At this writing, it’s only been 48 hours since Apple’s big media event on Tuesday, which means we’re entering that phantom zone before iOS 8 and the new iPhone 6 models are actually available. Thankfully, Apple is ramping up for next week in stages, starting with new iCloud storage plans now available, and we’ve also got an advance look at one of the new third-party keyboards coming to iOS 8 in today’s Morning Report.
New iCloud Storage Plans Now Live, Up to 1TB
Only a day after posting complete iCloud storage plans on Tuesday, Apple’s new pricing tiers are now available to customers — including those running the current iOS 7. Instead of requiring an annual payment, the new plans are billed each month, starting at 20GB for only $0.99 every 30 days, maxing out at 1TB for $19.99 per month.
That’s not exactly a bargain, considering Dropbox (one of the stingiest cloud storage providers around) recently began offering 1TB for under $10 per month. Unfortunately, Apple continues to offer a measly 5GB free to all users, an amount that pales in comparison to services such as Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, or MediaFire.
But what about existing iCloud customers on older annual plans? According to MacRumors, Apple has begun notifying paid subscribers via email, offering them reduced pricing — for example, the old 25GB tier now drops from $40 per year to only $11.99 per year. Depending upon when that subscription was started, existing iCloud members may be eligible for a prorated refund for the remaining months.
SwiftKey Keyboard Coming Next Week to iPhone, iPad
One of the more exciting iOS 8 features for many longtime users is the possibility of finally being able to use third-party keyboards — and one of the best solutions on Android devices is finally coming to Apple’s mobile platform next week. SwiftKey announced Wednesday that it will be releasing SwiftKey Keyboard on September 17, the same date Apple will make iOS 8 available to the public.
Judging from screenshots, the SwiftKey Keyboard experience appears to be quite faithful to that on Android, with the ability to use Facebook, Google, and Evernote accounts to “learn” how a user types, type in two different languages without having to switch between them, and even slide between letters with SwiftKey Flow. No word on pricing yet, but look for SwiftKey Keyboard in the App Store next Wednesday.
Report: Apple Planning to Ship 80M iPhone 6 Units This Year
By all accounts, Apple’s latest iPhone 6 models seem to have suitably impressed those who have seem them — but will that translate into big shipments? Apparently Cupertino seems to think so, with DigiTimes today reporting that Apple is “preparing parts and components for production of up to 80 million units of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus before year-end 2014,” according to unnamed supply chain sources. For comparison, that’s 20 million more than the iPhone maker shipped of last year’s models.
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