What data is preserved in iPhone transfer?
I am involved in an ongoing lawsuit that requires I prevent "spoliation of evidence" across electronic records. In other words, all data needs to be preserved to a certain level, including texts and pictures, but also any metadata and hidden data (as detailed as showing when a file was deleted).
Unfortunately, during all of this, I have had my earpiece stop working, charging port stop working, and now the top centimeter or so of the screen does not respond to touch commands. So, I need a new phone, and I would really like to be able to trade it in. It is an iPhone X running iOS 14.6; I am getting a 12 Pro Max. It is with Verizon and they will use Apple's data migration service.
Should I be worried that I will lose something in the transfer that I may not be aware of? Or does it truly create a carbon copy of the data, including hidden data?
iPhone X