iOS 27 Shared Albums Go Full Res at the Cost of Your iCloud Storage

In iOS 27, new Shared Albums you create in the Photos app retain full-resolution quality for the first time, but they now eat into your iCloud storage – and that includes any items added by other people invited to contribute. Currently, photos in a Shared Album are automatically reduced to 2,048 pixels on the long edge (except for panoramic photos, which can be up to 5,400 pixels wide). In iOS 27 though, both retain their full resolution. But there comes the major trade-off. For years now, Apple has allowed you to store up to 5,000 photos and videos in Shared Albums without impacting your iCloud storage limit. That's no longer the case in iOS 27. Perhaps more significantly, if you invite someone to a Shared Album and they add their own photos and videos to it, as the owner, this too will count against your iCloud storage limit. Apple has also made it easier to invite people to Shared Albums. The company says friends and family can now join and collaborate on the web, even without an Apple Account or Apple device. That means Android and Windows users can contribute via iCloud.com, so the inclination for participants to add photos and videos is only likely to increase. Be careful who you invite... On the plus side, iOS 27 introduces a free alternative – you can create temporary Shared Albums that allow users to collaborate on short-term projects without eating into your iCloud storage. But after 30 days, any photos and videos not saved to your library are deleted. Fortunately, existing Shared Albums by default are unaffected by the changes, but the Photos app does include an "Upgrade Shared Album" option for those who want to improve the quality of its contents – albeit at the cost of iCloud storage. Apple has yet to update its support documentation to reflect the upcoming changes. iOS 27 is currently in public beta and is expected to be released in September when Apple launches new iPhone models with 5GB of free iCloud storage included. Popular StoriesiCloud, Photos, Find My and More Experiencing IssuesTuesday August 18, 2026 1:56 pm PDT by Juli CloverSeveral iCloud services are experiencing issues, according to Apple's system status page. Find My, Game Center, Photos, iCloud Calendar, iCloud Mail, iCloud Contacts, iCloud Web Apps, and iWork for iCloud are all experiencing service interruptions. Apple says only some users may run into problems. The issue started at 3:33 p.m. Eastern Time and is...30 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 27Tuesday August 11, 2026 8:07 am PDT by Tim HardwickApple will release iOS 27 in September, and despite the company's focus this year on refining its flagship operating system and nixing bugs, there are still many additional features on the way, not least of which is Apple's new context-aware Siri, re-tooled for the generative AI era. This year's major iPhone software update isn't all about AI, though, as the following feature list...iOS 27 Brings These Five New Features to Your iPhone Lock ScreenThursday July 23, 2026 4:05 am PDT by Tim HardwickApple unveiled iOS 27 at WWDC this week, and while the headline-grabbing Siri overhaul has received the most attention, the Lock Screen has picked up several refinements that you may have missed. Some are brand-new additions, while others are tweaks to features Apple introduced in iOS 26, but together they give you more control over how your Lock Screen looks and behaves. Here are five...