Skip to Content

Apple Reportedly Storing Over 8 Million Terabytes of iCloud Data on Google Servers

Apple has dramatically increased the amount of iCloud user data it stores on Google Cloud, according to The Information.

iCloud General Feature
The report claims Apple now has over eight million terabytes of data stored on Google's servers. As of mid-May, Apple was reportedly on track to spend around $300 million on Google cloud storage services this year, which would represent an increase of roughly 50% from all of 2020. Apple is said to be the largest corporate client for Google Cloud, dwarfing other high-profile customers like Spotify.

Google Cloud staffers have apparently even given Apple an internal code name that hints at its size as a customer: "Bigfoot."

Apple relies on a combination of its own data centers and third-party cloud storage services, such as Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services, to store iCloud user data like photos and messages. Apple does not provide third-party cloud storage providers with the keys to decrypt user data stored on their servers, ensuring a strong level of security.

The report speculates that Apple's increased use of Google Cloud suggests the company's rising cloud storage requirements have outpaced its ability to develop and operate its own data centers needed to handle the resulting data.

Tags: Google, iCloud

Popular Stories

Multicolored Low Cost A18 Pro MacBook Feature

Apple Accidentally Leaks 'MacBook Neo'

Tuesday March 3, 2026 7:00 am PST by
Apple appears to have prematurely revealed the name of its rumored lower-cost MacBook model, which is expected to be announced this Wednesday. A regulatory document for a "MacBook Neo" (Model A3404) has appeared on Apple's website. Unfortunately, there are no further details or images available yet. While the PDF file does not contain the "MacBook Neo" name, it briefly appeared in a link...
imac video apple feature

Apple Unveils Two New Products

Monday March 2, 2026 7:49 am PST by
Apple today introduced two new devices, including the iPhone 17e and an updated iPad Air. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as the iPhone 16e, but it gains Apple's A19 chip, MagSafe for magnetic wireless charging and magnetic accessories, Apple's second-generation C1X modem for faster 5G, and a doubled 256GB of base storage. In the U.S., the iPhone 17e starts at $599, just like the ...
Apple iPhone 17e feature

Apple Announces iPhone 17e With A19 Chip, MagSafe, and More

Monday March 2, 2026 6:07 am PST by
Apple today announced the iPhone 17e, featuring the A19 chip, MagSafe connectivity, faster charging, and more. The iPhone 17e contains the A19 chip introduced in iPhone 17. It features a 6-core GPU and a 4-core GPU. Apple pointed out that this makes it up to 2x faster than the iPhone 11. The new 16-core Neural Engine is optimized for large generative models. The iPhone 17e also contains...

Top Rated Comments

grantew1 Avatar
61 months ago

Truly a shame.
Apple does not provide third-party cloud storage providers with the keys to decrypt user data stored on their servers, ensuring a strong level of security.

Google doesn't have access to the data. What's a shame?
Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NightFox Avatar
61 months ago
Little do Apple realise that Google just store that 8 million TB of data on their own google@icloud.com iCloud account.
Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GubbyMan Avatar
61 months ago
8 Exabytes for $300M a year. Which means Apple is paying Google $1 a month for 320GB of storage.
Score: 46 Votes (Like | Disagree)
61 months ago

Truly a shame.
So what is Apple supposed to do instead? Limit iCloud storage? Magically have data servers and centers appear? It takes time to build centers. If Google or other companies have them already, why not use those temporarily or instead?
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
grantew1 Avatar
61 months ago

Is google has my data? Great!
Reading > you.

Apple does not provide third-party cloud storage providers with the keys to decrypt user data stored on their servers, ensuring a strong level of security.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bobcat32 Avatar
61 months ago
I’m feeling triggered 😤 lol
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)