Apple Shortchanges iCloud+ Subscribers 5 GB of Storage Monthly: Class Action

Apple’s iCloud service delivers consumers 5 GB less cloud storage than it contracted for when it accepted their monthly iCloud subscription payments, alleged plaintiff Lisa Bodenburg’s fraud class action Friday (docket 5:23-cv-04409) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Jose. In addition to breach of contract, the lawsuit alleges violations of several statutes, including California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act and its Unfair Competition Law.

Each Apple device owner, “by default,” is provided 5 GB of iCloud storage for free, said the complaint. Neither a subscription plan nor a payment is required to obtain this free 5 GB of storage, which is offered to all Apple device owners, it said. The various iCloud paid subscription plans that Apple sells under the branding iCloud+, in addition to the free 5 GB allotment, ranges from 99 cents a month for 50 GB of storage to $9.99 a month for 2 TB of storage, it said.

But Apple breached its “contractual promise” and “never delivered” what it had advertised, said the complaint. When a putative class member bought a monthly iCloud+ paid subscription plan, “Apple deducted the 5 GB of storage it already was delivering to all its device owners for free from the advertised additional storage limits it was to deliver in exchange for the monthly subscription payment,” it said.

In that manner, Apple “shortchanged all putative class members 5 GB of storage every month of their paid subscriptions,” said the complaint. As an example, a subscriber paying 99 cents a month for 50 GB of iCloud storage got only 45 GB of paid storage, it said.

California resident Bodenburg brings her action on behalf of herself and all other similarly situated individuals in the U.S. who bought an iCloud+ paid subscription, seeking redress for Apple’s fraudulent conduct, said her complaint. Apple’s iCloud contract “contains a choice of law provision, by which Apple and all iCloud subscribers nationwide agreed to be bound by California law with regard to their rights and liabilities in connection with the use and purchase of the iCloud service,” it said.