If you’re using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, and wondering if it’s worth paying for iCloud storage. The answer is:
It depends. If you have a lot of photos and videos, then yes! But if you mostly use your device for email and social media, then no—you probably don’t need to pay for additional storage.
I’m a tech expert with 10+ years of experience with Apple devices. In addition to tinkering with tech, I run an online lifestyle blog so I create lots of content with photos and videos. Needless to say, my Apple devices require a ton of storage.
In this article, we’ll look at how much iCloud storage you need and some alternatives that might be worth considering.
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How Much Storage Do You Really Need?
The first thing to consider is how much storage you currently have. This will act as a baseline for the amount of storage space that you need to back up your photos, videos, and other types of data.
If you’re trying to figure out how many GBs are needed for certain types of files, check out this handy chart from Apple:
- Photo (average size): 5MB – 30MB per photo
- Audio file: 100KB – 50MB per song
- Video file: 1GB – 8GB per video
How to Figure Out How Much Storage Space You Need
When you’re trying to figure out how much storage space you need, it’s important to consider what you’ll be storing. Do you have a lot of photos? Videos? Some music? All three? If so, how many songs are in your library, and how long are your videos and photos?
Here are some examples of how much storage space you may need:
- Photos: If the average size of each photo is around 1MB and there are 200 pictures per month (about 5 per day), that’s 20GB worth of new photos each month.
- Music: If the average song is around 4MB, then if you listen to 30 minutes of music every day on your phone (or other devices), you will add up to about 1GB worth of new music every month.
- Video: If one minute of video takes up about 1MB in size, then if you watch an hour-long film on your phone or computer each week (which would depend on screen quality), you will add up to about 6GB worth of new video content every year!
Is Buying iCloud Storage Worth it?
Well, my answer is: ultimately, it’s up to you.
Whether it is worth buying iCloud storage largely depends on your needs and budget. If you have a lot to store, paying for iCloud storage might be an effective way to keep your data safe in case something happens to your computer or phone.
However, if you don’t have much data at all, the monthly fee might not be worth it for the amount of space that you need. If you aren’t sure how much storage space you need, start with a small amount for now and see how things go over time before committing to purchasing more.
Plus, the 5GB basic plan is free, if you’re running out of iCloud storage, there are some tips to free up some space, see this video made by Apple:
What Are Some Alternatives to iCloud?
There are a lot of cloud storage options out there. Here are some alternatives to iCloud that might better suit your needs:
- Dropbox
- Google Drive
- External hard drives
Dropbox
Dropbox is a cloud storage service that allows you to store, sync, and access files online. It’s available for free (with a 2GB storage limit) and it has several paid tiers including Pro (1TB, $9.99 per month), Business ($15 per user per month), and Enterprise.
Google Drive
Google Drive offers 15GB of storage for free, but you can upgrade to 100GB for $1.99/month.
Google Drive isn’t as widely used as iCloud or Dropbox, so if you want to share files with people who don’t have the same cloud account as you do, you may run into problems.
External Hard Drives
External hard drives are a great way to store files. You can get them in different sizes and they are portable, so you can use them on multiple devices. If you have a lot of photos to back up or music to download, an external drive is a perfect solution.
We hope we’ve helped you figure out whether or not iCloud storage is worth it for your needs. If you have any questions about this article, feel free to post them in the comments section below.
