New Account Types Hint at Pending MobileMe Changes

Some MobileMe subscribers account type changed from “Individual” to “Full Member” overnight, raising speculation that Apple may be planning to introduce some changes to the online service during its annual World Wide Developers Conference next week. Previously, MobileMe subscribers were listed as either “Individual” or “Family Pack.”

The addition of “Full Member” has added fuel to the rumor that Apple is planning on dropping the US$99 annual fee for MobileMe and making the service free. What seems more likely, however, is that a tiered plan is in the works where current MobileMe subscribers will have access to more features than new subscribers that choose a reduced feature set.

MobileMe’s new “Full Member” status

The status type change may also be a new way for Apple to track who has paid for the MobileMe service, and who signed up for trial accounts, but never paid for the service.

Apple isn’t saying whether or not it has new plans in store for MobileMe, but CEO Steve Jobs will be hosting the company’s keynote presentation on June 7 to kick off this year’s WWDC event, and that would be a perfect time to announce service changes.