Apple Defeats Lawsuit Related to iCloud's Measly 5GB of Free Storage

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit this week upheld a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that Apple illegally deceived customers into paying for iCloud storage, according to a court filing. The decision was reported by Law360.

iCloud General Feature
The lawsuit alleged that Apple deceived customers into purchasing iCloud-enabled devices by misleading customers into believing that they can easily keep their iCloud storage usage below the free 5GB limit. In reality, the plaintiffs alleged that users quickly exceed this limit and then must pay for increasingly costly iCloud storage plans. In the U.S., these plans range from 50GB for $0.99 per month to 12TB for $59.99 per month.

In the ruling, three Ninth Circuit judges said the plaintiffs failed to establish that it is "virtually impossible" for them to reduce their storage, or that they will inevitably be forced to pay for iCloud storage. In fact, two named plaintiffs were still on the 5GB tier. The judges added that customers have the option to turn off iCloud at any time.

The case had been dismissed by a U.S. district court in Northern California back in May 2022, and now the appeal to the Ninth Circuit has been dismissed. Barring the extremely unlikely event that the plaintiffs are able to successfully petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, the lawsuit is now over. However, Apple is still facing other iCloud-related lawsuits in both the U.S. and U.K., as complaints about the 5GB tier persist.

Apple launched iCloud in 2011, and the service has been available with 5GB of storage for free since then. By today's standards, 5GB is a low amount of storage, and Apple not increasing the free limit has long been a point of contention.

Tag: iCloud

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

iPhones Could Cost Up to $2,300 in the U.S. Due to Tariffs, Analyst Says

Friday April 4, 2025 9:30 am PDT by
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that steep tariffs will be applied to imports from many countries, starting April 9. The tariffs could have a significant impact on Apple, as the company assembles the majority of iPhones in China, and products imported to the U.S. from China will be subject to a 54% tariff. iPhone prices could increase by up to 43% in the U.S. due to the...
iphone 16 pro colors 1

Is Now the Time to Upgrade Apple Devices Before Tariffs Lead to Price Increases?

Friday April 4, 2025 3:41 pm PDT by
If you have an older Apple device that you've been considering upgrading, you're probably wondering how the newly announced tariffs might impact prices going forward, and whether it's worth buying now before there's a price hike. Given analyst and economist responses to the tariffs, market panic, and Trump's stance on the current financial chaos, the answer is that making a purchase...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
iPhone 17 Pro 3 4ths Perspective Aluminum Camera Module 1

iPhone 17 Pro's New Rear Camera Bar 'Same Color As Rest of Device'

Monday April 7, 2025 2:09 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models will feature a redesigned rear camera panel that spans the width of the device, but it will be the same color as the iPhone itself, rather than being part of a two-tone design. That's according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, the reporter says the iPhone 17 Pro won't have a two-toned back, as some renders have...
iphone x front back

Apple Planning 'Bold' New 20th Anniversary Design for 2027 iPhone Pro

Monday April 7, 2025 2:46 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "major shake-up" for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. iPhone X released in 2017 for 10th anniversary Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says that Apple plans to launch a foldable iPhone alongside a "bold" new iPhone Pro model that makes more extensive use of glass. Could this mean Apple plans to realize former...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...

Top Rated Comments

AppleSOS Avatar
17 weeks ago

This is just how Tim Cook operates these days...Less on customer experience, more on bottom-line.

Either way, it's a bad look for the 5GB free iCloud storage. They obviously thought the 5GB was sufficient in 2012 - with everything growing over the past 12 years (file sizes and what we store), this should have at least increased.
They are under no obligation to give out any storage for free. I don't understand this mindset.
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
17 weeks ago
It's absolutely amazing how much whining and complaining (and apparently lawyering) people will do over $1 a month.

And really the only reason they charge that at all is so that people don't abandon accounts with tons of data that Apple has to store forever.
Score: 48 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PerfectChaos Avatar
17 weeks ago
I’m still on the 5GB plan. It’s pretty easy to stay under the limit if you don’t store your photos there…
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
neuropsychguy Avatar
17 weeks ago
"In fact, two named plaintiffs were still on the 5GB tier."

Oops.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
stocklen Avatar
17 weeks ago
How utterly ridiculous.
Even in these comments.

You don't *need* iCloud AT ALL to use the devices. The 5gb although seemingly 'tight' is no such thing - its more than enough for minimal usage and an iCloud backup of one device.

If you need more storage then buy the appropriate level of iPad / iPhone device in the first place. If you have thousands of photos then you have a choice - store them on the device and get one with enough memory... or pay for a cloud storage service such as iCloud.

Turn it all off - nobody's forcing you to use it.

Americans really will try their luck in the courts for literally anything - and there are lawyers willing to take their money for it.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rickdollar Avatar
17 weeks ago
The jump from 200GB to 2TB is unfortunate. Still nothing in between?
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)