Some of our most valuable data is stored on our iPhones. If an accident breaks your device, you risk losing all of your data. That’s why I’ve always recommended setting up a backup routine for your iPhone (not to mention the rest of the technology in your life). Some of you may prefer to store all of that data in the cloud, while others prefer a more local approach. Whichever you choose, a backup is the smart way to go.

This is the easiest method to backup your iPhone, and it's the one I recommend for almost everyone. You don't need any extra equipment for this to work, just your iPhone and a working internet connection. It's a "set it and forget it" way to backup your iPhone, and it's reliable enough for everyone.

There are two major drawbacks to backing up your data to iCloud. First, you have to pay for storage. (The free 5GB hasn’t been enough for years.) You can get up to 50GB of cloud storage for $1 a month, but most people eventually move on to higher tiers, and that gets expensive pretty quickly. Second, you should know that iCloud is a syncing service, not a true backup solution. This means that if you delete your photos from one device, they’re deleted from all of them. So you have to be careful with your data and not delete things you actually need.

Apple also lets you back up your iPhone to your Mac. All you need is a cable to connect your iPhone to your Mac and enough free space to store the backup. When you’re ready, connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable. Open a Finder and select your iPhone from the sidebar in the left pane. Select General , then click Back Up All Data on Your iPhone to This Mac . Finally, click Back Up Now to begin the backup. You can even encrypt this backup so that no one can access it. (Just make sure you remember the password—if you forget it, your backup is lost.)