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Confirming Your Data is Safe (Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Cloud)

As any Apple user can attest to, our friends in Cupertino certainly aren’t shy when it comes into hectoring us into using its cloud service, iCloud. A lot of users try to avoid it, but that’s about effective as emptying a swimming pool with a teacup. Even if you don’t use its features, most people, even the most tech-suspicious ones, eventually pull out the white flag and surrender to Tim Cook & Co.

It’s important to remember that iCloud is a SERVICE – a service that has a free option and a paid tier. In short, it allows you to sync data between your Apple (and even non-Apple) devices. That data includes photos, contacts, calendars, notes, email (if you use an @icloud account), and your data and files, along with a few other items. 

OK, now that we’ve established that iCloud is a SERVICE – what do we use it for? (Understand that all these are optional, not required!) For one thing, it backs up your data – so if you lose or replace your Apple device, you can log into iCloud and Bang! All your data that you elected to save comes right back into place*.  This includes:

Photos: iCloud allows you to back up your photos on the cloud, sync your photos between your devices, as well as share albums and view shared albums. 

Your data and files: The files in your Documents folder and on your desktop are backed up to the cloud and synced between your devices. 

Contacts, Calendar, and Notes: These items are backed up to the cloud and synced and shared between your devices, so you’re always up to date with the data. 

Email and Messages: Email (only if you’re using an @icloud account) and messages are also synced between devices.

iOS devices: By enabling a backup, you can easily restore your data on a new iPhone or iPad a device if you must replace it, whether for upgrade purposes, or for setting up a device to replace a lost or damaged one.

And there are more: Passwords, Safari bookmarks, Reminders, Stocks, Wallet, among others.

* Understand that these services must be enabled (by YOU) in advance in order to sync your data to the cloud.

Also understand there are some space limitations. Apple gives you a measly 5 GB of storage space for free (which is analogous to receiving a $25 gift card to Nordstrom. It’s nice, but you’re probably going to have to spend more). In the big picture, that’s not a lot – it’s. (Just for context, Google gives you three times the storage for free than Apple does.) 

Prices (as of January 2025) for upgrading your iCloud storage:

50 GB – 99¢/month

200 GB – $2.99/month

2 TB – $9.99/month

6 TB – $9.99/month

12 TB – $59.99/month

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