relay, Hide My Email, HomeKit Secure Video, and custom email domains.
Private Relay is much like a VPN, routing your internet traffic through two separate relays so that it’s impossible to intercept. Hide My Email lets you generate random email addresses to keep your own a secret.
HomeKit Secure Video gives you unlimited cloud storage for HomeKit-connected security cameras, while custom email domains (as the name suggests) let you choose a domain for your iCloud email address.
