When you backup your iPhone, your photos are stored in iCloud, which is Apple’s cloud storage service. This means that your original photos and videos are safely stored in the cloud, accessible from any device with your iCloud account.
The backup process ensures that your photos and videos are securely copied to iCloud, so even if something happens to your iPhone, you can still access them from other devices. This is particularly useful if you lose your phone or upgrade to a new one.
In addition to storing your photos in iCloud, your iPhone also keeps space-saving versions of the photos and videos on your device. These optimized versions take up less space, allowing you to store more content on your iPhone. The optimized versions are lower resolution versions of your photos and videos, but they still look great on your device’s screen.
The optimization process starts by analyzing your usage patterns and determining which photos and videos you access least. It then replaces these with the space-saving versions, freeing up storage space on your iPhone. This optimization process is automatic and happens in the background, so you don’t have to worry about manually managing your storage.
When you open a photo or video that has been optimized, your iPhone will download the original version from iCloud. This can be done over Wi-Fi or cellular data, depending on your settings and connection availability. This means that you can always access the full resolution original photos and videos whenever you need them, even if they have been optimized on your device.
Downloading the original versions of photos and videos from iCloud is seamless and transparent. You don’t have to manually initiate the download or worry about running out of space on your device. Your iPhone intelligently manages the storage, ensuring that you have access to your full quality content when you need it.
To summarize, when you backup your iPhone, your photos and videos are stored in iCloud. Space-saving versions are kept on your device to optimize storage. The optimization process is automatic and replaces the least accessed content with optimized versions. You can always download the original versions over Wi-Fi or cellular when you want to access them. This ensures that your photos and videos are safely stored, while still allowing you to free up space on your device.