Consider transitioning from iPhone backup/sync with Mac to iCloud

mphelpsmd wrote:

OK, that's good to know that iCloud backups and computer backups/sync aren't mutually exclusive.

If I understand correctly, then, each technique has its advantages and disadvantages:

iCloud Backup: Continuous backup (vs intermittent when connected to computer), but not able to transfer music/playlists

Computer sync: Able to transfer music, but intermittent backup

Is this correct?

Mike

Not quite correct.

iCloud Backup (backing up iPhone) backs up everything on the iPhone, including your own personal music and playlists if the music is your own (versus a subscription, e.g. Apple Music). But when you restore it can only restore EVERYTHING on the iPhone as well, it does not allow for selective restoring of specific things. It simply restores your iPhone to the state it was in when backed up. Things that were in iCloud or obtained from the App Store are simply redownloaded from those places during the restore. Nominally, this type of backup is done once per day when the iPhone is connected to power and on WiFi.

Computer sync (used to be done in iTunes, now is done in the Finder) allows you to synchronize specific contact, such as music, photo collections etc. It is not a backup, it simply synchronizes. For instance, if you have 100 songs on your Mac, the sync will place those 100 songs on the iPhone. If you delete 1 song from the Mac and then sync again, the iPhone will now have 99 songs matching what is now on the Mac.

Backup iPhone to the Mac -- this used to be done in iTunes and is now done in the Finder. It makes a bulk backup of everything on the iPhone to the Mac. Restoring is either the whole thing or nothing (similar to iCloud Backup for the iPhone). This type of backup is done when the user requests it.

You’ve received some great info already.

The subtle difference between “iCloud sync” and the “daily backup” is lost on many.

Here’s some more info to help you develop your recovery strategy.

What does iCloud back up? - Apple Support

Several comments which may be helpful:

(1) You can have iPhone backups to both iCloud and to your computer. The iCloud backups are done daily, the ones to your computer are done when you tell it to do them.

(2) If you do not subscribe to Apple Music, my understanding is that your personal Music and everything else on your iPhone are backed up to iCloud and then restored when you switch to a new phone or need to restore the existing phone completely. We have done this when switching to new phones and when the full restore is done, the device looks just like the old phone did as of the last backup. If you are using iCloud for something (e.g. Notes, Contacts ... these syncs are separate from the iCloud backup function) then those items are not included in the iCloud backup of the phone but are restored from iCloud in addition to what is restored from the backup. So the effect is the same -- the "old" and "new" phones are reproduced completely.

I don't subscribe to Apple Music but have thousands of music files on both the Mac and the iPhone. These were restored from the iCloud backup along with everything else when I transitioned to a new phone. In the past I have also restored from the iPhone backup that is on the Mac with the same result.

One last item. "Can I get this same functionality (sync MP3 files and playlists) if I switch to iCloud backups?"

No. iCloud backups of the iPhone are simply a complete backup and can only be used for a complete iPhone restore. They are not used for syncing. For syncing music and playlists, you need to connect the iPhone to the Mac and tell it to sync (or configure it to sync). The sync function and the backup function are different and separate.