If you’ve bought a new iPhone within the past five years or so, you likely haven’t thought about My Photo Stream, Apple’s original photos syncing service that launched with iCloud back in 2011. But if you’ve been a My Photo Stream user and you’ve been dragging your feet on switching to iCloud Photos, Apple has started the countdown clock and it ran out today.
The main draw for My Photo Stream is that it’s completely free with no storage size limit unlike iCloud Photos, which uses your iCloud Drive and charges for storage after 5GB of total space has been used. My Photo Stream has several drawbacks, including the inability to stream videos or support Live Photos and a 30-day/1,000 photo limit on storing images.
However, with backups, files, videos, and higher-resolution photos, it’s almost impossible to stay under the 5GB limit. Apple sells additional storage starting at 50GB for $0.99 and includes several additional iCloud+ features.
If you’re already using iCloud Photos, you won’t notice a change when the service is shut off. However, if you’re still using My Photo Stream, you won’t be able to sync to other devices (though you shouldn’t lose any of your existing photos). To start syncing again, head over to the Settings app on your iPhone (or System Settings on your Mac), then your Apple ID, iCloud, and turn Photos “On.”
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He's still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.