Unbelievable: APPLE deletes iCloud backups without warning after 180 days

[apfelmann]

I cannot believe it. Apple is so bad with online services.

I pay for iCloud 200 GB account.

One year ago my iPad Got broken. Now I bought a new one and wanted to put the old ipad iCloud back up on the new iPad.

But the old iCloud back up is gone. APPLE deleted it automatically after 180 days without warning?

Is Apple completely crazy?
The user pays for the online storage, and apple deletes the data!!!!

Without warning!

I am so angry. But what can I do? Nothing it seems.

 

[Suture]

Were you still paying for the 200GB plan while the previous iPad was broken? If so, that sucks.

 

[rs0212]

It's always been in their FAQs and support documents. They will delete any device backups that are 180 days old. I know, it's stupid. They should let you keep it as long as you want, if you have the storage available.

 

[HDFan]

A 180 day retention policy is actually rather generous. One of my backup services has a 30 day retention policy. You can change it to unlimited, but it costs a lot more. I assume Apple's pricing model is based on the fact that most people aren't using all of the storage subscription. If Apple were to have an unlimited retention policy they would have to charge a lot more. Pick your poison: short retention or higher price.

 

[apfelmann]

Were you still paying for the 200GB plan while the previous iPad was broken? If so, that sucks.

Yes I am paying the 200GB for many years
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It's always been in their FAQs and support documents. They will delete any device backups that are 180 days old. I know, it's stupid. They should let you keep it as long as you want, if you have the storage available.

The most stupid thing is: NO WARNING before they delete it

 

[Elitegate]

I cannot believe it. Apple is so bad with online services.

I pay for iCloud 200 GB account.

One year ago my iPad Got broken. Now I bought a new one and wanted to put the old ipad iCloud back up on the new iPad.

But the old iCloud back up is gone. APPLE deleted it automatically after 180 days without warning?

Is Apple completely crazy?
The user pays for the online storage, and apple deletes the data!!!!

Without warning!

I am so angry. But what can I do? Nothing it seems.

Another good reason to backup with iTunes instead. That way you also do not have to pay for the storage.

 

[apfelmann]

A 180 day retention policy is actually rather generous. One of my backup services has a 30 day retention policy. You can change it to unlimited, but it costs a lot more. I assume Apple's pricing model is based on the fact that most people aren't using all of the storage subscription. If Apple were to have an unlimited retention policy they would have to charge a lot more. Pick your poison: short retention or higher price.

I think you misunderstood me. I did not want to go back to an old back-up ... it was the ONLY back-up, the NEWEST back-up I had ... but they deleted it ,.. WITHOUT WARNING
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Another good reason to backup with iTunes instead. That way you also do not have to pay for the storage.

Yes, but I mean NO OTHER COMPANY would delete User data without warning ... more so if the user PAYS for the service

Google or Dropbox would never ever do that

 

[HDFan]

I think you misunderstood me. I did not want to go back to an old back-up ... it was the ONLY back-up, the NEWEST back-up I had ... but they deleted it ,.. WITHOUT WARNING

The backup was older than 180 days so it was deleted. Makes no difference that it was the only one.

However you should have been warned. I receive emails from my other services when this is about to happen. I would submit feedback to Apple:

Product Feedback

We would love to hear your comments about any of our hardware and software products. Send us your thoughts.

www.apple.com

That's why you need a good backup policy, 3-3-3, 3-3-2, ...

 

[StellarVixen]

Physical media is physical media. I never trusted someone other's computer (cloud) to keep my data safe , and never will.

 

[newellj]

It might be better than nothing at all, but a backup that's more than six months old would not be much good for me. A backup policy where the most recent backup is > six months old is more of a last resort policy than backup policy. I will also say that the last time I tried to set up a phone from an iCloud backup the file turned out to be corrupt, so it was actually useless.

 

[nicho]

A backup policy where the most recent backup is > six months old is more of a last resort policy than backup policy.

Unless you're the kind who would replenish fresh fruit daily to stock up an emergency shelter rather than buy canned goods and be done with it for years, then I think you may have missed OP's important detail that he was without said device in the interim period. Yes the data is "old" but since he didn't use the device for over 6 months, the data would be unchanged. A hypothetical backup completed with the device one day before the attempted restore would have contained exactly the same information.

 

[mmomega]

It's an inconvenience, worst case scenario.

If the FAQ says 180 day deletion of backups then they in no way have to tell you the day of, the week of, the month of deletion. It has already been told. From that point it is personal responsibility to keep up with it.

Life XP

 

[Suture]

I had no idea they delete backups after 180 days. Surprised they don’t notify. It’s not difficult to have a workflow trigger an automatic email notification after a given time.