More HDD space than my iPhones capacity, but still cant back it up

Deleted a lump of files this morning as I couldn't backup my iPhone.

I have 2x 1TB HDD in my MacMini, got the 500GB iPhone with about 180GB used.

Main disc apparently has 699GB available but getting the message that there isn't enough space left.


Well. that is if I look a manage storage.

When I click on Get Info on the system drive, I get 90GB free, even though I just deleted 400GB worth of Final Cut Pro files


Please help ....


Thanks



iPhone 15 Pro Max, iOS 17

Posted on Sep 24, 2023 8:11 AM

Reply
9 replies

Sep 25, 2023 11:22 AM in response to MacKailich

Hmm….


Startup the Mac mini in Safe Mode followed by a normal restart.


Shutdown and Restart the iPhone.


Then reconnect the iPhone to the Mac mini.


Back up iPhone - Apple Support


Back up iPhone using your Mac

  1. Connect iPhone and your computer with a cable.
  2. In the Finder sidebar on your Mac, select your iPhone.
  3. To use the Finder to back up iPhone, macOS 10.15 or later is required. With earlier versions of macOS, use iTunesto back up iPhone.
  4. At the top of the Finder window, click General.
  5. Select “Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac.”
  6. To encrypt your backup data and protect it with a password, select “Encrypt local backup.”
  7. Click Back Up Now.

Note: You can also connect iPhone to your computer wirelessly if you set up syncing over Wi-Fi.

Sep 26, 2023 2:41 PM in response to MacKailich

Apple unfortunately has made it difficult & confusing when it comes to ascertaining storage. Some of it is due to how the APFS file system works, but part of it is how Apple has macOS displays the information. So many times the information is incorrect or even outright misleading.


First thing to note is from your screenshots, you have only about 58GB of Free storage immediately accessible for new data. Unfortunately macOS tends to focus on "Available" storage which consists of actual Free space immediate available for use and "Purgeable" storage which is storage which at some unknown point in the future will be usable for new data. Only Disk Utility actually shows the Free storage value on its own.


Now to why you have 772GB of "Purgeable" storage. The data you deleted is most likely still being retained within one or more hidden APFS snapshots most likely related to Time Machine backups or a third party backup app. These APFS snapshots will be automatically deleted at some point once the backup has been completely transferred to external media. Some backup apps may actually keep an APFS snapshot for longer, so make sure to check the backup app's settings/preferences.


You can view and even delete APFS snapshots using Disk Utility. See this Apple article for details:

View APFS snapshots in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support


Be careful deleting backup snapshots before the contents are fully transferred to external media.


Another area where APFS storage becomes confusing is when you copy a file/folder to another location within the same APFS volume. The data is not copied, but a new link to the original data. In order to actually get free space back, you would need to delete both links.....when deleting the last link to the "copied" data, then the file system will finally delete the actual data which will provide more free useable space depending on whether an APFS snapshot still exists prior to deleting the data.


Hope this helps to explain things a bit. I hope I presented it in a way that makes sense since it is a bit confusing and I have never been able to find any online references which can provide this information in simple terms with diagrams & examples (those sites that do usually end up having other information or references which I feel can cause more confusion & problems for the average user).

More HDD space than my iPhones capacity, but still cant back it up

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