Previous iPhone backups missing on Mac mini M1 after erase

I back up all my devices to my main Mac which is currently a M1 Mac mini and I back up my phone almost monthly. The Mac mini is running the latest software.

I had an issue today with my iPhone 12 mini that meant I had to undertake an 'erase to factory settings' on it.

Luckily before erasing my phone I undertook another backup.

For some reason when I tried to install my back up to my phone the only option available was the last back up I had just undertaken.

The last time I had to do this process was quite some time ago but when I did it I had the options of restoring my phone from all of my previously stored backups.

Any ideas where the other the backups could be or have Apple in their infinite wisdom decided that you can only store the last and latest back up of my mobile devices now?

Please don't tell me just to use the iCloud as I am not interested in giving Apple any more of my money for something I've always been able to do on my computer.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Mac mini, macOS 15.1

Posted on Jan 18, 2025 9:21 AM

Top-ranking reply

MartinR

Level 7

21,991 points

Posted on Jan 22, 2025 10:41 AM

Multiple backups used to be the norm. But in at least the last 3-4 releases of macOS, iPhone/iPad backup behavior has changed - now only the most recent backup is saved by default and every time you back up, it is overwritten. (I suspect this is because iPhone/iPad memory has increased over time and in order to save disk space on your Mac, Apple has changed the default to keep only the most recent backup.)

But you can still save multiple backups by going into "Manage Backups." From there, control-click the current backup (the most recent one); then choose Archive, which will save/archive that backup on its own. The next time you back up your iPhone/iPad, it will become the new, recent backup. You can do this multiple times over time, building up an archive of multiple backups; just remember that each successive archived backup will take more & more disk space.

Further look into iMazing which makes multiple backups easier to create & manage ... and it does incremental backups, saving much disk space. You can also specify any disk as the backup location, you are not restricted to ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup

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16 replies

tbirdvet

Level 6

14,987 points

Jan 22, 2025 4:10 AM in response to Steve Burke

Your iPhone cannot hold more than 1GB of data so you should be OK to use iCloud for just a backup. I backup several iPhones and Macs so I get the 50GB/month for 99 cents/month.

Previous iPhone backups missing on Mac mini M1 after erase