Apple wins appeal over iCloud storage dispute with US customers

Apple has successfully defeated a legal challenge that accused the company of misleading customers about the amount of iCloud storage provided under its paid plans.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has ruled in favour of the Cupertino-based tech giant, dismissing claims that Apple shortchanged users by not providing additional storage on top of the free 5 GB iCloud plan.

In a unanimous 3-0 decision, the court found that Apple did not deceive customers when it offered incremental iCloud storage.

The ruling stated that a reasonable consumer would not interpret the storage offer as being cumulative with the free 5 GB included with every iCloud account.

It is pertinent to note that the lawsuit was brought by Lisa Bodenburg, who said she paid $2.99 per month for 200 GB of iCloud+ storage.

She believed this amount should have been added to the 5 GB of free storage already provided to all Apple users, expecting a total of 205 GB.

However, the court clarified that Apple promised 200 GB of total storage, not in addition to the free tier.

Circuit Judge Milan Smith, writing for the panel, said Bodenburg “received exactly what Apple promised her,” a larger storage plan that replaced, not supplemented, the initial free offer.

He also compared the plaintiff’s misunderstanding to other cases that were dismissed due to unreasonable consumer expectations.