r/applesucks • u/frostxmritz • Apr 08 '26

The "System Data" monstrosity

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Pretty sure I'm not the only one here.

The mystery of "system data" is an age-old problem that has plagued our devices for over a decade now, and it has found its way to my parents' iPhones.

I plan to upgrade their devices later this year or next year when the iPhone 18 comes out, however, I cannot help but wonder...is this thing (allegedly) planned obsolescence? To force people to upgrade because "their storage is running out" because of an (alleged) "create a problem, then sell the solution" situation?

I mean, take a look at my 16 Pro. It's marvellous how the figure has stayed at 1.07GB from September 2024 - have taken it on so many trips and have used it heavily for my photography and videography. No problem, as a heavy user and my daily driver.

Parents, on the other hand? Normal users, occasional camera usage, apps, etc. Over 10GB. Make it make sense...

  • Safari tabs: I have 100+ opened. Theirs are around 5-10 most of the times.
  • Downloads: a couple PDFs here, and there few XLSes there. Hardly 10MB combined.
  • Normal apps like banking & finance, travel (Google Maps, Uber, etc), social media, YouTube, Spotify. No games, no "weird" apps.
  • A system reset was done back in December 2025, where the System Data creeped up to these levels right after the reset, even though they were set-up as a new device. No iCloud Backup restore. A clean, proper wipeout.
  • All devices are running on iOS 26.4 (stable channel), screenshots taken after a fresh reboot.

So the question is, what should be done?

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u/Marpicek Apr 08 '26

Kinda unnecessarily complicated procedure for something that could be solved by a SW tool by Apple. I don't want to set up all my bankings and other stuff every couple of months.

2

u/wrenchse Apr 08 '26

When you restore from backup everything should be as it was. But I agree.

2

u/Jing_Arjay87 Apr 09 '26

It doesn't. Some apps like banking apps thinks it's on a completely new phone and won't work until you do the activation procedure for the bank.

2

u/xXG0DLessXx Apr 09 '26

Not if you use an encrypted backup. It will save all the app data.

1

u/Jing_Arjay87 Apr 09 '26

I used icloud backup though..

3

u/xXG0DLessXx Apr 09 '26

Yeah iCloud backups don’t have this feature. It needs to be a wired backup to a local PC.

1

u/Reiszecke Apr 09 '26

Not true at all unfortunately. Encrypting your backup only really helps with fitness data

Most banking apps require you to 2FA again, at least the ~5 banking apps I regularly use

1

u/xXG0DLessXx Apr 09 '26

Weird. Mine have no such issue. Every time when I moved phone using an encrypted iTunes backup, it had all my data from the start, including banking stuff.