Today, March 31 is World Backup Day â a good reminder to check in on your
device backups. Even with Appleâs high-quality products, itâs important to
backup regularly. No device works flawlessly all the time and there are many
scenarios outside of device failure when a backup is crucial like upgrading,
accidents, bugs, loss, or theft. Letâs look at a variety of ways to backup
iPhone, iPad, and Mac with built-in and third-party options, NAS, and more.
At the very minimum, itâs key to have at least one backup of your important
information, but two or more copies are ideal. And to be fully protected, you
want to have at least one backup of your data off-site (with a cloud service,
in a bank security box, at a friendâs house, etc.).
Below weâll look at a variety of ways to backup all of your Apple devices
including free built-in options like iCloud and your Mac as well as more
advanced third-party hardware and services.
iCloud
The simplest way to backup an iOS/iPadOS device is through iCloud. In the event
something happens to your device or you upgrade, itâs seamless to restore
everything with your iCloud backup.
Hereâs how to check your iCloud backup settings:
1. On iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, head to the Settings app
2. Tap your name at the top then choose iCloud
3. Now tap iCloud Backup
4. Tap the toggle to turn on iCloud backups if theyâre not already
5. You can see the last successful iCloud backup under the âBack Up Nowâ
button
Once iCloud Backup is turned on, your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch will
automatically backup when it is charging and connected to Wi-Fi with the screen
locked. Itâs also a good idea to review what you have iCloud backing up with
the toggles.
One thing to watch out for is running out of iCloud Storage. Apple includes 5
GB for free, but that doesnât go far. Apple offers 50GB for $0.99/month and
up to 2TB for $9.99/month. It may also be worth checking out if an Apple One
bundle could save you some money.
Under Settings > iCloud, tap Manage Storage. Now you should see âChange
Storage Plan,â choose that and youâll see the current plan that youâre on
and the upgrade options.
Apple Watch Backups
Apple Watch backups happen automatically with iCloud iPhone backups. Itâs
also backed up when you unpair Apple Watch from an iPhone. For now, thereâs
no way to manually make an Apple Watch backup like there is with iPhone.
Backup iOS devices with Mac
Backing up your iPhone, iPad, iPod with your Mac is simple to do but means
youâll need to remember to plug it in. One benefit here is your iOS backups
will then also be saved with your Mac (Time Machine etc.) backups as well.
1. Plug your device into your computer with the Lightning to USB cable.
2. If prompted, choose to âTrust This Computer.â
3. In macOS Catalina and later, open a Finder window
⦠On macOS Mojave and earlier, open iTunes (same for PCs)
4. Look for your iPhone on the left sidebar and click it (top left near
playback controls in iTunes)
5. In the middle of the screen, click Back Up Now
⦠You can check the status of your backup in the sidebar
6. Click the eject button next to your iPhone before unplugging it
7. You can also change the default backup settings in the middle of the screen
to always back up all of your iPhone/iPad/iPod data to your Mac when plugging
in
Backup iPhone and iPad with third-party options
A popular alternative to backing up your iOS device with Finder/iTunes is
iMazing for Mac/PC.
You get advanced controls like the ability to save and export Messages,
ringtone management, and more detailed backup settings. iMazing offers a free
trial and is available for $49.99 for a lifetime license.
External drives for iOS devices
Another handy option to backup iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch is with
Lightning/USB-C flash drives like the SanDisk iXpand devices.
The iXpand devices use an iOS app that allows them to automatically backup your
photos, contacts, and more every time you plug them in. You can also manually
manage your data with these devices. And if you have an iPad Air or Pro with a
USB-C port, you can use them as external storage with the Files app.
Other options include apps from your cellular carrier and other third parties
like Dropbox, Box, Google, and more. However, third-party apps usually donât
feature backups that are as complete as using iCloud, a Mac/PC, or the other
options.
Time Machine
This is one of the easiest ways to make sure your Mac is backed up. Time
Machine is built-in to macOS and with a drive connected, creates hourly backups
for the last 24 hours, daily backups for the last month, and weekly backups for
the last year.
You can find 1TB external drives from Seagate and Western Digital for around
$50. Faster SSDs
often go for $150+, and the fastest external storage â Thunderbolt 3/4 drives
are the most expensive.
If you have an issue with your Mac and need to bring back your data, you can
either restore everything by using a Time Machine backup or enter the Time
Machine app on your Mac to restore individual files.
1. The first time you plug in an external drive, macOS should ask if youâd
like to use it with Time Machine
2. To manually adjust your Time Machine settings, head to System Preferences >
Time Machine (or click the icon in the menu bar > Open Time Machine
Preferences)
3. Make sure the box is checked next to âBack Up Automaticallyâ and also
turning on the menu bar Time Machine icon is handy for quick access if itâs
not already
4. Click âSelect Diskâ to add a new backup drive (you can use multiple)
⦠If you already have more than one connected, click âAdd or Remove Backup
Diskâ¦â
5. With the menu bar Time Machine tool, you can manually start a backup, see
your latest one, and more
Time Machine backups with NAS
Another way to automatically backup with Time Machine is with a Network
Attached Storage (NAS) device. Some of the main advantages here include more
advanced options and greater flexibility.
Third-party automatic Mac backups
Carbon Copy Cloner
If youâre looking for an alternative to using Time Machine for backups that
offers more control and advanced options, Carbon Copy Cloner is a good choice.
You can create a range of backup tasks to run on a schedule automatically or
manually. And you can choose to backup your Mac to external drives as well as
other Macs.
Carbon Copy Cloner is a one-time purchase for $39.99 for all the Macs in your
house. You can also test it out for free with a 30-day trial.
Backblaze
is probably the most popular automatic cloud backup service for Mac (and other
platforms too). Plans start from $7/month or $70/year per device for unlimited
data. This is an easy way to make sure youâve got your Mac backed up off-site.
Backblaze has a strong track record and also offers a 15-day trial if you want
to give it a shot before paying for a plan.
Manual backups
Of course, you can always manually backup any of your important data by
dragging and dropping to external drives or with cloud services like iCloud
Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc. But this isnât usually a great option to
use as your primary backup strategy since you have to remember to do it
regularly and it likely wonât include all of your data.
By Michael Potuck
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