I have an iPhone 13 mini with more than 100,000 photos, and I've never successfully backed it up recently. I used to have two backups, but they disappeared from my account years ago. I have enough iCloud storage, and the phone has 128 GB total storage with 93.27 GB used. It's running iOS 17 and hasn't been updated in about two years.
For the past week, I've tried repeatedly to enable iCloud Backup. The estimated time eventually says several days remaining, but the progress barely moves beyond the beginning before stopping with "Backup could not be completed." I've restarted the phone and left it charging overnight while both powered on and off, but nothing has helped.
The battery health is down to 79%, and the phone can drop from 90% to around 15% within one or two hours. iCloud shows the next backup as "+2.72 GB," while the current backup size says "0 KB." The largest app data entries are listed as 661.1 MB and roughly 504.8 MB, although I may be misreading the units. I'm worried the phone could fail before I manage to save everything.
I don't currently have a working computer, but there may be an older one available. Is the backup too large, or is there another reason iCloud Backup keeps failing? What is the safest way to preserve my photos and other data without risking the phone during an update?
4 Answers
Before trying anything risky, prioritize getting the photos copied somewhere. If you can borrow a working Mac or Windows computer, connect the phone directly by cable rather than relying on wireless syncing. You can also copy photos and videos manually, but that is not the same as a complete device backup. Updating iOS normally shouldn’t erase personal data, though it’s best to create at least one backup or photo copy first and keep the phone plugged in during the update.
The most reliable alternative is a wired backup to a computer. Connect the iPhone with a USB cable and use Finder on a Mac or the Apple Devices app on Windows. A computer backup is separate from iCloud and can preserve much more of the device’s data than simply copying a few files. If the computer is old, make sure it has enough free space and that the phone is recognized before starting.
Would the computer’s larger storage let it complete the backup more successfully? I may have access to an older computer, but I’m not sure whether it still works.
The battery condition is concerning, especially with the phone dropping that quickly. It may not directly cause the backup error, but an aging battery can make the phone unstable or shut down during a long backup. Keep it connected to a reliable charger and avoid letting it get hot. Replacing the battery at an Apple service location or reputable repair shop would reduce the risk of an unexpected shutdown.
The backup size itself probably isn’t the problem. A 2.72 GB backup is relatively small, assuming your iCloud plan has enough free space. iOS may also need some temporary working space on the phone while preparing the backup, so having free local storage matters too. With about 35 GB free, storage shouldn’t normally be a serious limitation, but the backup estimate may not reflect the final size.
I was worried that updating an already unstable phone might make it fail, so I wanted to save the data first. I’ll try to find a working computer before doing anything else.