Happy World Backup Day! Wait, you didn’t know it’s World Backup Day? Well, it is! And you know how you can celebrate? By making a backup copy of your important files. That’s all you need to do! So easy! But don’t keep them on the same storage device as the original, because that’s defeating the purpose. Put it somewhere like an external drive or in cloud storage, such as your iCloud account.
I’m sorry, what did you say? Your iCloud storage is full? Well, of course it is! Because Apple hands out a measly 5GB of iCloud storage free with each Apple account. 5GB was a lot in, say, 2011, when iCloud was introduced. It’s now 15 years later, and the free allocation is still at a 2011 level.
I’m not the only one: We’ve been calling for Apple to raise the free allocation for too long now. Times have changed, and it’s extremely easy to fill 5GBs. How easy? Well, my own 60-minute 4K video track for the recent Macworld Podcast is 3GB–you can add another 10GB for the tracks of my podcast colleagues. I can’t store these tracks in a free iCloud account, so I need to pay for extra storage or find another way to move the files. That’s a hassle for just one project.
Now, you’re probably thinking that a person working with 4K video is already going to shell out for more cloud storage, and that’s probably true. But think about the MacBook Neo user, someone who might not be working on long-form 4K videos, but is dabbling in high-resolution video production and learning the ropes with their iPhone 17. This is their first experience with a Mac, and it should all just work without being nickel-and-dimed. After all, these are the type of people Apple is targeting with the Neo–just look at the concerted effort in Apple’s newly populated TikTok channel.
Video, as prevalent as it is now, is just one example of why 5GB in 2026 is too small. Photos are another. Lossless music files. Be a hero, Apple, and bump the free iCloud tier to 50GB. It only costs a buck a month anyway–Apple’s iCloud pricing is surprisingly affordable–so why not just give everyone a free boost.
While you’re at it, how about granting the other Mac wish I’ve longed for: iCloud Mac backups. A lot of users would love to select iCloud as their Time Machine destination. Then I could even back up my laptop when I’m on the road in my hotel room, sleeping. That would be awesome.
Make it happen, Apple. Announce it at WWDC26–the cheer from the audience might be the loudest you’ll ever hear (probably because I’ll be screaming at the top of my lungs in joy).
If you’re ready to turn to a non-Apple solution for backups, check out the Macworld guide to best Mac backup software.
