iPhone backup on computer

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Level 1

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iPhone backup on computer

Hi

I dont use cloud services, but when i sync my iPhone to my MacBook, i back up the phone. Recently i upgraded the phone to iOS 9, which is too advanced to sync on my ancient computer. so my two questions are:

1- where do i find the backed-up iPhone on my computer, and

2- can i restore the back-up if it involves downgrading the iOS to a previous version (i would hav to send the back up file to a computer running the newest iTunes and sync my phone to that)

iPhone 4s (8GB), iOS 9

Posted on Oct 11, 2015 6:34 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

morrispe

Level 4

1,224 points

Oct 13, 2015 6:22 PM in response to poktik

iPhone backups reside in iTunes. You can view them by launching iTunes, go to preferences, devices tab, and then view any backups.

Will iTunes on your Mac not update to the current 12.3 version and what OS are you running on the Mac? If not then I guess that is probably the issue.

Downgrading iOS is a real PITA and not something I've attempted myself. I believe Apple stopped signing 8.4 so not sure if its possible to roll back to that now.

In my opinion fear of cloud services involves a lot of misinformation and FUD more than any real threat. Apple is a leader when it comes to respecting the privacy of their customers and your iCloud backups are encrypted. Realistically the easiest thing for you to do is to enable iCloud backups on your iOS device until such time as you upgrade your Mac so that it will support local backups of iOS9 again if that is your preferred solution.

The good thing is that you are backing up your iPhone as too many people don't until its too late and they've already lost their data.

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Answer 2

poktik Author

Level 1

0 points

Oct 13, 2015 6:28 PM in response to morrispe

Hi. my macbook was discontinued in 2012 and cant upgrade past OS 10.6.8. if i'd known that the iOS 9 would render it obsolete, i'd hav stuck with iOS 8. i tried your advice, Devices > Backup. but the computer iTunes wont read the iPhone, so i cant even access the backup files. i cant find the relevant files within Finder either.

thanx, your advice was really helpful even tho i couldn't implement it. i will get more informed on cloud services tho, could save me some trouble in the long run.

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