Apple Making Internal Use of 'iCloud' Name With Beta Software Builds?

114119 icloud mobileme idisk

Amid mounting claims that Apple has acquired the iCloud.com domain, AppleInsider now reports that Apple is indeed using the "iCloud" name internally as it builds new versions of iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion that will integrate with the service.

Apple has begun adopting the "iCloud" name within several products currently under development, suggesting the appropriately labeled moniker is indeed the frontrunner for the company's soon-to-debut Internet cloud service, which will span beyond streaming music, AppleInsider has learned.

According to people familiar with the matter, Apple is prepping beta versions of both iOS 5.0 and Mac OS X Lion ahead of its annual developers conference that integrate with a service dubbed "iCloud," enabling users to sync and store much of the same information they currently can with the company's existing MobileMe service, such as bookmarks, email, contacts and iCal events.

And while much of the recent discussion regarding Apple's cloud-based service has revolved around its negotiations with music labels to allow users to store music content on Apple's servers, the report also indicates that the service is in fact intended to go beyond music to include a full suite of services potentially including photo and video storage.

That disclosure is certainly not new, with reports dating back over a year pointing to a potential video component, with explicit mention of a MobileMe overhaul to support cloud-based storage of various media types coming in February. It is, however, reassuring to see renewed mention of capabilities beyond the music storage function that has received so much attention in recent weeks.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
Tim Cook WWDC 2018

Report: Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple CEO 'as Soon as Next Year'

Saturday November 15, 2025 2:40 pm PST by
Apple is preparing for Tim Cook to step down as CEO of the company "as soon as next year," according to the Financial Times. The company's board of directors and senior executives "recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins," the report said. While the report said that Apple is unlikely to name a new CEO before its next earnings report in late January, it went on to ...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket Now Available to Order, But Already Selling Out

Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's 2026 Mac Plans

Friday November 14, 2025 3:23 pm PST by
Most of Apple's Macs are slated to get M5 chips across 2026, and there's a possibility we'll even see the first M6 chips toward the end of the year. Updates are planned for everything from the MacBook Air to the Mac Studio. MacBook Air (Early 2026) The MacBook Air will be one of the first Macs to get a 2026 refresh, with an update planned for the first few months of the year. The MacBook...
best early black friday deals

Best Black Friday Apple Deals Live Now - Save on AirPods, iPads, and Apple Watches

Saturday November 15, 2025 1:45 pm PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
tvOS 26 Profiles

tvOS 26.2 Adds a Useful New Feature to Your Apple TV

Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account. In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
walmart new ornametns

Walmart Black Friday Deals Begin Today With Low Prices on Headphones, TVs, and More

Friday November 14, 2025 7:55 am PST by
Walmart's Black Friday sale has officially kicked off today, with an online shopping event that's also seeing some matching deals in retail locations. There are quite a few major discounts in this sale, including savings on headphones, TVs, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Walmart. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us...
CarPlay Pinned Messages

iOS 26.2 Adds New CarPlay Setting

Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose. Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.2 Beta 3

Monday November 17, 2025 3:20 pm PST by
Apple provided developers with the third beta of an upcoming iOS 26.2 update, and there are still new features that are being added with each beta that we get. We've rounded up all of the changes that Apple made in beta 3. AirDrop Apple added new AirDrop functionality, providing a way for two people to share files temporarily without having to add one another as contacts. iOS 26.2...

Top Rated Comments

CristobalHuet Avatar
190 months ago
This better not mean 32kbps uploading to iDisk.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
smitty078 Avatar
190 months ago
Don't count on it, at least don't count of full functionality. We .mac email users have to use old profiles on our iOS devices to keep the ability to use @mac.com with email. There is a hack out there, but you lose push email ability, which kind of negates one of the prime reasons for subscribing in the first place. I get that Apple has (stupidly I think) retired .Mac, but this does not mean they should abandon us long time users of the service. If Me.com is replaced by iCloud, then I would expect the same treatment we .mac guys have gotten from Apple Consumer Electronics.

Please explain. I have an @mac.com e-mail address and it works just fine. I set it up as mobileme and login with @mac.com instead of @me.com. From there, it's indistinguishable. I also get push e-mail no problem.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
addicted44 Avatar
190 months ago
Oh God.

Apple is absolutely ridiculous.

They think that renaming a flawed product is going to make it better, when really they need to fix and overhaul the entire thing from the ground up.

First it was iTools.
Then .mac.
Then MobileMe.
Now iCloud?

Kinda ridiculous, if you ask me.

This is equivalent to Microsoft putting lipstick on all of their pigs.

You are so right...All Apple is doing is renaming the service.

Sure, there is that little thing where they spent billions to build a huge datacenter to augment the service, but no, its the renaming that is the biggest change they are making.

/SNARK
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DotCom2 Avatar
190 months ago
Oh God.

Apple is absolutely ridiculous.

They think that renaming a flawed product is going to make it better, when really they need to fix and overhaul the entire thing from the ground up.

First it was iTools.
Then .mac.
Then MobileMe.
Now iCloud?

Kinda ridiculous, if you ask me.

This is equivalent to Microsoft putting lipstick on all of their pigs.

How do you know they haven't "fixed and overhauled the entire thing from the ground up" and that's what this is all about?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacNewsFix Avatar
190 months ago
Yes, sadly Apple's moved into the slow lane.

Trundling along like an old dump truck full of coal, weaving about the highway, I wonder what's happened.

They don't seem to be able to match the pace of Goggles project development.

You mean like Buzz, Wave and GoogleTV?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hachre Avatar
190 months ago
If it isn't free it will fail. Simple as that.

MobileMe is a paid service that is so bad that by now I have taken upon me the huge step of completely migrating to the free Google offerings which sadly are far superior. Sad but true.

And Apple will have to do a LOT to get me to move back again.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)