I've just recently purchased an iPad and an iPhone, and both are syncing to iCloud. I'm on the free plan right now, and surprisingly, my iCloud storage has already used up 2GB out of the 5GB available. A significant portion of that—approximately 800MB—is taken up by device backups. I've disabled backups for many apps and kept only 4 or 5 smaller apps syncing, yet the backup size seems to be increasing instead of decreasing. I do plan to subscribe to Apple One eventually, but I'm currently trying to manage with the free trial for the next three months, and I'm worried about my iCloud filling up too quickly due to these backups. Does anyone have tips on how to reduce backup sizes or clear space?
2 Answers
If you want to save on iCloud, you might just have to accept that paying 99 cents a month for more storage is the way to go. The free 5GB plan is really just a starter. For most users, especially with multiple devices, it’s not much to work with. You'll probably only need to upgrade once for a reasonable amount of space unless you flood it with photos or videos.
Honestly, 800MB for a backup is pretty minimal. It's actually quite rare to see backups take up less space unless you've got a very lean setup. You might find it hard to reduce that size any further without deleting some major data.
I hear you! I'm really trying to make it work for these last few months before I switch to Apple One. Managing all these subscriptions is such a hassle for me.