testing manual iphone 14 pro max backup and restore to macbook 15.1 (24B83) and restore

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Level 1

9 points

testing manual iphone 14 pro max backup and restore to macbook 15.1 (24B83) and restore

I have been manually backing up my iphone to macbook via Finder then using time machine to back up macbook to external hard drive.

iphone backup on macbook is taking over 100gb of storage space so I want to delete.

So I decided to test if I could delete iphone backup on macbook and restore from the external hard drive.

Apple Support have advised I have to use migration app to do this ... migration app is scary ... because I don't know which box to tick out of Applications; User; other files/folders; system & network because I'm unsure which section the hidden file is in. I tried ticking "other files/folders" but the backup file hadn't been restored to it's place in Macbook (mobilesync folder which is only accessible via go>gotofolder). The file is still in the trash so I haven't lost it.

I was going to try to tick user box but a scary instruction came up to set a password for the admin account. also in the instructions on support.apple.com it seems to indicate that unless I choose the "replace" option I will create a new user account.

surely there is some easier way to restore ONE file ...

interestingly since I started this process I've had a message that imessage is no longer working on macbook and was asked to enter my apple account password and software update permission to install later tonigh also asked for a password that I had already entered earlier today.

#migration assistant #restore #restore iphone #iphonebackuptomacbook #restoremacbookbackupfromexternalharddrive

iPhone 14 Pro Max

Posted on Nov 19, 2024 3:22 PM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

60,554 points

Nov 21, 2024 2:36 PM in response to kezr

If you delete the iPhone backup from the Mac, then eventually the iPhone backup within your Time Machine backup will disappear once the older TM backups are deleted to make room for newer ones (depends on how large the TM drive is compared to your Mac's backup size).

The iPhone/iPad backups are stored somewhere with the hidden Library within your home user folder (~/Library). It may be possible to manually move them to external media. I'm not sure how the restoration process would work though as you may need to copy it back in order to restore the iPhone (I'm not sure if it allows you to choose a location). However, if you do this, then that iPhone backup is not being backed up which means if it is accidentally deleted or becomes corrupt, then you won't have a backup of the iPhone. Seems like letting TM continue backing it up is the best option.

If your TM backup drive is not large enough, then that is a huge problem for your backups. A TM backup drive really should be at least 2-3 times larger than the amount of data you are backing up from all sources. The larger the TM drive, the further back in time you can go to retrieve documents.

Another option is to pay Apple for iCloud storage so you can back up your iPhone to iCloud and perhaps keep one local manual copy of the iPhone backup on a local external drive.

How to back up your iPhone or iPad with iCloud - Apple Support

Buy iCloud+ or upgrade your current storage plan - Apple Support

FYI, iCloud is not a backup service for your Mac.....only for your iPhones & iPads. Checking my iPhone it would cost just $2.99US/month for 200GB of iCloud storage. I have to pay $12US/year for the 50GB plan and I don't even have 10GB worth of data. If that is too expensive, then upgrade your TM drive to a larger size as that is just a one time purchase (higher up front cost though).

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Answer 2

HWTech

Level 9

60,554 points

Nov 21, 2024 6:04 PM in response to kezr

You can just restore a single file. You open the TM app and navigate to the file you want. I have the TM icon on the menu bar and it has an option "Browse Time Machine Backup". See the following Apple article for more details:

Restore items backed up with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 3

kezr Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 21, 2024 3:22 PM in response to HWTech

Thankyou so much :)

My TM backup (TMB) external hard drive is large enough (I think it's more than 1TB from memory) but I think it might be impossible to restore just one file from TMB especially as that file is hidden. (The folder it is in, "mobile sync", is hidden) .. even if it wasn't hidden I think it is basically impossible to restore just one file from a TMB .. I wish Apple could prove me wrong. Also, as you mentioned, if I could restore iPhone backup to MacBook it remains to be seen whether it would then successfully restore to iPhone via Finder.

Maybe I should start a new post for Apple's attention labelled "I'm pretty sure it's impossible to restore a single file from TMB to macbook" 🤔

Again many thanks for your reply.

PS I do agree buying iCloud storage is not too costly .. it's just I prefer to limit my data going to any cloud storage .. just my personal feelings about this ☺️

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