Apple announced changes to iCloud extra storage pricing earlier this month at the event where it unveiled new iPhones, the larger iPad Pro and a revamped Apple TV.
Although the Cupertino, Calif., company did not boost the amount of free storage space -- as Computerworld speculated it might -- and instead continued to provide just 5GB of iCloud space gratis, it bumped up the $0.99 per month plan from 20GB to 50GB, lowered the price of the 200GB plan by 25% to $2.99 monthly, and halved the 1TB plan's price to $9.99.
Apple also ditched last year's 500GB plan, which had cost $9.99 monthly.
The new prices are in line with the competition; in one case, Apple's was lower.
Google, for example, hands out 15GB of cloud-based Google Drive storage for free -- triple Apple's allowance -- and charges $1.99 monthly for 100GB and $9.99 each month for 1TB. The smaller-sized plan is 33% more per gigabyte than Apple's 200GB deal, and Google's 1TB plan is priced the same as Apple's.
Microsoft also gives away 15GB. Additional storage costs $1.99 monthly for 100GB -- the same price as Google Drive -- while 200GB runs $3.99 per month, 33% higher than Apple's same-sized plan.
Microsoft does not sell a separate 1TB OneDrive plan but instead directs customers to Office 365 Personal, the one-user subscription to the Office application suite. As part of the subscription, customers are given 1TB of OneDrive space. Office 365 Personal costs $6.99 monthly or $69.99 annually.
Office 365 Home can be an even better storage deal, depending on the number of users on the plan. That subscription, which costs $9.99 monthly or $99.99 annually, comes with 1TB each of up to five users. If an Office 365 Home subscription covered all five eligible users, the price per megabyte would be more than a third less than that of Office 365 Personal.
Another popular storage service, Dropbox, offers even less than Apple for free -- just 2GB -- and prices its sole plan of 1TB identically to Apple and Google.
The new iCloud pricing is available now from a Mac, iOS device or a Windows PC. On a Mac, users must select "Preferences" from the Apple menu, click the iCloud icon, click the "Manage" button, then the "Buy More Storage" button.