It might be time to update your Apple device’s software if you want to keep your photos and videos safe.
The tech giant has revealed that it will permanently delete some people’s iCloud device backups, starting from next month.
If your iPhone or iPad is running iOS 8 or older it is at risk, the company says.
iOS 8 dates back to 2014 and the vast majority of iPhone owners are using a much more recent version of iOS.
However, if you haven’t done a software update for a while and you’re unsure what version of iOS your device is using, you may be affected.
‘Starting December 18, 2024, device backups will require iOS 9 or later,’ the tech giant says on a help page on its website.
‘This is to align more closely with our published minimum software requirements.
‘Until this date, you’ll be able to use the service as normal.
iCloud – which starts from 99p per month – stores and syncs your data across all your devices, whether its photos, videos or documents
‘Afterward, your backup data will be deleted unless you update to iOS 9 or later.’
Starting from 99p per month, iCloud syncs your data across all your Apple devices – whether it’s photos, videos or documents – to the cloud.
Meanwhile, iCloud Backup helps keep your data safe by making a copy of the information on your iPhone or iPad that isn’t already synced to iCloud.
Apple says: ‘With Backup turned on, iCloud takes periodic snapshots of this data to make sure it’s easy to restore any time you get a new device.’
Now, Apple saying iCloud Backups will stop working on any device running iOS 8 and prior, whether it an iPhone or an iPad.
The first step is checking what software version your Apple device is running, by heading to the Settings app, followed by ‘General’ and ‘About’.
If your device is already running updated software – iOS 9 or later – no action is required.
But your device is running iOS 8 or earlier, from December 18 you will no longer be able to get iCloud backups and existing backups will be deleted.
Any data on your device that isn’t regularly synced will be stored in your iCloud Backup, Apple explains
The solution is to update your device, which you can do by heading to the Settings app and tapping ‘General’ followed by ‘Software Update’ and following the onscreen steps.
If you have an iPhone 4S or later, an iPad 2 or later, or a fifth generation iPod Touch or later, you should be able to update your device and keep using iCloud Backup.
For those who remember, iPod Touch replicated Apple’s smartphones, with a selection of handy apps and storage capabilities.
And if you’re unable to update your device, you can manually back-up the data to a Mac or PC with iTunes or Finder.
There’s also various ways to archive or make copies of your data and a separate Apple help page outlines various options for this.
As Apple explains, all data on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch remains on the device regardless.
But if you like to have your data backed up somewhere in case your lose your device, it’s worth following the suggested steps.
It follows the loss of My Photo Stream, an album that automatically stored device photos from the last 30 days.
Pictured, a fifth generation iPod Touch. iPod Touch’s services included iCloud, iTunes Store, App Store, Apple Books, Podcasts, Apple Music and more
iPad 2 (released in 2011) was the first iOS device to run five major versions of the mobile operating system – iOS 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8
My Photo Stream had offered free storage for over a decade until July 2023 when it was retired by Apple.
My Photo Stream offered a taster of iCloud, which offers 5GB of storage for free the first time you sign in to an iPhone, iPad or Mac.
A premium option called iCloud+, meanwhile, offers 50GB for £0.99/month, 200GB for £2.99/month and 2TB for £8.99/month.
In the UK, these tiers were previously priced at £0.79/month, £2.49/month and £6.99/month, respectively.
But in several countries including the UK, Apple quietly raised iCloud+ prices around the same time it ended My Photo Stream.