“New evidence uncovered in recent iOS 4.2 builds and the iOS 4.2.1 golden master seed is suggesting… that Apple will be offering a free MobileMe tier to users,” Slivka reports. “The evidence comes in the form of a new private framework known as AppleAccounts.framework that includes a series of device-specific error messages referring to free MobileMe accounts.”
Slivka reports, “In particular, the error messages include alerts regarding having reached ‘the maximum number of free accounts’ for a given device and certain devices not being ‘qualified for free MobileMe service.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: On May 07, 2010, MacDailyNews was the first to report on a tip we’d received, “Apple is planning to make MobileMe free… No timeframe was given for MobileMe to go free, other than: ‘sooner than later… depends on certain facilities going operational.'”
there should still be a paid version with more perks I think… no ads, more storage etc etc OR keep it fully paid for but bring the annual fee down…
they have to fix iDisk though… it’s so buggy though… thank God for Dropbox!
Just like those who complain that “Macs are overpriced”, those whining that MobileMe is “too expensive” are comparing dissimilar things. Yes, you could cobble together some of MobileMe’s functionality with free third-party services. But, as with the Mac vs. PC decision, Mac users in particular should ask themselves, “How much are elegance, simplicity, and my time worth?” MobileMe is much simpler to manage than multiple separate services, and it keeps getting better. Recent changes to calendar sharing let me finally drop my Google calendar account. Address Book sharing is deepening. When the iPhone can subscribe to shared address books, it’ll be perfect. One-click sharing of photo albums directly from iPhoto and Aperture are great for photographers. The only weakness that still bugs me is iDisk’s speed and syncing issues. I have a DropBox account just for syncing my 1Password data across multiple Mac. DropBox is what iDisk should be.
Despite its room for improvement, MobileMe offers more than most non-subscribers realize. And, at $75 for a five-user family pack from a third-party retailer, it’s a bloody good deal. I saved about $100/year just by moving two websites from a web host to personal domains on my MM family pack accounts.
@Majikthize
Bloody hell $75 for a family pack of 5? Where in heaven’s name did you buy that from? I’d be on that in a heartbeat.
@Balmer’s
Amazon. Just bought one a few days ago to renew my existing account. There are some other retailers that often have similar deals, too. I think I paid about $100 last year.
Just to be clear, you do understand that a family pack for 5 people is not the same as five single accounts, right? With a family pack, the main account holder gets 20GB of storage, and the four “family members” get 5GB each. You can, though, host a different “personal domain” (i.e. a proper sitenameofyourchoice.com domain) on each of the five accounts.
Enjoy!
@Majikthize
All right gotcha. Thanks for the info.
Premium Services for $29.99 per year. With bonuses for long-time subscribers. That’s my wish list.
Fred — Wonder if a possibility would be a certain base level (up to 3 email accounts, low level of storage, maybe limit sync to 1 calendar) would be free — to get more storage, emails, etc. you’d need to purchase add-ons. That could actually end up making Apple even more money; as people start realizing how they can use the storage for their own Web pages and the like, they’ll want to expand their options whereas they might have never purchased MobileMe before.