Captive
A few days ago, Apple sent out notifications across Japan announcing an increase in iCloud subscription prices. This wasn't entirely unexpected—people worldwide have been discussing similar hikes over the past six months. For me, the increase translates into an additional 2,400 yen annually for 2TB of storage shared across several family devices. The last price adjustment was about two years ago, also at 200 yen per month. As with the previous hike, I find myself questioning whether the service is worth the expense.
There's no denying that iCloud simplifies managing multiple devices. I use a phone, tablet, and MacBook, and having data synchronised across these tiny computers automatically — even if sluggishly at times — is convenient. I like being able to open Photos on my Mac and see the images I took days earlier already in the library. I appreciate that complex passwords created on one device are instantly available on all of them. And I enjoy the seamless experience of sending and receiving messages from any device. But is all this convenience worth 18,000 yen1 per year?
Beyond the basics, am I even using iCloud’s additional features?
The short answer is yes. My primary email is handled through iCloud on my own domain, and Apple’s Private Relay has been an excellent tool for tracking whether companies are selling my contact information. I’d completely forgotten about the HomeKit Secure Video functionality. While my outdoor security cameras store footage locally on SD cards, they also back up to iCloud — a safeguard in case the cameras are tampered with. Clearly, iCloud is doing more for me than I often realise.
Can I save money by reducing storage, then?
Unfortunately, no. Apple’s storage tiers jump from 200GB to 2TB, with no options in between, and I’m already using 1.1TB of storage. Of that, nearly 400GB is taken up by my estranged wife’s data — a legacy of why I signed up for iCloud in the first place.
Years ago, she was constantly running into the 5GB free storage limit, eventually filling up her phone. This caused endless frustrations, and using a self-hosted solution like NextCloud — my preference at the time — wasn’t practical. Self-hosted options require intentional data management, and most people don’t want to deal with that. They want to take pictures, use apps, and send messages without worrying about storage. This is completely understandable. To ease her frustrations, I subscribed to iCloud, adding her account to my family plan. This allowed her massive photo library to offload to Apple’s servers, freeing up space on her phone.
Now, nearly three years into our separation, she remains on my family plan. The idea of litigating this relatively minor expense with my lawyer, who charges more per hour than Apple does for a year of iCloud, feels like a battle not worth fighting.
For now, Apple will collect an extra 200 yen from me every month. I’ve become a captive in their ecosystem, with few viable alternatives. Any attempt to disentangle myself would involve significant upfront costs — and likely lawyers. At some point, I’ll need to make a change. But for now, Apple wins.
For context, that’s about $116 USD right now, but given the current Japanese economy, it feels closer to $250.