iPhone backup strategy question

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iPhone backup strategy question

I have an iPhone 8+ which I use with my High Sierra system. It has iTunes content, iPhoto content, and a bunch of apps. I've got a ton of space being used by by the backups (in the MobileSync directory) and I'm wondering the following:

1) do I really need these backups? don't they just duplicate my iPhoto and iTunes content? If something happens to the phone, can't I just connect the new phone and sync and get everything back?

2) what about my apps and settings - is there a way to back those up without backing up the media files?

3) is there a way to trigger a full backup to a different location (on another disk)?

iPhone 8 Plus, iOS 12

Posted on Jun 23, 2019 3:34 AM

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Answer 1

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sberman

Level 10

268,347 points

Jun 23, 2019 2:26 PM in response to Michael Levin

Here are several thoughts:

"It has iTunes content, iPhoto content, and a bunch of apps." Why are you still using iPhoto? Apple discontinued iPhoto in April, 2015 with the release of OS X Yosemite 10.3.3.
"don't they just duplicate my iPhoto and iTunes content?" No. About backups for iOS devices - Apple Support
If you're so concerned about the space on your Mac, back up to iCloud.

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

274,806 points

Jun 23, 2019 3:23 PM in response to Michael Levin

Regarding the last question...

See Relocate iOS device backups. Review the rest of the Make a split library portable user tip for advice on organizing the library on external storage.

A recent change to the forum software has messed up the formatting of the user tip somewhat. The terminal command should look like this:

ln -s "/Volumes/<New Volume>/MobileSync/Backup" "/Users/<User>/Library/Application Support/MobileSync"

Where <New Volume> is the name of the volume you want to store the data on, and <User> is the name of your profile. If there are spaces in the path wrap with quotes or escape with backslash. It is probably easier to type in ln -s then drag and drop the two folders onto the command line in turn.

tt2

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iPhone backup strategy question

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