Apple faces £2bn UK iCloud antitrust claim over cloud storage choices

Apple’s iCloud rules have cleared a major legal hurdle in Britain, opening the door to a £2bn consumer claim that could test how far a platform can steer users toward its own services. Which? says Apple gave iPhone and iPad owners no real choice over cloud storage, did not clearly explain alternatives, and built a system that nudged customers into paying for storage once the free allowance ran out.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal certified the case to proceed as a collective action on 2 April 2026, then rejected Apple’s attempt to strike out or narrow parts of the claim on 6 May 2026. The collective proceedings order was made on 17 June 2026, and the first trial date is listed as the first available date in October 2028, with a nine-week estimate. Which? says the case covers both paying and non-paying iCloud users in the United Kingdom who have used iCloud since 8 November 2018.

Which? says around 40 million UK iPhone and iPad users could be entitled to a share of the claim, with average damages of about £70 depending on how long each user paid for storage. The group says Apple’s iCloud service comes with 5GB of free storage before users are prompted to move to paid tiers, which it says currently range from 99p to £54.99. It also says iCloud has used cloud infrastructure from Google, Amazon and Microsoft to store encrypted user data behind the scenes.

Apple has rejected the suggestion that its practices are anti-competitive, arguing that many customers rely on third-party alternatives. Which? says the opposite is true: that Apple failed to give users a genuine choice and did not clearly explain how rival cloud services could be used on an iOS device. The dispute now turns on whether Apple used its control over the iPhone and iPad ecosystem to lock users into its own storage product.

The case matters beyond one company’s billing model. If Which? succeeds, it could become one of the largest UK consumer redress actions and could force changes in how Apple offers cloud storage on iPhones and iPads. It also lands amid wider regulatory pressure on Apple’s cloud practices, including an Italian Competition Authority investigation opened on 16 June 2026 into whether Apple gave third-party cloud providers equal access to iOS and iPadOS features under the EU Digital Markets Act.