MobileMe users who migrate to iCloud get 25GB of storage in transition
Since opening the tool for developers to migrate from MobileMe to iCloud, Apple has revealed to MobileMe users that they will retain their MobileMe storage when their account becomes an iCloud account.
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple opened its MobileMe-to-iCloud migration tool to developers in early August 2011, and the storage terms have now surfaced: migrating accounts retain their full MobileMe allocation, giving paid users up to 25GB where new iCloud accounts start at 5GB. That is a meaningful cushion given that Apple has already told developers what happens when the free tier runs out — as covered in Apple's email to users who exhaust their iCloud storage in June.
The generosity has a hard edge: reporting from days earlier confirms that iDisk, iWeb, and Gallery — the parts of MobileMe many subscribers actually paid for — will not carry over, replaced by the new Documents & Data service. The 25GB is effectively a bridge payment for a service Apple is dismantling.
First-order effects
- Paying MobileMe subscribers who migrate immediately hold 25GB of iCloud storage — five times the free tier — smoothing the loss of iDisk file storage while Apple winds down the legacy services.
Second-order effects
- Users who relied on MobileMe's web hosting (iWeb) and Gallery face a forced move to third-party alternatives, since those services have no iCloud equivalent in the confirmed replacement plan.
Third-order effects
- The structure here — over-allocate storage during a forced migration, then let usage settle into the free tier or paid upgrades — points toward cloud storage becoming Apple's recurring-revenue engine in place of the old flat annual subscription.
The trend: Cloud platforms are using transitional storage giveaways to migrate legacy paid subscribers onto freemium tiers built for upselling rather than flat annual fees.