storage across devices

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Level 1

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storage across devices

I was trying to ask this in an existing thread from last year, but the page gave me a whole new form to fill out, so here we are.

The whole iCloud thing has me confused. As I read it, if I delete something from one of my devices (iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air), if all of them have iCloud turned on for that kind of file, the file will be deleted from all of them and from iCloud. So every file is actually ON every device. Yes? That means that the amount I can store on any of the three devices is limited to the space available on the device with the least amount of storage. There's no point in getting a MacBook with 2 TB of storage if my iPhone only has 256GB--if they're all synced with iCloud, I'll only be able to put 256 GB worth of stuff on the MacBook since everything has to also be on the iPhone. Am I understanding that right? I can't delete some files from the iPhone, and just keep them on the MacBook, because all files have to be stored on all devices as well as in iCloud. Unless one device (probably the one with the lowest amount of storage) is never synced to the others. Which kind of defeats the purpose of the whole "ecosystem" idea.

I hope I'm misunderstanding how it works, because this makes no sense to me.

iPhone 13 Pro

Posted on Mar 6, 2022 5:43 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

FoxFifth

Level 10

472,263 points

Mar 6, 2022 6:09 PM in response to che47

See the following from Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

If you turn on Optimize Storage, iCloud Photos automatically manages the size of your library on your device. Your original photos and videos are stored in iCloud and space-saving versions are kept on your device. Your library is optimized only when you need space, starting with the photos and videos you access least. You can download the original photos and videos over Wi-Fi or cellular when you need them.

You can turn on the Photos Optimize Storage option on each device (i.e., one device, all devices or no devices -- the option is controlled one each device).

There is a similar option for iCloud Drive files.

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Answer 2

che47 Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 6, 2022 6:23 PM in response to FoxFifth

Thank you for responding, FoxFifth. Optimizing is great, but won't I still be limited to keeping no more on any device than will fit on my device with the least storage space? (So buying a laptop or an iPad with more storage than my iPhone has is a waste of money, yes?)

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Answer 3

FoxFifth

Level 10

472,263 points

Mar 6, 2022 6:32 PM in response to che47

No. For example, you can have Optimize your Mac laptop turned off (assuming it has a large amount of storage) but optimize your iPhone that has a smaller amount of storage if the Photos won't fit on it.

From your original post:

"There's no point in getting a MacBook with 2 TB of storage if my iPhone only has 256GB--if they're all synced with iCloud, I'll only be able to put 256 GB worth of stuff on the MacBook since everything has to also be on the iPhone."

The MacBook may be able to hold everything unoptimized -- but if everything won't fit on your iPhone, you can turn optimization on in it.

Also, there is no requirement to turn on iCloud syncing for every type of data on all of your devices if you don't want that.

And if you're looking for storage with a cloud-only storage option, there are 3rd party options to consider such as Google or Microsoft. You can use those on your Apple devices.

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storage across devices

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