Apple has given another gift to former users of its grandfathered MobileMe service: an extra year of free iCloud storage.

First noticed by AppleInsider, the free upgrade in storage capacity for former users of MobileMe has been extended for an additional year.

These accounts were supposed to expire as September ended but Apple has extended support for the accounts.

In an email sent out this Friday, Apple said:

“Dear ____

When you moved your MobileMe account to iCloud, we provided you with a complimentary storage upgrade beyond the standard 5GB that comes with an iCloud account to help you with the transition. Originally, this storage upgrade was set to expire on September 30, 2012.

As a thank you to our former MobileMe members, we will continue to provide you with this complimentary storage upgrade at no charge, for an additional year, until September 30, 2013. No action is required on your part. For complete details, please read this article.

Thank you again for using iCloud,

iCloud Team”

Additionally, AppleInsider says that this note can be read at an Apple Support Pages document:

As a thank you to our former MobileMe members who moved to iCloud, we have extended the complimentary storage upgrade they received until September 30, 2013. This extension applies to accounts moved to iCloud between October 12th, 2011 and August 1st, 2012.

When iCloud was unveiled, its first victim was MobileMe which really did not take off as well as Apple hoped.

“It wasn’t our finest hour, just let me say that,” Steve Jobs said of MobileMe when he unveiled iCloud in San Francisco June of last year.

After iCloud was unveiled, Apple sent an email to users of MobileMe saying:

“Your MobileMe subscription will be automatically extended through June 30, 2012, at no additional charge. After that date, MobileMe will no longer be available.”

Apple has had a history of being generous with MobileMe users.

Back in April of this year, the company made OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard free to download for all MobileMe users. That offer was not just for a very short time too as it was available to users of the grandfathered service until June 15.

Observers have noted that the promotions for users of the shuttered service are to appease them as they would have to move to iCloud, a process that takes some work to do.

MobileMe image from Solon Harmony on Flickr (CC)

About Solon Harmony Dolor

A passion for technology and journalism makes this upcoming writer very interested in social media and technology news. Fresh from finishing an English and Journalism degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, he aims to bring interesting news to our readers .