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iPhone to Mac Backup.

Once I backup my phone to my MacBook, can I delete everything on my phone to free up storage? I want to make sure I have all of my photos and music at least. Or what will be saved?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Feb 15, 2021 6:22 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Feb 15, 2021 6:40 PM

If you check Settings > General > iPhone Storage.. what's taking up most of your space?


If Photos is what's taking up a bunch of space, doing an iPhone backup and deleting them wouldn't really be a good idea.. in order to access those photos again you'd need to restore your iPhone to that backup. And your backup would only contain those photos if you are not using iCloud photos.


You could utilize iCloud to store your photos (if you are not already) and turn on the switch to optimize storage on your phone which will reduce the image size.

Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support


If you just want to upload the photos to your Mac, that's what I do.. I keep iCloud photos turned off on my MacBook, upload the photos/videos to the Photos app, then delete them from the iPhone.

Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support


If the music in question is purchased from iTunes, you can delete that if you want.. You can always re-download it again later.


here is a video that may help


2 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Feb 15, 2021 6:40 PM in response to Bternier1

If you check Settings > General > iPhone Storage.. what's taking up most of your space?


If Photos is what's taking up a bunch of space, doing an iPhone backup and deleting them wouldn't really be a good idea.. in order to access those photos again you'd need to restore your iPhone to that backup. And your backup would only contain those photos if you are not using iCloud photos.


You could utilize iCloud to store your photos (if you are not already) and turn on the switch to optimize storage on your phone which will reduce the image size.

Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support


If you just want to upload the photos to your Mac, that's what I do.. I keep iCloud photos turned off on my MacBook, upload the photos/videos to the Photos app, then delete them from the iPhone.

Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support


If the music in question is purchased from iTunes, you can delete that if you want.. You can always re-download it again later.


here is a video that may help


iPhone to Mac Backup.

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