You don't need the internet to backup an iPhone. But you do need a ~Mac~ Computer.
Edit: Mac -> computer
Exactly! You can still backup/restore an iPhone locally offline just like the PDA example, even with a Windows PC:
> https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/back-up-iphone-iph3ec....
I don't understand OPs problem with cloud backups being charged for? Many people (myself included) are storing terabytes of images/videos in their cloud backups. While I think the free tier could offer more than 5gb, its not unreasonable to charge for larger cloud backups, Android does the same thing.
Itunes backups don't get everything. No media files originating from the itunes store are backed up. Some apps are not backed up. Anything that's backed up to iCloud is not backed up with itunes. You essentially have to pick one: online or offline backups. If you keep your phone backed up to iCloud your offline backups are useless without an internet connection.
Re:
by frosted-flakes on Wednesday February 15, 2023 @01:27PM
(#34808336)
Itunes on Windows supports device backups just fine.
> 10mb/s upstream
Let me guess, Xfinity?
Re:
by neon_electro on Wednesday February 15, 2023 @03:30PM
(#34810129)
Why aren't you backing up locally? You clearly speak like you're used to it "back when you were carrying around a PDA".
I am. It's one of the reasons I only run a rooted android device. Most people aren't so lucky.
Re:
by sbierwagen on Wednesday February 15, 2023 @05:52PM
(#34812067)
Sure, but you can also do one-click backups of an iphone using itunes on Windows or MacOS without rooting anything. It's a stock feature.
Yep. One of the most glaring examples of this is the complete extinction of portable backups. Back when I was carrying around a PDA I could plug it in, hit one button, and have a total backup of everything on my device. Plug a blank device in, hit one button, and everything is restored. Today if you want a bulletproof device backup you have to pay Apple for the privilege, and even then you're completely crippled by your upload and download bandwidth. It takes a long damn time to back up 512GB of data at 10mb/s upstream. Nearly five straight days, in fact.