Is icloud subscription an apple scam

Hello Skibum001,

A subscription to iCloud+ (iCloud+ - Apple) is not a scam. It's a way to get more iCloud storage, access to Hide My Email, iCloud Private Relay, and some other really neat features.

• What do you mean by scam?
• Did you receive an email asking you to subscribe?
• Who was the sender?
• Do you have a screenshot of the email?

Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

Do not click a link in an email or message to subscribe to iCloud or any service for that matter. iCloud is not a scam and if you want it go to the Apple site directly at:

iCloud+ - Apple

If you use Apple Music and Apple TV, look into the Apple One plan where you could get additional iCloud storage for basically free compared to subscribing the the services independently.

I'll take each rant one at a time:

• You said "OK so Apple is emailing and advising that without an upgrade my icloud storage is full and won't be able to back up anymore files. And yes the emails came from Apple. " - This is very different from your previous post where you posted that the email said that if you don't upgrade, data will be lost. Apple will not remove anything from iCloud if your storage is full. The only way data would be lost is if your device was lost/broken, then any new photos or data that was not able to be synced could not be recovered. It is important to have accurate information when looking for a solution. There are many phishing scams claiming to be from Apple that do threaten data loss or a free upgrade that are only trying to get your banking information or Apple ID/Password. We have seen many users on these forums fall for these scams and were only trying to look out for your best interest. Feel free to google them yourself or read this article:

https://www.planetofreviews.com/your-icloud-storage-is-full-50-gb-free/

• You said "Extremely recent files have been "stored" in icloud but these are also on my iphone ??? so why duplicate anything." - You seem to be confused on what the iCloud service is. It does duplicate everything that you want synced on your device, so they are available on your other devices. It is also useful if you lose your device, it crashes, or you get a new device. You are able to recreate you device just as it was before. For most people the free 5Gb plan is enough for them to be able to accomplish this. If you take a large number of photos and want them to be saved in a cloud service so you do not lose them if your device crashes, you are free to use anyone you want. You will have to pay for that service also. With the free 5Gb plan you could easily backup an iPhone and include 500 or more photos. Those photos would then be able to be viewed at iCloud.com, Apple Watch, Apple TV, another iPhone, or Mac/PC.
• You said "So here's a couple of questions to you both from me. What's the points beside your user name. How are these awarded to you. What do you get from Apple for these points." - The points are gained by solving problems that other user have and from users marking a post as helpful. We do not get anything from Apple for helping others unless you think being able to create User Tip pages is a valuable perk. I hope that clears things up for you and I don't expect or care if I don't get any points from you. Here is the page that shows how the points are gained and any "perks" that they get. If you think these "perks" are a motivation for gaining points, then you would be wrong. The only motivation is the satisfaction of helping others.

Share what you know and get recognized - Apple Support

My suggestion to you is to follow the link on the top of the page and get rid of the iCloud service that you have. You can import your photos to your PC and store them all there. If you only have a single Apple device, then there is no need to share the data with another one. You seem to have mistaken the iCloud service for a storage service similar to DropBox. It is not, it is a syncing service for duplicating the contents of your device for sharing to another device and to recreate your device in case of loss or upgrade. The service also has other useful features including integrated support for "Find My" to track, wipe, or report you device as lost so a thief cannot get to your personal information. It is also useful for collaborating on documents with other users where the document is stored in iCloud and other users can make edits. After you import your photos to your PC and downgrade to the free 5Gb plan, you should shut off Photos and anything else you do not want synced at Settings > [your name on top] > iCloud.

If you sync using iCloud Photos, your photos will always sync up to iCloud. From your post, I'm not really sure what you're trying to do and uncertain that you've shared all relevant information regarding space.

Are you trying to move photos off of iCloud and onto your laptop? Try syncing with iCloud Photos using the Photos app (Mac) or iCloud for Windows (PC) Download iCloud for Windows - Apple Support

Apple sends no such email stating "if you don't upgrade your data will be lost." That's likely a phishing attempt.

Only you fill your space. There is no software mechanism that fills space just because. But, you'll need to manage your space depending on what tier of iCloud you subscribe to. And, you need not use iCloud at all.

You have not indicated what your iCloud settings are other than saying that you have checked them all.

• Do you have iCloud Photos turned on?
• Did you recently shut off iCloud Photos?
• Do you have iCloud Backups turned on?
• Is your iPhone the only device with that Apple ID?
• What is taking up your storage space in iCloud at Settings > [name on top] > iCloud > Manage Account Storage? Manage your iCloud storage - Apple Support
• How much iCloud storage space are you subscribed to?

Post a pic of the error message that comes up when I assume you are downloading the photos from iCloud.com to your PC, but it is unclear what you are trying to accomplish. Another thing to note is that if you shut off iCloud Photos on your iPhone and you have iCloud Backups turned on, then the size of your iCloud backup will dramatically increase to include the photos in the backup. You can also shut this off in your backup settings.

You do not lose data and information is not erased when you have reached the limit of your iCloud storage. The only thing that happens is that your device will no longer backup or continue to sync photos.