Back up size much larger in iOS 16

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Back up size much larger in iOS 16

I recently upgrade to iOS 16, my back up size went from 1.5 - 2.0 GB, to over 20GB.

First noticed this when asked to back up before receiving my iPhone 14, I thought it must be a phone transfer related size increase that would go back to normal on the new device, but it’s still backing up to a huge size.

I have a feeling it’s backing up Photos and Messages too (just the rough math gets me to that size). I have everything in the cloud on (photos, messages, files, etc) I’ve tried to turn on and off iCloud Photos to see if that would jar it back into normal size. I’ve restarted the phone. Force quit apps. No changes.

Anyone else experiencing this problem?

iPhone 14 Pro

Posted on Sep 20, 2022 3:00 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 24, 2022 11:38 AM in response to jimwebb22

Hello jimwebb22,

Thanks for posting here in Apple Support Communities. Are you looking at the next backup size or the size of the last backup?Your device may be backing up Messages if you're not storing your messages in iCloud. You can see what the iCloud backup includes here: What does iCloud back up? - Apple Support (IN)

"Here’s what iCloud Backup includes

App data
Apple Watch backups1
Device settings
Home screen and app organization
iMessage, text (SMS), and MMS messages2
Photos and videos on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch2
Purchase history from Apple services, like your music, movies, TV shows, apps, and books3
Ringtones
Visual Voicemail password (requires the SIM card that was in use during backup)"

Is your device currently backing up as expected? Keep us posted.

Cheers.

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Answer 2

jimwebb22 Author

Level 1

12 points

Sep 27, 2022 9:17 AM in response to Keisha_Keisha

Thank you for the reply Keisha. What I believe is happening, is that even though the I have iMessage in iCloud turned on, my phone is still backing up the messages. My backup total size increased by about the amount of the iMessages on my phone. To me this was unexpected behavior based on the description.

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Back up size much larger in iOS 16

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