I have a Newton MessagePad 120 from 1995. The MessagePad has 4 AA batteries, plus a DL2032 coin cell for “backup power”.
For storage, the MessagePad 120 had 1.36 MB of flash RAM, plus I have a 2 MB PCMCIA flash card. Luxury!
What I don’t know is what would happen if both the main and backup batteries ran all the way down. So I’ve kept it plugged in to external power for 30 years.
Nice tip, we’ll see what happens next. She doesn’t have a credit card at all, so that is not an option. Where I’m living in Europe it is not common. I don’t have one here either, I get by fine with cash, debit card and online banking.
Since I’m not using the paid iCloud myself I also can’t advise what options there are until we try to set it up. As I recall from last attempt sometime last year (this topic might not come up with her for some more months, or maybe tomorrow, hard to say), the iPhone in question is using a family member’s iCloud account, for which we don’t have and will not be given, the password.
So kind of stuck.
I have thought about offering to (or doing quietly) a backup to one of my infrequently used laptops in user account set up for that task only. But she frequently complains that this other family member is reading her texts and such with spyware. While I think this is unlikely it’s not out of the question as there are some dodgy connections out there and if spyware is on her iPhone I am not keen to sync it to one of my laptops.
Maybe keep an eye out for a refurb for that purpose…
Wow, awesome! MessagePad still in use, hurrah!
I believe the data will be lost.
I’m packing up my house for a move, so I expect to find my MessagePad 130 in a box in my attic. It’s been sitting for a few years, so I may be able to give you a definitive answer shortly.
I think the data (programs, etc.) will be maintained, although time and settings info will be lost. I believe the Newton has nonvolatile storage. (I haven’t check my MessagePad 2100 in quite a while.)
You may be right about that. I did some googling, and MessagePad models starting with the 120 used non-volatile Flash RAM for user data. That said, Flash RAM data storage does degrade over time. If it has been many years since the MessagePad received power, data may be lost.
If her phone is logged in to a relative’s Apple ID for Messages, then all non-SMS messages sent to her phone number will go to that Apple ID and will be visible on all other devices with Messages logged in to that ID.
No spyware necessary for this.
You really need to get her her own Apple ID, or switch it to yours, in order to avoid this issue.
Thanks @Shamino I’ll take a look at this on the next visit.
As @Shamino commented, the better approach would be to sign her phone into her own Apple Account and subscribe her account to an adequately sized iCloud+ plan. There is no need of a credit card to set up and pay for any of Apple’s subscription services. I have an Apple One subscription that I pay by purchasing Apple gift cards and redeeming them into my Apple Account balance. When the monthly payment is due Apple simply draws from the balance and, because I choose the option, they email a receipt. Also note in many cases there is an option to pay for a full year at once for approximately the cost of 10 months or 80%.
Another option would be to give her access to your iCloud space by way of Family Sharing. This plan will maintain your and her data privacy, but offers you a little insight into the on or off-line status of her phone when the Find My function is turned on.
Here is a matrix of iCloud+ plans and features on Apple’s website:
Choose the plan that’s right for you.
Thanks @Scott5 , plenty of good ideas there! I know where I can buy Apple gift cards locally, so that’s a step in the right direction.
Family Sharing I looked at about 2 years ago, it’s a no-go for this situation, alas, but again thanks for the tip.
The iCloud+ link is also appreciated. The first tier would provide enough storage for her needs; the rest of the features would not be used. Myself, I get by with a fraction of the free tier, but I have Macs and sync locally, family member has no computer but can sometimes recognize them. 
Just had a thought on this, and sorry to bother you with it, but I use iCloud very minimally for email, so have some worry.
If I do help her create a new Apple ID, sign up for the lowest level of iC +, then initiate use of iC, will all of her ‘synced to iCloud’ content disappear from the iPhone since there is not yet anything on iC?
Or more like iC will see… ‘ah, new account ID, empty iC, let’s first fill iC with content from the iPhone’ before any further syncing?
Just create a default iCloud account with the free tier and log into Messages/FaceTime with that ID.
If you don’t want to change the phone’s system-login for iCloud, you can leave that alone.
As for synced content, it will depend on which content you’re talking about.
The default Apple ID (the phone’s global configuration) will handle things like your ID, subscriptions, in-app purchases, etc.
But many iCloud-using apps have separate logins (which will use your phone’s login as the default). You can log them in to a different account, and in some cases, to two or more at a time.
For instance, the App Store and iTunes music store have separate logins - you can log into any account you like, but there are restrictions about how often you can switch (so you can’t routinely pull purchased content from multiple accounts). You can only re-download content purchased from the account you’re logged-in to, but switching won’t delete what’s already on your device.
The Mail, Notes, Contacts, Calendar and related apps all allow multiple simultaneous logins, both for iCloud and other services (e.g. Google, Yahoo, etc.). Each login will present its own separate set of mailboxes/filters/calendars/etc. You can move objects from one account to another, using the same mechanism you’d use to move them between folders.
If you’re concerned about a specific service, please share it with us and someone here should be able to help out.
Wow thank you for the detailed reply @Shamino !
The info you cite is in part why I am not using iCloud for anything other than email. It’s way too complex for my simple mind and use case!
I am fairly confident, though the family member presents a fairly incapable face to some family members, that she primarily uses Messages, WhatsApp and Signal to communicate with us, likes having Contacts (though doesn’t understand it) and as she depends on text communications vs. voice, is worried that those conversations would disappear.
She claims not to understand cameras or taking photos or screenshots but has lots of photos in Photos App, from an earlier family member’s use of the phone, that she would like to preserve.
There are also notifications from iPhone/Apple that her iCloud storage is full, thus uncapable of backing up, which bothers her even though she claims not to understand what that is or what it means.
So mainly I’d say, if we create a new Apple ID and start her up with iCloud + so she can have backups, her main concerns are not losing various text messaging content, Contacts, and the pre-existing photos. There might be other aspects of concern she has not been able to explain though.
She is not using Mail/Notes/Calendar that I am aware of (she doesn’t know what email is).
If the pre-existing photos are already backed up to iCloud that could be causing the iCloud full message. Check the phone’s “Storage” in Settings to see how many Gb are used by photos. You can also view iCloud storage in Settings on the phone or online at iCloud.com.
If you have access to a Mac with spare storage you can also back up the phone (or just the photos using the Image Capture app on the Mac) to that Mac using a USB cable.
For Messages, if she logs out from the old Apple ID and logs in with the new one, the old messages will not go away, but messages sent to the old ID (by e-mail address) will no longer be received. Messages sent to the new ID or to the phone’s phone number should be received just fine.
For WhatsApp and Signal, continue logging in with whatever ID was previously used. If they are also shared, she may need to get a new login. I don’t know if they will delete locally-stored messages when switching ID. I know WhatsApp uses your phone number as the primary contact, so if the new account is registered with the device’s phone number, new messages should get through fine.
If they are stored locally on the phone, they should remain there. I’d recommend syncing it to a computer via a USB cable to keep a more permanent archive.
If they are stored in iCloud, then switching accounts will probably render them unavailable unless the owner of that account explicitly shares them with you. So I’d definitely make a backup to a computer before switching.
It means you need to either switch to using a USB cable and a computer for backups or you need to pay for more iCloud storage. Depending on how much storage is needed, this might not be very expensive.
Then you don’t have to worry about it, but you’ll probably want to make sure they’re on the new Apple ID as a part of the transition.
Yes @mpainesyd that’s pretty much it, mostly old photos from previous family member owner of the iPhone.
We have a fair number of Macs with storage, but current user of this iPhone fears the previous user has put spyware on it. I think it’s quite unlikely but would rather not take even the slight risk of connecting this iPhone to one of my Macs.
@Shamino , thanks for the patient and detailed reply.
I did hear another family member say this iPhone had lost its WhatsApp App and when it was re-downloaded and signed in, the previous messages were available. I didn’t see any of that so don’t know if old messages were on-device or re-downloaded back to a certain time point.
I think I need to attack this issue thus:
*Maybe I can find a used MBAir for cheap from some reliable source to do only her backups. I think CCCloner has a way of backing up some content, and there is some level of capability in iMazing.
Is there no way to back up and iPhone to an iPad?
I think I have a Sandisk thingy that plugs in via Lightning for backup of photos. I haven’t been using it, maybe re-research this if it could be part of the solution.
I think there may be some confusion here. CCC is for making a backup of a Mac.
To make a backup of an iOS device (iPhone, iPad, etc.), connect it to a Mac via a USB cable. Then use the Finder or iTunes to make a backup. If you encrypt the backup (provide a password to do this), it will even back up your passwords.
Of course, the only thing you can do with an iOS backup, using Apple’s tools, is restore it to another iOS device, wiping its content. But iMazing will let you do more - selectively back up and restore only some items.
For Photos, you can run Photos or Image Capture on the Mac. It will see and let you import/download any image stored in the phone’s local camera roll.
If photos are synced from a Mac, you’re better off just copying them off of that Mac. If photos are synced from iCloud, you should be able to log on to that iCloud account and share them with the new account. The new account can then make local copies.
Likewise for Contacts. Any that are stored locally can be sync’ed to a Mac’s local contacts. Anything stored in an external server (iCloud, Google, whatever) will remain there. As I wrote previously, you can configure the phone for both accounts and then copy/move contacts from one to the other. You can also do this with the Mac’s Contacts apps, which you might find easier to work with.
I’m not sure what you mean here. You can make a backup of an iPhone and restore it to an iPad. The iPad will be wiped, and its content replaced with the iPhone’s content. But I don’t think that’s what you have in mind.
There are devices like this which can back up specific databases (e.g. photos), but not everything.
Another thorough reply, many thanks @Shamino !
CCC has something called the ‘Diplomat service’ and Mobile Backup since v7. I read a couple of KB blurbs about it and it appears to back up Photos and/or Files (the app? specific files?) but it was a bit vague/over my head at the moment.
I’ve been doing my iDevice backups by usb cable only since iPhone (original), in iTunes and Finder. True or not, it gives me a slight better feeling of control vs. over wifi syncing/backup, plus it charges the device battery.
Thanks for the tips on each App, should I be able to find a good used Mac I’ll most likely follow the suggestions.
Correct. By backing up to iPad, I meant the same thing one would do connecting an iPhone to a Mac, but instead of the Mac, it’s the iPad. I might have an iPad with sufficient storage if this was possible.
Well if I ever solve this for the family member I’ll aim to post the solution here.
Cool. I never paid attention to the mobile app and its features. Looks useful for just this situation.
But I did notice that it will not back-up cloud-only resources, nor will it back-up the contents of shared albums. So it appears that my suggestion (to back up cloud-based content separately) will remain the case here as well.
If you would rather user a cheap PC (they can be pretty cheap), you can do the same things using the “Apple Devices” app. See also Sync content between your Windows device and iPhone, iPad or iPod touch over Wi-Fi - Apple Support (IN)
Here’s the first page of the document for the Apple Devices app (the above link is one page from that book):