Pro camera, amateur iCloud

Hey y’all, it’s Austin Carr in Boston. The coolest part of Apple’s latest iPhone is holding me back from buying it. But first… Today’s must- [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hey y’all, it’s Austin Carr in Boston. The coolest part of Apple’s latest iPhone is holding me back from buying it. But first… Today’s must-reads: • A [teenage hacking suspect was arrested]( in the UK • [AI is key to stopping hackers](, says Microsoft’s new security chief • A startup put [electrodes in a patient’s skull]( to treat depression Not enough bytes Apple Inc.’s [new iPhone 14 Pro has been on sale]( for a little over a week. Yet, I’ve resisted purchasing the $999 gadget, at least so far. It’s not for a lack of craving. The device’s whopping [48-megapixel camera]( is exactly the type of hardware advancement that would finally convince me to upgrade from my iPhone 11 Pro. Unfortunately, the enhanced camera is the primary reason I’m hesitant to switch. Let me explain. I take tons of photos. Really, tons. The iPhone’s camera rig—with its wide angles, selfies, portrait and panoramic modes and slow-motion videos—is probably the feature I use most. I’m addicted. If I happen upon [my puppy snoozing]( in a funny way or chewing something he’s not supposed to—oh dear—I’m snapping a dozen pictures at a time to ensure I get the perfect shot. Yes, I know. It’s embarrassing. It’s also resulted in mounting costs for iCloud, despite always springing for the largest iPhone hard drive to keep up with my incessant shutter-bugging. This has proved lucrative for [Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook](, who has made [subscription services a cornerstone of his tenure](. In the early days of MobileMe, [iCloud’s maligned predecessor](, I didn’t need to pay for online storage, partly because the photos were smaller in size and also because I was still in the early stages of building my amateur-Annie-Leibovitz portfolio. But each successive iPhone seemed to bring bigger and better cameras with higher-quality images, making my expensive physical hard drive ever-more pointless. Soon I was paying $3 a month for 200 gigabytes of iCloud space and then $10 for 2 terabytes. Which brings me back to the iPhone 14 Pro’s 48-megapixel camera. It can produce [some supremely impressive and pristine pictures](. As [some have pointed out](, though, these photos are enormous at their highest settings, consuming about 75 megabytes per shot. Meaning, a spontaneous photoshoot of my pup chewing on a sock will quickly eat a gigabyte. A couple of minutes of [high-resolution video will gobble up even more](. At that rate, I’ll go bankrupt from soaring iCloud costs. To be sure, such maximal camera output requires the use of Apple’s [ProRAW]( setting, which creates bigger file sizes and can be turned off if you’re fine with lower-fidelity images. To most folks, the photos will still look pretty spectacular. And they’ll still see a benefit from the fancy lenses in the form of enhanced zooming capabilities. For many photographers, though, a [big reason to upgrade]( to a 48-megapixel sensor is to take photos that are actually 48 megapixels. Complicating matters is that Apple’s cloud offerings haven’t grown up accordingly with the iPhone’s cameras: When Apple first introduced iCloud in 2011, it gave away 5 gigabytes of online storage at no cost; over a decade later, that paltry offering remains the same. This dynamic seems like it’s becoming more common, a sort of impossible-to-avoid cloud tax, akin to [BMW charging for heated seats](. No matter how many microSD cards I bought for my GoPro, the high-res action camera felt annoying to use without buying its cloud backup service, which I couldn’t bring myself to subscribe to after spending nearly $400 on the device. Even though I spent a chunk of change to buy extra terabytes of local storage for my last Dell PC, I still can’t wean myself off paying for Google Cloud. After buying an [expansion card for my Xbox](, I’m half-hoping Microsoft Corp. slows its [push into cloud gaming]( so at least some of my hardware will remain relevant. Apple, however, remains the biggest recipient of my cloud spending, a trend that’s likely to continue with each new iPhone upgrade I inevitably give in to. I’m not sure how much longer I can afford it. —[Austin Carr](mailto:acarr54@bloomberg.net) The big story Amid intensifying street protests in Iran, Tehran residents are turning to VPNs to [circumvent internet blockades](. Meanwhile, Elon Musk said he’s exploring whether his Starlink satellites can help thwart web blackouts too. What else you need to know Apple TV+ scored a ratings coup in its Major League Baseball streaming deal as the Yankees slugger [Aaron Judge chases an historic home-run record](. Also, Apple Music will take over for Pepsi as the [title sponsor of the Super Bowl halftime show](. Russian e-commerce company Ozon will buy back bonds at a 35% discount, part of a restructuring agreement forced by the [delisting of its stock in the US](. Follow Us More from Bloomberg Dig gadgets or video games? [Sign up for Power On]( to get Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more in your inbox on Sundays. [Sign up for Game On]( to go deep inside the video game business, delivered on Fridays. Why not try both? Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights.​​​​​​​ You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Fully Charged newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](