The Amazon Prime Sale is a great time to pick up a deal on a new SSD or hard drive to use with your Mac, as Amazon and its partners are likely to discount products even more than usual. In 2023 the Amazon Prime Day sale will run from July 11 to 12.

To take advantage of the Prime Day deals you will need Amazon Prime membership, which costs $14.99 / £8.99 / AUD$6.99 on a monthly basis (or $139 / £95 / AUD$59 annually), but can be canceled after the 30-day free trial that’s available to new users.

Check out the best Prime Day Apple deals for even more offers.

Best Amazon Prime deals for SSDs and hard drives

In the past, we’ve seen savings of more than $320 on a SanDisk SSD, and £200 off a Western Digital hard drive. Below we are listing some of the best deals we’ve seen this year. We will also highlight any deals we have seen on SSDs and hard drives we’ve reviewed in our best SSDs and hard drive round-ups.

Amazon U.S.

For the best memory and storage deals on Amazon right now go to Amazon’s Memory & Storage section where you will find deals on external hard drives, SSDs and Network Attached Storage.

Also take a look at these Hard drive deals specific to Prime Day. You might also like these Prime Day flash storage deals.

• Samsung T7 Shield, 4TB: normally $429.99, now £259.99.
• SanDisk Extreme 2TB Portable NVMe SSD. Normally £459.99, now £119.99 (£340 off).

Amazon U.K.

For the best memory and storage deals on Amazon right now go to Amazon’s Memory & Storage section where you will find deals on external storage, SSDs, and Network Attached Storage. Plus, these are the hard drive deals specific to Prime Day. You might also like these Prime Day flash storage deals.

• SanDisk Extreme 1TB Portable NVMe SSD. Normally £221.99, now £84.99 (£137 off).
• Seagate Portable Drive, 2TB external hard drive. Normally £85.43, now £71.90 (£13.53 off).

Best SSD for Mac deals

For our recommendations of the best SSD to buy for your Mac, check out our round-up of the best SSDs for Mac.

Best Hard drive for Mac deals

For our recommendations of the best hard drive to buy for your Mac, check out our round-up of the best hard drive for Mac.

Best NAS drives for Mac deals

For our recommendations of the best NAS drive to buy for your Mac, check out our round-up of the best NAS & PCS drives for Mac.

For more Prime Day coverage, check out our other Apple deal roundups:

See our round up of the best Amazon Prime Day AirPods deals for more Prime Day deals.

See our round up of the best Amazon Prime Day Apple Watch deals for more Prime Day deals.

See our round up of the best Amazon Prime Day iPhone deals for more Prime Day deals.

See our round up of the best Amazon Prime Day iPad deals for more Prime Day deals.

See our best Amazon Prime Day MacBook Air and MacBook Pro deals for more Prime Day deals.

See our round up of the best Amazon Prime Day Mac deals for more Prime Day deals.

Best Mac monitor deals for Prime Day

Computer Accessories, Mac

Looking for a great deal on a new display to use with your Mac? Amazon’s Prime Day will run from July 11 – 12, 2023, and if you are looking for a new monitor this yearly Amazon sale is a great time to pick one up as Amazon and its partners are likely to discount products even more than usual.

To take advantage of the deals you will need Amazon Prime (which costs $14.99 / £8.99 / AUD$6.99 a month but can be cancelled after 30 days).

Best Amazon Prime deals for monitors and displays

In the past, we’ve seen savings of more than $206/£189 on a Dell monitor. Below we are listing some of the best deals we’ve seen this year. We will also highlight any deals we have seen on Mac monitors we have reviewed in our Best Mac monitors and displays round-up.

Here are some of the best display deals we have seen on Amazon:

Amazon U.S.

For the best monitor deals on Amazon right now go to Amazon’s Monitors store. Or click here for the display deals specific to Prime Day.

• Dell S2421HS Full HD 1920 x 1080, 24-Inch 1080p LED. Normally $179.99, now $169.99 ($10 off).
• Acer 23.8” Full HD 1920 x 1080 IPS Zero Frame Home Office Computer Monitor. Normally $149.99, now $121.08 ($28.91 off).
• Dell S2722QC 27-inch 4K USB-C Monitor – UHD (3840 x 2160) Display. Normally $369.99, now $299.99 ($70 off).

Amazon U.K.

For the best monitor deals on Amazon right now go to Amazon’s Monitors store. Or click here for the display deals specific to Prime Day.

• Dell SE2422HX 24 Inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) Monitor. Normally £124.99, now £109.99 (£15 off).
• Philips 241V8LA- 24 Inch FHD Monitor. Normally £99.99, now £88.98 (£11 off).
• Samsung C24F390FHR, CF39 Series, LED monitor. Normally £149.99, now £106.09 (£43 off).
• HP M27f Ultraslim Monitor 27 Inch, Full HD 1080p. Normally £179, now £149 (£30 off).

We have verified that these monitors work happily with Macs.

Best Mac monitor deals

Here are some of the best deals we’ve seen on Mac monitors we’ve reviewed.

For our recommendations of the best displays to buy for your Mac, check out our round-up of the best Mac monitors.

For more Prime Day coverage, check out our other Apple deal roundups:

See our round-up of the best Amazon Prime Day AirPods deals for more Prime Day deals.

See our round-up of the best Amazon Prime Day Apple Watch deals for more Prime Day deals.

See our round-up of the best Amazon Prime Day iPhone deals for more Prime Day deals.

See our round-up of the best Amazon Prime Day iPad deals for more Prime Day deals.

See our best Amazon Prime Day MacBook Air and MacBook Pro deals for more Prime Day deals.

See our round-up of the best Amazon Prime Day Mac deals for more Prime Day deals.

Also see: Best SSD and hard drive deals for Prime Day 

Mac, Monitors

Looking for a way to save some money on the latest Apple products? Consider a refurbished MacBook, refurbished iPhone, or refurbished iPad from the Apple Certified Refurbished store. A refurbished product is just like new, but Apple sells it at a lower price.

Here’s a quick guide with information about which products are available on Apple’s refurbished store, how much you can save on the refurb store, and everything you need to know about the ins and outs of the Apple Certified Refurbished store and buying a refurbished MacBook, desktop Mac, iPhone, or iPad from Apple. You’ll find links to the sections of Apple’s Refurbished store so you can buy Apple products for less.

What is the Apple Certified Refurbished Store?

Before we begin, a bit of an explanation of what the Apple Certified Refurbished Store is. This is where Apple sells gently-used products that have usually been returned to the company because someone changed their mind within the 14-day returns period, or due to a fault. Before they are put on the virtual shelves Apple puts these products through what it calls a “stringent refurbishment process” and tests and repairs these products to make sure they are in like-new condition.

Apple says that each product is thoroughly tested and any problematic hardware components are replaced. The exception is with the Apple Watch and Apple Pencil: If these items need new parts, they aren’t put up for sale.

Each product also goes through a quality assurance inspection and is cleaned, inspected, and repackaged with complete documentation, cables, and anything else that usually ships with that device. These products are essentially like new.

Apple also includes a standard one-year limited warranty with all refurbished products. Learn more about Apple’s hardware warranties.

AppleCare is also available, so, for an additional fee, you can get two or three years of coverage and support. Read our guide to AppleCare for more information.

Strangely, finding the Apple Certified Refurbished store isn’t obvious. On Apple.com, scroll to the very bottom of the page, where you’ll find a site directory. Under Apple Store, you’ll find a link for Refurbished and Clearance.

What is available on the Apple Certified Refurbished Store?

We’ll run through what’s available in more detail in the sections below, but here’s what you can get on the Apple Refurbished Store:

• Macs including MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Studio
• iPads: Including iPad Air, iPad mini, iPad Pro and the standard iPad.
• iPhone: Various generations.
• Apple Watch: Series 7, 8 and SE.
• Apple TV
• Accessories including Apple Pencil and Studio Display.

Refurbished Apple Watch

Apple offers cut-price, refurbished Apple Watches on its Certified Refurbished Store.

In the U.S. you can get an Apple Watch Series 7, Series 8 or Apple Watch SE for less than the full price.

You can save $110 on a refurbished Apple Watch 8 with Cellular in the stainless steel case.

Get a refurbished Apple Watch at Apple’s refurbished store (U.S.)

In the U.K. you can also save on an Apple Watch Series 7, Series 8 or Apple Watch SE.

You can save £120 on a refurbished Apple Watch 8 with Cellular in the stainless steel case.

Get a refurbished Apple Watch at Apple’s refurbished store (U.K.)

Have a look at our best Apple Watch deals to see if you can save even more. Also read Should I buy a refurbished Apple Watch?

Refurbished iPhone

If you want to pick up an iPhone unlocked, you can save money by buying one from Apple’s refurbished store.

The U.S. refurbished store has a limited selection of iPhones including the:

• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 Pro Max

You can save as much as $290 on an iPhone 12 Pro Max, compared to the original price.

Get a refurbished iphone at Apple’s refurbished store (U.S.)

In the U.K. there is a much wider selection of iPhones available from Apple’s refurbished store. You can get the following:

• iPhone 12 mini
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 13 mini
• iPhone 13
• iPhone 13 Pro
• iPhone 13 Pro Max

There are savings of £200 on the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Get a refurbished iphone at Apple’s refurbished store (U.K.)

Check out the best iPhone deals we’ve seen. Also read Where to buy a refurbished iPhone.

Refurbished iPad

If you want an iPad, you can get one for less by shopping at the Apple refurbished store. Various models and different generations are available.

The U.S. refurbished store has a selection that includes:

• Standard iPad (8th and 9th generation)
• iPad Air (4th generation)
• 11-inch iPad Pro (2nd and 3rd generation)
• 12.9-inch iPad Pro (4th and 5th generation)
• iPad mini (5th and 6th generation)

Compared to the original price, you can save as much as $320 on a 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Get a refurbished iPad at Apple’s refurbished store (U.S.)

In the U.K. you’ll find a similar selection of iPads available from Apple’s refurbished store. You’ll find the following:

• Standard iPad (9th generation)
• iPad Air (4th generation)
• 11-inch iPad Pro (2nd and 3rd generation)
• 12.9-inch iPad Pro (5th generation)
• iPad mini (5th and 6th generation)

There are savings of £480 on a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, compared to the original price.

Get a refurbished iPad at Apple’s refurbished store (U.K.)

Check out the best iPad deals we’ve seen. Also read Why buy a refurbished iPad.

Refurbished MacBook

Apple’s MacBook stock ebbs and flows. Sometimes there are several current MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models to choose from, while other times the selection is small. Some are standard configurations, while others are customized, built-to-order models. Read: Why you should buy a refurbished Mac.

In the U.S. you’ll find the following Mac laptops available in the refurbished store:

• 13-inch MacBook Air, M1, 7-core GPU
• 13-inch MacBook Air, M1, 8-core GPU
• 13-inch MacBook Air, M2, 8-core GPU
• 13-inch MacBook Air, M2, 10-core GPU
• 13-inch MacBook Pro, M1, 8-core GPU
• 13-inch MacBook Pro, M2, 8-core GPU
• 13-inch MacBook Pro, M2, 10-core GPU
• 14-inch MacBook Pro, M1 Pro, 10-core GPU
• 14-inch MacBook Pro, M1 Pro, 14-core GPU
• 14-inch MacBook Pro, M2 Pro, 16-core GPU
• 14-inch MacBook Pro, M1 Max, 32-core GPU
• 16-inch MacBook Pro, M1 Pro, 16-core GPU
• 16-inch MacBook Pro, M2 Pro, 19-core GPU
• 16-inch MacBook Pro, M2 Max, 38-core GPU

You’ll also find older Intel-powered MacBook Pro models with decent savings to be had.

You can save as much as $530 off a 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Max, compared to the original price.

Get a refurbished MacBook at Apple’s refurbished store (U.S.)

In the U.K. you’ll find a slightly smaller selection of Mac laptops available from Apple’s refurbished store. Here’s what you can find:

• 13-inch MacBook Air, M1, 7-core GPU
• 13-inch MacBook Air, M1, 8-core GPU
• 13-inch MacBook Air, M2, 8-core GPU
• 13-inch MacBook Air, M2, 10-core GPU
• 13-inch MacBook Pro, M1, 8-core GPU
• 13-inch MacBook Pro, M2, 10-core GPU
• 14-inch MacBook Pro, M2 Pro, 16-core GPU
• 14-inch MacBook Pro, M2 Pro, 19-core GPU

You’ll also find older Intel-powered MacBook Pro models from 2019 and 2022 with decent savings.

There are saving of £410 on a 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro, compared to the original price.

Check out the best MacBook Air deals and the best MacBook Pro deals we’ve seen.

Get a refurbished iPad at Apple’s refurbished store (U.K.)

Refurbished Mac

If you want a desktop Mac, such as an iMac, Mac mini, or Mac Studio you can save money by shopping at the Apple refurbished store. Various models and different generations are available, from time to time you may even find a Mac Pro.

The U.S. refurbished store has the following Mac desktops in stock:

• Mac mini, M1, 8-core GPU
• Mac mini, M2, 10-core GPU
• iMac, M1, 7-core GPU
• iMac, M1, 8-core GPU
• Mac Studio, M1 Max, 24-core GPU
• Mac Studio, M1 Ultra, 64-core GPU

You can even find old Intel-powered Macs, including some old Mac Pro models.

You can save as much as $270 on a Mac Studio, compared to the original price.

Get a refurbished Mac at Apple’s refurbished store (U.S.)

In the U.K. you’ll find a small selection of Macs available from Apple’s refurbished store including the Mac mini and Mac Studio. At the time we updated this article in July 2023 there were no iMacs available.

• Mac mini, M1, 8-core GPU
• Mac mini, M2 Pro, 19-core GPU
• Mac Studio, M1 Ultra, 64-core GPU

There are savings of £210 on the Mac mini with M2 Pro, compared to the original price.

Get a refurbished iPad at Apple’s refurbished store (U.K.)

Check out the best iMac deals and the best Mac mini deals we’ve seen.

Refurbished Apple TV

Want to buy an Apple TV without spending a fortune? You can get one on the refurbished store.

In the U.S. you can get up to $20 off a refurbished Apple TV:

• Apple TV 4K with 128GB SSD (3rd gen)
• Apple TV 4K with 64GB SSD (3rd gen)
• Apple TV 4K with 64GB SSD (2nd gen)
• Apple TV 4K with 32GB SSD (2nd gen)

Get a refurbished Apple TV at Apple’s refurbished store (U.S.)

There’s less choice in the U.K. where you can get a refurbished Apple TV 4K with 64GB SSD (3rd gen) with £20 off.

There are savings of £210 on the Mac mini with M2 Pro, compared to the original price.

Get a refurbished Apple TV at Apple’s refurbished store (U.K.)

Check out the best Apple TV deals we’ve seen.

Other refurbished Mac sellers

Apple isn’t the only company to resell second-hand, refurbished Macs. You could also pick up a refurbished MacBook and reconditioned Mac from the resellers listed below:

In the U.S.:

• Apple
• Amazon
• Back Market
• Best Buy
• Decluttr
• Gainsaver
• OWC
• Mac Of All Trades
• Refurb.me

In the U.K.:

• Affordable Mac
• Apple
• Amazon
• BackMarket
• Hoxton Macs
• Laptops Direct
• MacFinder
• Mac 4 Sale
• Music Magpie

Apple Inc, Apple TV, Apple Watch, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Mac

Good news for prospective buyers of the M2-based 13-inch MacBook Air: the machine, which was specced with support for Bluetooth 5.0 when it was released in July 2022, has been retrospectively bumped up to Bluetooth 5.3.

MacRumors noticed that the wireless section of the device’s tech specs page now contains a reference to Bluetooth 5.3, matching the specs of the newer 15-inch MacBook Air. The site also noticed that this section still reads “Wi-Fi 6” for both sizes of Air, even though other new Macs have been upgraded with Wi-Fi 6E support.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 that was launched at the same time still offers only Bluetooth 5.0, according to the tech specs listed for that machine.

It isn’t clear, however, how this change has come about. Have the units now on sale been physically upgraded with superior hardware? Or has Apple achieved the new spec via a software or firmware upgrade, which would mean the higher spec will also apply to models bought last year, provided they install available updates? In fact, the answer might be a third option: that the 13-inch M2 Air always had the wherewithal to support Bluetooth 5.3, yet Apple held back on saying so for reasons known only to itself.

We suspected that the fact that the M2 MacBook Pro still sports Bluetooth 5.0, according to that machine’s tech specs, indicated that this is a quiet hardware update for the MacBook Air. However, Apple has updated the specs for both the M2 MacBook Pro and M2 MacBook Air on sale in its Refurbished Store to also read Bluetooth 5.3, so it does seem to be a firmware update.

We await official confirmation on which of these is the case.

What we do know is that while the differences are unlikely to be earth-shattering, you’re better off with a device that supports Bluetooth 5.3 than one which offers Bluetooth 5.0 only. Version 5.3 adds upgrades relating to power saving, data transfer efficiency, smoothness of connection and protection against interference (those are four very important areas, but the changes in each will be minor), but you’re also gaining the upgrades added in versions 5.1 and 5.2. What Hi-Fi has a good rundown of the changes.

Bluetooth 5.3 isn’t the very latest standard, by the way. Bluetooth 5.4 was released earlier this year.

MacBook

Apple’s free Mac apps: Photos and Preview can get the basics of editing an image or photograph, but if you want to do anything more advanced you’ll need a dedicated image editing app. Adobe’s Photoshop is the industry standard, due to its wide range of features and capabilities.

Here’s how to get a copy of Photoshop on your Mac, or, failing that, the next best thing. Plus, because you can’t beat free, we’ll also explain your options for getting Photoshop on Mac for free. We have also rounded up the Best Mac free image and photo editors if you just want a free photo editor and it doesn’t have to be Photoshop.

If you’d like to get the same software on your tablet, read How to get Photoshop on iPad.

How to get Photoshop free on a Mac

A lot of people will be wondering if there is a way to get Photoshop for free on a Mac. First a warning: if you find Photoshop on a file-sharing site don’t download it. This is because it’s very unlikely to be a legitimate version of the app and will almost definitely cause you problems – this is how viruses spread.

Back in June 2022 Adobe started a trial of a free web-based version of Photoshop in Canada. That version of Photoshop is available globally now, but it is in beta and only works on the Chrome browser or Microsoft’s Edge, with support for Firefox in the works. As yet there’s no news on when it will come to Safari.

It doesn’t include all the features of Photoshop, but there are lots of quick and easy editing tools available. For example, there are Quick Actions for lighting effects or removing the background from an image

The main editing page looks similar to the desktop version of Photoshop, with a set of editing tools running down the left-hand side of the window, including Selection tools, Paint Brush, Adjustments for color and lighting, and a Type tool for adding text. If you are unfamiliar with the tools each has a quick video tutorial.

On the right of the editing window, you’ll find a detailed set of tool palettes for working with layers, masks and effects. There’s also a palette that allows people to collaborate online by adding comments to their projects as well–which is unique to this version of Photoshop.

This free version of Photoshop only requires that you register for a free Adobe ID account. We wonder if it may become part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud subscription plan in the future, but for now, it’s a way to get Photoshop for free.

Another option that will give you access to some of the Photoshop tools for free is Adobe Express (there’s also a Premium subscription version for $9.99/£9.98 per month that includes some additional editing tools.) This online web app also includes a number of useful photo-editing tools that are available for free through any web browser. If you want to do some photo-editing you can easily import photos of your own or use some of the free stock photos that are included with Express.

When you import a photo, Express allows you to quickly resize it or pan around in order to focus on a particular part of the image. You then enter the main Express workspace, which includes a selection of simple filter effects, as well as slider controls that allow you to quickly adjust brightness, contrast and other settings. You can import additional photos and superimpose them in order to create a collage, and you can also add text and graphics, including a number of ready-made logos and artwork for creating posters, fliers and other documents. Express even has simple layer controls, which allow you to edit photos, text and graphics elements individually.

How to get full Photoshop for free

Those free versions of Adobe Photoshop don’t include all the features. If you want to use the full version of Photoshop there are a few options that could get you a copy of Photoshop free for a limited time, or on a short-term subscription.

Trial: The first option is a Photoshop trial. There is a 7-day free trial that gives you access to the full program, with no restrictions.

While Adobe advertises the free 7-day trial, you can actually get 14 days free, because you can cancel within 14 days of your initial order and get fully refunded. In fact, you could, theoretically, get 21 days free if you had the trial and then canceled your subscription after 13 days.

Monthly cancel any-time subscription: The second option is signing up for a monthly subscription on a monthly rather than an annual basis. This won’t give you Photoshop for free, but the option will allow you to subscribe to Adobe Photoshop on a temporary basis and cancel when you no longer need it. We’ll run through the various subscription options in the sections below.

To explain how it works we need to explain the difference between Adobe’s two monthly subscription packages:

There are two monthly subscription packages: one is cheaper ($20.99/£19.97 a month) because it is part of an annual plan; the other is a more expensive option ($31.49/£30.34 a month), but you can cancel without having to pay Adobe anything.

Photoshop with 100GB of cloud storage	U.S.	U.K.
Annual plan paid monthly	$20.99	£19.97
Annual plan paid upfront	$239.88	£238.42
Monthly plan (cancel at any time)	$31.49	£30.34
	Buy it here	Buy it here

Adobe explains the legal terms of the various contracts here. Basically, if you sign up for the cheaper ‘annual contract, paid monthly’ and then choose to end your subscription you will be able to do so, but if you end the contract after the first 14 days “you’ll be charged a lump sum amount of 50% of your remaining contract obligation and your service will continue until the end of that month’s billing period.”

This is a slightly better scenario than if you were paying annually – in that case, your contract will continue to the end of the term. You wouldn’t get any money back.

This is why the best option, in this case, is to sign up for a month-to-month contract. In this case, the contract will automatically renew every month, but should you choose to cancel (we explain how to cancel below) you will be able to use Photoshop until the end of that month, at which point your contract will cease.

If you need Photoshop, but you don’t want to tie yourself into a contract with Adobe, this could be the best option for you. However, you should note that you will lose access to anything you have saved in Adobe’s cloud after 90 days.

If these options aren’t right for you, but you don’t want to pay for Photoshop you will need to look for alternatives to Photoshop. We have a round-up of the Best Mac free image and photo editors, which includes some free options such as Seashore and Gimp.

How to get Photoshop on a Mac without a subscription

If you were hoping to buy a copy of Photoshop to own, as in not paying on a subscription basis, we have some bad news for you: Adobe no longer sells what is known as a ‘perpetual license’ for Photoshop and its other apps.

There is one option though: you can buy Photoshop Elements. Photoshop Elements is designed for amateur rather than pro photographers, but it does offer a number of photo editing features that might be sufficient for your needs.

You can buy a copy of Photoshop Elements directly from Adobe’s website for $99.99/£86.56. Buy Photoshop Elements from Adobe. See our review of Photoshop Elements for more information.

You can also buy Photoshop Elements on the Mac App Store, where the price is actually less than Adobe’s price at $79.99/£79.99.

The benefit of Photoshop Elements is that you can buy it outright and install it on your Mac. You will have access to features like masks, layers, colorisation, image manipulation and other useful, more consumer-level effects with Elements.

If you’re a creative professional though, or are used to the full-blown version of Photoshop, then you may find too many tools missing from the box. If you want to take a look there’s also a 7-day free trial of Photoshop Elements so you can take the software for a test run.

Understandably there are lots of Mac users who are disappointed that Adobe doesn’t sell a ‘perpetual license’ for the full version of Photoshop anymore. Many years ago professional Mac users might have owned a version of Adobe CS and used it for years, but the slow rate at which companies updated probably lead Adobe to switch to a subscription model.

If you don’t care about how up-to-date your software is you might be interested in buying a secondhand copy of Photoshop, or an old Mac with Photoshop installed. Just be aware that Adobe doesn’t support all older versions in terms of updates, so the ones you find might not be compatible with later iterations of macOS, plus newer Macs won’t run old versions of Photoshop.

You’ll also need to confirm that the software license hasn’t already been used, as usually these are non-transferable. And generally, we would advise against buying a used Mac (unless it’s certified refurbished).

For more information read: What version of macOS can my Mac run?

If a subscription to Photoshop isn’t for you, and Photoshop Elements isn’t enough, we recommend you look at alternatives to Photoshop, many of which have comparable features with the benefit of being available to buy outright. The best options include PixelMator Pro, Affinity Photo and others. See: Best Photoshop alternatives for Mac.

Is there an education discount for Photoshop?

There is one other way you can save money while getting a copy of Photoshop for your Mac.

If you are in education then you may qualify for a discount. However, you can’t sign up for a reduced price on the Photoshop-only tier, you have to get the entire Creative Cloud collection, which includes Photoshop and a large collection of other Adobe apps. The student and teacher deal for Creative Cloud does represent quite a hefty reduction.

At the time of writing, Students and Teachers pay $19.99/£16.24 a month, which is around 70% less than the normal subscription rate.

Photoshop for Mac price

If you have accepted that you need to pay for a subscription to Photoshop you will want to know how much it costs. There’s not actually a straightforward answer: it depends on how you want to buy it.

Whether you love or hate the subscription model, there are a few options to choose from if you want to get a copy of Photoshop:

Photoshop: If you just want the single Photoshop app you can have that for $20.99/£19.97 a month if you sign up for a year, or $31.49/£30.34 a month if you just pay on a monthly basis. Sign up on Adobe’s website.

Photography Plan: However, the Photography Plan is actually the best deal. It includes Photoshop, Lightroom (for web and mobile), and Lightroom Classic (for desktop). That bundle costs $9.99/£9.98 a month, but you will be on a contract for a year. You get 20GB storage included (there’s a 1TB storage option that costs about $10/£10 more a month). Sign up on Adobe’s website.

Plan: Photography Plan with 20GB cloud	U.S.	U.K.
Annual plan paid monthly	$9.99	£9.98
Annual plan paid upfront	$119.88	£119.21
Monthly plan (cancel at any time)	n/a	n/a
	Buy it here	Buy it here

Plan: Photography Plan with 1TB cloud	U.S.	U.K.
Annual plan paid monthly	$19.99	£19.97
Annual plan paid upfront	$239.88	£238.42
Monthly plan (cancel at any time)	n/a	n/a
	Buy it here	Buy it here

Business: If you are a business user you ought to sign up for the Business option where you can get a single Photoshop license for $35.99/£26.49 ex VAT a month per license. It’s worth noting that all the Adobe CC apps, including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, and Acrobat, cost $84.99/£61.99 (ex VAT) per license a month. Sign up on Adobe’s website. 

How to cancel a Photoshop subscription

The ease with which you can end your Photoshop contract is one of the benefits of Adobe’s decision to switch from selling copies of Photoshop outright to a subscription model.

It also means that you only need to pay for Photoshop for as long as you need it. So if it’s just for a short-term project you can unsubscribe as soon as the work is done.

Here’s how to cancel your subscription:

1. Sign in to the Adobe web page where plans are managed.
2. Sign in to your Adobe account.
3. Under the My Plans tab find Manage Plan (or View plan) and click on that.
4. Now click on Cancel plan.
5. Give your reason for cancellation.
6. Click on Continue.

Best alternatives to Photoshop on Mac?

There is plenty of great photo and image editing software available on macOS, many of which come with lower price tags than Adobe products. One of our favorites is Affinity Photo from Serif, which boasts a wide range of powerful tools, a friendly interface and costs $69.99/£67.99 as a one-off payment, and also offers a 30-day free trial.

Another popular choice is GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), which is completely free and comes with an incredible range of tools and features. The interface can take a little getting used to, which is not uncommon with open-source software, but once you get to know your way around, you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve. There’s also a large collection of tutorials for the software on YouTube, so if you’re willing to put in the time then it’s a powerful suite that will cost you nothing at all.

We also recommend you read Best Mac for photo editing.

You may also be interested in: How to get Adobe Illustrator on a Mac and How to get InDesign on a Mac.

Personal Software, Professional Software

Apple’s free Mac apps: Photos and Preview can get the basics of editing an image or photograph, but if you want to do anything more advanced you’ll need a dedicated image editing app. Adobe’s Photoshop is the industry standard, due to its wide range of features and capabilities.

Here’s how to get a copy of Photoshop on your Mac, or, failing that, the next best thing. Plus, because you can’t beat free, we’ll also explain your options for getting Photoshop on Mac for free. We have also rounded up the Best Mac free image and photo editors if you just want a free photo editor and it doesn’t have to be Photoshop.

If you’d like to get the same software on your tablet, read How to get Photoshop on iPad.

How to get Photoshop free on a Mac

A lot of people will be wondering if there is a way to get Photoshop for free on a Mac. First a warning: if you find Photoshop on a file-sharing site don’t download it. This is because it’s very unlikely to be a legitimate version of the app and will almost definitely cause you problems – this is how viruses spread.

Back in June 2022 Adobe started a trial of a free web-based version of Photoshop in Canada. That version of Photoshop is available globally now, but it is in beta and only works on the Chrome browser or Microsoft’s Edge, with support for Firefox in the works. As yet there’s no news on when it will come to Safari.

It doesn’t include all the features of Photoshop, but there are lots of quick and easy editing tools available. For example, there are Quick Actions for lighting effects or removing the background from an image

The main editing page looks similar to the desktop version of Photoshop, with a set of editing tools running down the left-hand side of the window, including Selection tools, Paint Brush, Adjustments for color and lighting, and a Type tool for adding text. If you are unfamiliar with the tools each has a quick video tutorial.

On the right of the editing window, you’ll find a detailed set of tool palettes for working with layers, masks and effects. There’s also a palette that allows people to collaborate online by adding comments to their projects as well–which is unique to this version of Photoshop.

This free version of Photoshop only requires that you register for a free Adobe ID account. We wonder if it may become part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud subscription plan in the future, but for now, it’s a way to get Photoshop for free.

Another option that will give you access to some of the Photoshop tools for free is Adobe Express (there’s also a Premium subscription version for $9.99/£9.98 per month that includes some additional editing tools.) This online web app also includes a number of useful photo-editing tools that are available for free through any web browser. If you want to do some photo-editing you can easily import photos of your own or use some of the free stock photos that are included with Express.

When you import a photo, Express allows you to quickly resize it or pan around in order to focus on a particular part of the image. You then enter the main Express workspace, which includes a selection of simple filter effects, as well as slider controls that allow you to quickly adjust brightness, contrast and other settings. You can import additional photos and superimpose them in order to create a collage, and you can also add text and graphics, including a number of ready-made logos and artwork for creating posters, fliers and other documents. Express even has simple layer controls, which allow you to edit photos, text and graphics elements individually.

How to get full Photoshop for free

Those free versions of Adobe Photoshop don’t include all the features. If you want to use the full version of Photoshop there are a few options that could get you a copy of Photoshop free for a limited time, or on a short-term subscription.

Trial: The first option is a Photoshop trial. There is a 7-day free trial that gives you access to the full program, with no restrictions.

While Adobe advertises the free 7-day trial, you can actually get 14 days free, because you can cancel within 14 days of your initial order and get fully refunded. In fact, you could, theoretically, get 21 days free if you had the trial and then canceled your subscription after 13 days.

Monthly cancel any-time subscription: The second option is signing up for a monthly subscription on a monthly rather than an annual basis. This won’t give you Photoshop for free, but the option will allow you to subscribe to Adobe Photoshop on a temporary basis and cancel when you no longer need it. We’ll run through the various subscription options in the sections below.

To explain how it works we need to explain the difference between Adobe’s two monthly subscription packages:

There are two monthly subscription packages: one is cheaper ($20.99/£19.97 a month) because it is part of an annual plan; the other is a more expensive option ($31.49/£30.34 a month), but you can cancel without having to pay Adobe anything.

Photoshop with 100GB of cloud storage	U.S.	U.K.
Annual plan paid monthly	$20.99	£19.97
Annual plan paid upfront	$239.88	£238.42
Monthly plan (cancel at any time)	$31.49	£30.34
	Buy it here	Buy it here

Adobe explains the legal terms of the various contracts here. Basically, if you sign up for the cheaper ‘annual contract, paid monthly’ and then choose to end your subscription you will be able to do so, but if you end the contract after the first 14 days “you’ll be charged a lump sum amount of 50% of your remaining contract obligation and your service will continue until the end of that month’s billing period.”

This is a slightly better scenario than if you were paying annually – in that case, your contract will continue to the end of the term. You wouldn’t get any money back.

This is why the best option, in this case, is to sign up for a month-to-month contract. In this case, the contract will automatically renew every month, but should you choose to cancel (we explain how to cancel below) you will be able to use Photoshop until the end of that month, at which point your contract will cease.

If you need Photoshop, but you don’t want to tie yourself into a contract with Adobe, this could be the best option for you. However, you should note that you will lose access to anything you have saved in Adobe’s cloud after 90 days.

If these options aren’t right for you, but you don’t want to pay for Photoshop you will need to look for alternatives to Photoshop. We have a round-up of the Best Mac free image and photo editors, which includes some free options such as Seashore and Gimp.

How to get Photoshop on a Mac without a subscription

If you were hoping to buy a copy of Photoshop to own, as in not paying on a subscription basis, we have some bad news for you: Adobe no longer sells what is known as a ‘perpetual license’ for Photoshop and its other apps.

There is one option though: you can buy Photoshop Elements. Photoshop Elements is designed for amateur rather than pro photographers, but it does offer a number of photo editing features that might be sufficient for your needs.

You can buy a copy of Photoshop Elements directly from Adobe’s website for $99.99/£86.56. Buy Photoshop Elements from Adobe. See our review of Photoshop Elements for more information.

You can also buy Photoshop Elements on the Mac App Store, where the price is actually less than Adobe’s price at $79.99/£79.99.

The benefit of Photoshop Elements is that you can buy it outright and install it on your Mac. You will have access to features like masks, layers, colorisation, image manipulation and other useful, more consumer-level effects with Elements.

If you’re a creative professional though, or are used to the full-blown version of Photoshop, then you may find too many tools missing from the box. If you want to take a look there’s also a 7-day free trial of Photoshop Elements so you can take the software for a test run.

Understandably there are lots of Mac users who are disappointed that Adobe doesn’t sell a ‘perpetual license’ for the full version of Photoshop anymore. Many years ago professional Mac users might have owned a version of Adobe CS and used it for years, but the slow rate at which companies updated probably lead Adobe to switch to a subscription model.

If you don’t care about how up-to-date your software is you might be interested in buying a secondhand copy of Photoshop, or an old Mac with Photoshop installed. Just be aware that Adobe doesn’t support all older versions in terms of updates, so the ones you find might not be compatible with later iterations of macOS, plus newer Macs won’t run old versions of Photoshop.

You’ll also need to confirm that the software license hasn’t already been used, as usually these are non-transferable. And generally, we would advise against buying a used Mac (unless it’s certified refurbished).

For more information read: What version of macOS can my Mac run?

If a subscription to Photoshop isn’t for you, and Photoshop Elements isn’t enough, we recommend you look at alternatives to Photoshop, many of which have comparable features with the benefit of being available to buy outright. The best options include PixelMator Pro, Affinity Photo and others. See: Best Photoshop alternatives for Mac.

Is there an education discount for Photoshop?

There is one other way you can save money while getting a copy of Photoshop for your Mac.

If you are in education then you may qualify for a discount. However, you can’t sign up for a reduced price on the Photoshop-only tier, you have to get the entire Creative Cloud collection, which includes Photoshop and a large collection of other Adobe apps. The student and teacher deal for Creative Cloud does represent quite a hefty reduction.

At the time of writing, Students and Teachers pay $19.99/£16.24 a month, which is around 70% less than the normal subscription rate.

Photoshop for Mac price

If you have accepted that you need to pay for a subscription to Photoshop you will want to know how much it costs. There’s not actually a straightforward answer: it depends on how you want to buy it.

Whether you love or hate the subscription model, there are a few options to choose from if you want to get a copy of Photoshop:

Photoshop: If you just want the single Photoshop app you can have that for $20.99/£19.97 a month if you sign up for a year, or $31.49/£30.34 a month if you just pay on a monthly basis. Sign up on Adobe’s website.

Photography Plan: However, the Photography Plan is actually the best deal. It includes Photoshop, Lightroom (for web and mobile), and Lightroom Classic (for desktop). That bundle costs $9.99/£9.98 a month, but you will be on a contract for a year. You get 20GB storage included (there’s a 1TB storage option that costs about $10/£10 more a month). Sign up on Adobe’s website.

Plan: Photography Plan with 20GB cloud	U.S.	U.K.
Annual plan paid monthly	$9.99	£9.98
Annual plan paid upfront	$119.88	£119.21
Monthly plan (cancel at any time)	n/a	n/a
	Buy it here	Buy it here

Plan: Photography Plan with 1TB cloud	U.S.	U.K.
Annual plan paid monthly	$19.99	£19.97
Annual plan paid upfront	$239.88	£238.42
Monthly plan (cancel at any time)	n/a	n/a
	Buy it here	Buy it here

Business: If you are a business user you ought to sign up for the Business option where you can get a single Photoshop license for $35.99/£26.49 ex VAT a month per license. It’s worth noting that all the Adobe CC apps, including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, and Acrobat, cost $84.99/£61.99 (ex VAT) per license a month. Sign up on Adobe’s website. 

How to cancel a Photoshop subscription

The ease with which you can end your Photoshop contract is one of the benefits of Adobe’s decision to switch from selling copies of Photoshop outright to a subscription model.

It also means that you only need to pay for Photoshop for as long as you need it. So if it’s just for a short-term project you can unsubscribe as soon as the work is done.

Here’s how to cancel your subscription:

1. Sign in to the Adobe web page where plans are managed.
2. Sign in to your Adobe account.
3. Under the My Plans tab find Manage Plan (or View plan) and click on that.
4. Now click on Cancel plan.
5. Give your reason for cancellation.
6. Click on Continue.

Best alternatives to Photoshop on Mac?

There is plenty of great photo and image editing software available on macOS, many of which come with lower price tags than Adobe products. One of our favorites is Affinity Photo from Serif, which boasts a wide range of powerful tools, a friendly interface and costs $69.99/£67.99 as a one-off payment, and also offers a 30-day free trial.

Another popular choice is GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), which is completely free and comes with an incredible range of tools and features. The interface can take a little getting used to, which is not uncommon with open-source software, but once you get to know your way around, you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve. There’s also a large collection of tutorials for the software on YouTube, so if you’re willing to put in the time then it’s a powerful suite that will cost you nothing at all.

We also recommend you read Best Mac for photo editing.

You may also be interested in: How to get Adobe Illustrator on a Mac and How to get InDesign on a Mac.

Personal Software, Professional Software

I’m sure this sounds familiar: You’re trying to install the latest iOS release, upgrade to a new iPhone, take photos or record video, or just download that cool app everyone’s talking about, and your iPhone says the storage is full.

You’ve already deleted every app you don’t think you need, and there’s still not enough space on your iPhone. So you open Settings, tap General, then iPhone Storage, and, sure enough, your iPhone is full. Worst of all, a huge chunk of it is just listed as Other (renamed System Data in iOS 15). What’s that supposed to mean? How do you get rid of it? The Other/System Data storage sections are mysterious and confusing, and there’s no one answer that works for everyone, but hopefully, this guide will help you deal with this problem.

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Latest iPhone release: iPhone SE (March 2022), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max (September 2022); iPhone 14 Plus (October 2022)

Latest iOS release: iOS 16.5.1 (June 2023)

Latest iOS beta: iOS 16.6 (June 2023)

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How to view your iPhone storage

To see how much storage all your apps and data are taking up on your iPhone’s storage, open the Settings app, select General, then iPhone Storage. At the top, you’ll see a bar graph showing your total iPhone storage and which types of data are filling it up. Beneath that you’ll find a list of applications on your phone and how much room they take up, both for the app itself and its stored data.

It may take several seconds for your iPhone to show the graph, as it takes time to scan and analyze its storage. Even after the chart first appears, you’ll want to wait several seconds more for it to stabilize, as the app list and storage sizes can change while your phone completes its analysis.

What is System Data (or Other storage) on iPhone?

Your iPhone Storage menu will divide that bar up top into familiar categories like Apps, Media, Photos, and Mail, but also an Other/System Data category that is sometimes very large. It’s common for System Data to be in the 5GB to 20GB range, but if it’s way over 20GB, it has probably grown out of control. You can scroll all the way down to the bottom of the app list where you will see iOS, which are the files required by the system and are usually around 10GB, and System Data, which are files other than apps and downloads that are collected by iOS. Tap on System Data to see how much space it is taking up.

The Other/System Data category is big and varied because it’s a real catch-all category. It’s comprised of system caches, logs, Siri voices (if you’ve downloaded more than one), updates, and so much more. One of the biggest culprits for Other/System Data growing out of hand is streaming lots of music and video. When you download video or music from the iTunes Store, TV app, or Music app, it’s indexed as Media. But streams have caches used to ensure smooth playback, and those are categorized as Other/System Data.

Safari’s caches can start to grow pretty large, too. And if you send tons of texts with images or video, the caches for that can start to fill up a lot of space. Your iPhone is supposed to manage these caches to keep your storage from becoming completely full, but it doesn’t always do a great job.

We discuss how to delete Other storage on a Mac and how to delete System Data on a Mac separate articles.

How to reduce the size of Other/System Data on an iPhone

You can’t get rid of Other/System Data entirely, but you can sometimes reduce its size.

First, let’s try clearing your Safari caches. Open Settings > Safari and choose Clear History and Website Data. If you have a lot of Safari tabs open on your iPhone, you might want to close most of them, too.

You might also want to change Messages to save fewer old messages. Open Settings, then Messages, and scroll down to the Message History setting. By default, Keep Messages is set to Forever, but you may want to change it to 1 Year or even 30 Days to reduce the data that the Messages app caches. Just beware that doing this will mean old messages will be deleted–so if you have any messages you want to keep find a way to back them up.

Finally, go back to iPhone Storage and look at the apps list. Most of the apps store data that is categorized as Apps, but some will keep caches that are categorized as Other/System Data. If, say, the Podcasts app is taking up a couple of gigabytes of space, it’s likely mostly cached data. Deleting the app and re-downloading it might put a dent in the Other/System Data category.

The nuclear option: Backup and Reset your iPhone

You can go through your iPhone trying to delete every little cache that could grow the size of Other/System Data storage, but if you really want to make it as small as possible, you need to back up your phone and reset it. This can take a little while. The best way to do this is to use your Mac or PC.

On a Mac running macOS 10.15 Catalina or later:

1. First, connect your iPhone to your Mac with the bundled USB-C-to-Lightning cable.
2. When prompted on your iPhone, tap “Trust” and enter your passcode.
3. In the Finder sidebar on your Mac, select your iPhone under Locations.
4. Click the General tab.
5. Select “Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac.”
6. To encrypt your backup data and protect it with a password, check the “Encrypt local backup” box.
7. Click Back Up Now.
8. Note: You can also connect your iPhone to your computer wirelessly if you set up syncing over Wi-Fi.

On a Mac running macOS 10.14 Mojave or earlier, or a PC

On a PC or a Mac with macOS 10.14 or earlier you can use iTunes to back up your phone. After you connect your iPhone to your Mac or PC, select your iPhone by clicking the little phone icon in the upper left, and under Backups, choose “This Computer” and check the “Encrypt local backup” box to protect your backup with a password. Then click the button to Back up now.

Reset and restore

When the backup is done, disconnect your iPhone and head to Settings > General > Reset, and select Erase All Content and Settings. This will return your iPhone to an out-of-the-box state. When it restarts and it’s in the initial setup process, re-connect it to your computer with iTunes open, and follow the instructions on the screen to restore your device.

This is the longest and most involved way to reduce the size of Other/System Data storage, but it’s also the best. There’s just no way to get it any smaller than it will be after a fresh reset and restore.

iOS, iPhone

I’m sure this sounds familiar: You’re trying to install the latest iOS release, upgrade to a new iPhone, take photos or record video, or just download that cool app everyone’s talking about, and your iPhone says the storage is full.

You’ve already deleted every app you don’t think you need, and there’s still not enough space on your iPhone. So you open Settings, tap General, then iPhone Storage, and, sure enough, your iPhone is full. Worst of all, a huge chunk of it is just listed as Other (renamed System Data in iOS 15). What’s that supposed to mean? How do you get rid of it? The Other/System Data storage sections are mysterious and confusing, and there’s no one answer that works for everyone, but hopefully, this guide will help you deal with this problem.

---

Latest iPhone release: iPhone SE (March 2022), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max (September 2022); iPhone 14 Plus (October 2022)

Latest iOS release: iOS 16.5.1 (June 2023)

Latest iOS beta: iOS 16.6 (June 2023)

---

How to view your iPhone storage

To see how much storage all your apps and data are taking up on your iPhone’s storage, open the Settings app, select General, then iPhone Storage. At the top, you’ll see a bar graph showing your total iPhone storage and which types of data are filling it up. Beneath that you’ll find a list of applications on your phone and how much room they take up, both for the app itself and its stored data.

It may take several seconds for your iPhone to show the graph, as it takes time to scan and analyze its storage. Even after the chart first appears, you’ll want to wait several seconds more for it to stabilize, as the app list and storage sizes can change while your phone completes its analysis.

What is Other/System Data storage, anyway?

Your iPhone Storage menu will divide that bar up top into familiar categories like Apps, Media, Photos, and Mail, but also an Other/System Data category that is sometimes very large. It’s common for System Data to be in the 5GB to 20GB range, but if it’s way over 20GB, it has probably grown out of control. You can scroll all the way down to the bottom of the app list where you will see iOS, which are the files required by the system and are usually around 10GB, and System Data, which are files other than apps and downloads that are collected by iOS. Tap on System Data to see how much space it is taking up.

The Other/System Data category is big and varied because it’s a real catch-all category. It’s comprised of system caches, logs, Siri voices (if you’ve downloaded more than one), updates, and so much more. One of the biggest culprits for Other/System Data growing out of hand is streaming lots of music and video. When you download video or music from the iTunes Store, TV app, or Music app, it’s indexed as Media. But streams have caches used to ensure smooth playback, and those are categorized as Other/System Data.

Safari’s caches can start to grow pretty large, too. And if you send tons of texts with images or video, the caches for that can start to fill up a lot of space. Your iPhone is supposed to manage these caches to keep your storage from becoming completely full, but it doesn’t always do a great job.

We discuss how to delete Other storage on a Mac and how to delete System Data on a Mac separate articles.

How to reduce the size of Other/System Data on an iPhone

You can’t get rid of Other/System Data entirely, but you can sometimes reduce its size.

First, let’s try clearing your Safari caches. Open Settings > Safari and choose Clear History and Website Data. If you have a lot of Safari tabs open on your iPhone, you might want to close most of them, too.

You might also want to change Messages to save fewer old messages. Open Settings, then Messages, and scroll down to the Message History setting. By default, Keep Messages is set to Forever, but you may want to change it to 1 Year or even 30 Days to reduce the data that the Messages app caches. Just beware that doing this will mean old messages will be deleted–so if you have any messages you want to keep find a way to back them up.

Finally, go back to iPhone Storage and look at the apps list. Most of the apps store data that is categorized as Apps, but some will keep caches that are categorized as Other/System Data. If, say, the Podcasts app is taking up a couple of gigabytes of space, it’s likely mostly cached data. Deleting the app and re-downloading it might put a dent in the Other/System Data category.

The nuclear option: Backup and Reset your iPhone

You can go through your iPhone trying to delete every little cache that could grow the size of Other/System Data storage, but if you really want to make it as small as possible, you need to back up your phone and reset it. This can take a little while. The best way to do this is to use your Mac or PC.

On a Mac running macOS 10.15 Catalina or later:

1. First, connect your iPhone to your Mac with the bundled USB-C-to-Lightning cable.
2. When prompted on your iPhone, tap “Trust” and enter your passcode.
3. In the Finder sidebar on your Mac, select your iPhone under Locations.
4. Click the General tab.
5. Select “Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac.”
6. To encrypt your backup data and protect it with a password, check the “Encrypt local backup” box.
7. Click Back Up Now.
8. Note: You can also connect your iPhone to your computer wirelessly if you set up syncing over Wi-Fi.

On a Mac running macOS 10.14 Mojave or earlier, or a PC

On a PC or a Mac with macOS 10.14 or earlier you can use iTunes to back up your phone. After you connect your iPhone to your Mac or PC, select your iPhone by clicking the little phone icon in the upper left, and under Backups, choose “This Computer” and check the “Encrypt local backup” box to protect your backup with a password. Then click the button to Back up now.

Reset and restore

When the backup is done, disconnect your iPhone and head to Settings > General > Reset, and select Erase All Content and Settings. This will return your iPhone to an out-of-the-box state. When it restarts and it’s in the initial setup process, re-connect it to your computer with iTunes open, and follow the instructions on the screen to restore your device.

This is the longest and most involved way to reduce the size of Other/System Data storage, but it’s also the best. There’s just no way to get it any smaller than it will be after a fresh reset and restore.

iOS, iPhone

When you move to a new iPhone you don’t want to spend ages setting everything up from scratch to get the apps, data and settings just the way you like them. That’s why restoring from a backup is so convenient: one quick tap, a bit of a wait, and you’re good to go.

The same is true if a phone malfunctions badly, or is bricked. Knowing you can wipe the iPhone and recover your photos, documents and data easily from an iCloud or a computer backup is reassuring.

A backup is also an insurance that, should your iPhone be lost or stolen, you won’t lose everything on it. It’s easier to replace the device than the memories and other data stored on it.

Yes, backups are an essential part of the modern digital life, which is why we put together our How to back up an iPhone or iPad guide. But knowing how to restore an iPhone from that backup is just as important. Read on for our complete guide.

Step 1: Find your iPhone backup

First things first: make sure you’ve got a backup that you can restore from. Crucially, this backup needs to be recent enough to include the apps and data you want to keep, and/or sufficiently old that it happened before the technical problem if you are trying to fix a faulty iPhone.

There are two places you may find a backup, as long as you are making backups. One is iCloud, to which you may need to subscribe to get enough space. The other method depends on whether you are using a Mac or a PC: on a Mac iPhone backups are made via the Finder (in macOS Catalina and later) and on a PC (and older versions of macOS) they are made via iTunes.

To see iCloud backups follow these steps:

1. Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap your name/face at the top.
3. Now tap iCloud.
4. Tap Manage Account Storage.
5. Tap Backups.
6. Tap a backup to see when it happened.
7. Computer backups

To see backups made on a Mac follow these steps:

1. Plug in your iPhone.
2. Open the Finder.
3. Click on your device in the sidebar.
4. In the General tab click Manage Backups.
5. If there are any backups you will see them here. (You’ll also see if iCloud backups are being made).

The process is similar in iTunes:

1. Open iTunes.
2. Click iTunes in the top bar and select Preferences.
3. Select the tab labelled Devices. The date and time of each backup is listed.

Should I back up first?

If you are wanting to make a backup that you can recover to a new iPhone, and you’re not sure you’ve got a sufficiently recent backup, play it safe by doing another backup of the old device right now.

If you are hoping to solve an issue with your iPhone that started recently and you have an old iPhone backup you can recover don’t back up your iPhone, the old backup may be your best bet in getting your iPhone working again. This applies if you want to recover your iPhone to a time before you installed a beta version of iOS or even if you want to recover an older version of iOS after experiencing problems with the latest version.

Step 2: Wipe your iPhone

If you are just recovering the backup to a brand-new iPhone, or one that has already been wiped you can skip this step.

However, if you are trying to troubleshoot an issue with your iPhone, want to remove a beta, or if you want to wipe the iPhone you have to pass it on to a new owner, you’ll need to wipe it first. YOu can’t restore an iCloud backup to an iPhone without erasing the contents first.

This process is easier if you are recovering an old back to an iPhone that is running the same version of iOS that you intend to run. It gets a lot harder if you are trying to restore an older version of iOS, especially if you are running a beta version of iOS–in which case you may need to plug it into a Mac, force the iPhone into recovery mode and restore it that way. We discuss cover this here: How to remove an iOS beta from your iPhone.

Normally resetting your iPhone so that you can recover a recent backup is a simple process and hopefully one of these two options will work:

On an iPhone:

1. Open Settings.
2. General.
3. Transfer or Reset iPhone. Erase All Content and Settings.
4. Erase and then work through the various steps.
5. Your iPhone should restart with the Welcome screen if this process has worked.

On a Mac:

A second option is to plug your iPhone into your Mac and restore it from the Finder.

1. Open the Finder.
2. Click on your iPhone in the left-hand column.
3. Click on Restore iPhone.
4. Click on Don’t Back Up.
5. Click on Restore.
6. Your iPhone should restart with the Welcome screen if this process has worked.

On a Mac using Recovery Mode:

Here’s how to put your iPhone into recovery mode so you can wipe it (if the above options don’t work):

1. Plug your iPhone into your Mac.
2. Open the Finder.
3. You may see a message that indicates you need to download an update to access the iPhone, in our experience the said software was unavailable from the software update server, so don’t worry about this.
4. Shut down your iPhone by pressing volume up, volume down, and then press and hold the side button. Unlike a usual restart keep pressing and holding the side button while the phone shuts down and starts up again. If you are successful eventually you will see an image of a Mac and a lightning connector on your iPhone that indicates it is in recovery mode.
5. On your Mac you should now see a message indicating that there is a problem with the iPhone that requires it to be updated or restored. Click on Restore.
6. You will see a warning: “Are you sure you want to restore the iPhone…” Click on Restore and Update.
7. Click Agree on the next screen that details the license agreement.
8. Just note that there’s only about 15 minutes before your iPhone will exit recovery mode, at which point you will have to enter recovery mode again.
9. Your iPhone should restart with the Welcome screen if this process has worked.

If this didn’t work for you the next option is DFU mode. We cover how to put an iPhone into DFU mode separately.

Step 3: Restore your iPhone from a backup

Now you have wiped your iPhone you can get on with the process of recovering it from your backup. Or, if you have a brand new iPhone, you can follow these steps to set it up as a clone of your old iPhone with all your data just as you left it.

How to recover from an iCloud backup

We’ll start off with how to recover from an iCloud backup:

1. Swipe up from the Welcome screen.
2. Tap on English (or your language) and select your country or region.
3. Click on Set Up Manually.
4. Work through the various steps until you get to the Transfer Your Apps & Data screen and tap on From iCloud Backup. Check the date to make sure it’s the backup you want.
5. Log into your Apple ID and wait while your device signs in.
6. Now choose an iCloud backup from before you downloaded the beta. Click on Show more backups to find an older one if you don’t see it.
7. Wait while the Restore from iCloud takes place, which could take a while.

The device will need to be connected to Wi-Fi throughout the process, and it can take a while, depending on how much data needs to be restored. It’s also likely that you’ll be asked to log in again so that any purchased items from the App Store or iTunes Music can be downloaded.

When the core elements of the backup are finished you’ll be able to use the handset again, but you might notice that apps and other data continue to install in the background. This is perfectly normal.

How to recover from a Finder/iTunes backup

Whether you are using the Finder on a Mac running macOS Catalina or later, or iTunes on an older macOS or PC, the process for recovering the iPhone backup is similar.

1. You need to plug it into a Mac or PC.
2. If you’ve not connected the device to this particular computer before, you’ll see the ‘Welcome to Your New iPhone’ page.
3. Click continue and then agree to sync your iPhone.
4. With this completed, you’ll be taken to the device summary page in the Finder/iTunes, which includes various options for backing up and restoring your device.
5. In the Backups section you’ll see a button marked Restore Backup (as long as you have one). Click this.
6. If Find My is switched on then you’ll see a message telling you that it needs to be turned off before you can proceed. To do this, open Settings on your iPhone and tap your name/face at the top of the screen, then tap iCloud. Scroll down until you see Find My, tap it, move the toggle switch to off, enter your password to confirm, then return to iTunes on your Mac or PC.
7. After clicking Restore Backup a popup should appear with the current iterations available. Select the one you want, then click the Restore button.
8. Now your iPhone will run through its automated restoration process. iTunes will let you know when the update is complete, then you can disconnect the iPhone and go about your business with your data safely on board.

iOS, iPad, iPhone

When you move to a new iPhone you don’t want to spend ages setting everything up from scratch to get the apps, data and settings just the way you like them. That’s why restoring from a backup is so convenient: one quick tap, a bit of a wait, and you’re good to go.

The same is true if a phone malfunctions badly, or is bricked. Knowing you can wipe the iPhone and recover your photos, documents and data easily from an iCloud or a computer backup is reassuring.

A backup is also an insurance that, should your iPhone be lost or stolen, you won’t lose everything on it. It’s easier to replace the device than the memories and other data stored on it.

Yes, backups are an essential part of the modern digital life, which is why we put together our How to back up an iPhone or iPad guide. But knowing how to restore an iPhone from that backup is just as important. Read on for our complete guide.

Step 1: Find your iPhone backup

First things first: make sure you’ve got a backup that you can restore from. Crucially, this backup needs to be recent enough to include the apps and data you want to keep, and/or sufficiently old that it happened before the technical problem if you are trying to fix a faulty iPhone.

There are two places you may find a backup, as long as you are making backups. One is iCloud, to which you may need to subscribe to get enough space. The other method depends on whether you are using a Mac or a PC: on a Mac iPhone backups are made via the Finder (in macOS Catalina and later) and on a PC (and older versions of macOS) they are made via iTunes.

To see iCloud backups follow these steps:

1. Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap your name/face at the top.
3. Now tap iCloud.
4. Tap Manage Account Storage.
5. Tap Backups.
6. Tap a backup to see when it happened.
7. Computer backups

To see backups made on a Mac follow these steps:

1. Plug in your iPhone.
2. Open the Finder.
3. Click on your device in the sidebar.
4. In the General tab click Manage Backups.
5. If there are any backups you will see them here. (You’ll also see if iCloud backups are being made).

The process is similar in iTunes:

1. Open iTunes.
2. Click iTunes in the top bar and select Preferences.
3. Select the tab labelled Devices. The date and time of each backup is listed.

Should I back up first?

If you are wanting to make a backup that you can recover to a new iPhone, and you’re not sure you’ve got a sufficiently recent backup, play it safe by doing another backup of the old device right now.

If you are hoping to solve an issue with your iPhone that started recently and you have an old iPhone backup you can recover don’t back up your iPhone, the old backup may be your best bet in getting your iPhone working again. This applies if you want to recover your iPhone to a time before you installed a beta version of iOS or even if you want to recover an older version of iOS after experiencing problems with the latest version.

Step 2: Wipe your iPhone

If you are just recovering the backup to a brand-new iPhone, or one that has already been wiped you can skip this step.

However, if you are trying to troubleshoot an issue with your iPhone, want to remove a beta, or if you want to wipe the iPhone you have to pass it on to a new owner, you’ll need to wipe it first. YOu can’t restore an iCloud backup to an iPhone without erasing the contents first.

This process is easier if you are recovering an old back to an iPhone that is running the same version of iOS that you intend to run. It gets a lot harder if you are trying to restore an older version of iOS, especially if you are running a beta version of iOS–in which case you may need to plug it into a Mac, force the iPhone into recovery mode and restore it that way. We discuss cover this here: How to remove an iOS beta from your iPhone.

Normally resetting your iPhone so that you can recover a recent backup is a simple process and hopefully one of these two options will work:

On an iPhone:

1. Open Settings.
2. General.
3. Transfer or Reset iPhone. Erase All Content and Settings.
4. Erase and then work through the various steps.
5. Your iPhone should restart with the Welcome screen if this process has worked.

On a Mac:

A second option is to plug your iPhone into your Mac and restore it from the Finder.

1. Open the Finder.
2. Click on your iPhone in the left-hand column.
3. Click on Restore iPhone.
4. Click on Don’t Back Up.
5. Click on Restore.
6. Your iPhone should restart with the Welcome screen if this process has worked.

On a Mac using Recovery Mode:

Here’s how to put your iPhone into recovery mode so you can wipe it (if the above options don’t work):

1. Plug your iPhone into your Mac.
2. Open the Finder.
3. You may see a message that indicates you need to download an update to access the iPhone, in our experience the said software was unavailable from the software update server, so don’t worry about this.
4. Shut down your iPhone by pressing volume up, volume down, and then press and hold the side button. Unlike a usual restart keep pressing and holding the side button while the phone shuts down and starts up again. If you are successful eventually you will see an image of a Mac and a lightning connector on your iPhone that indicates it is in recovery mode.
5. On your Mac you should now see a message indicating that there is a problem with the iPhone that requires it to be updated or restored. Click on Restore.
6. You will see a warning: “Are you sure you want to restore the iPhone…” Click on Restore and Update.
7. Click Agree on the next screen that details the license agreement.
8. Just note that there’s only about 15 minutes before your iPhone will exit recovery mode, at which point you will have to enter recovery mode again.
9. Your iPhone should restart with the Welcome screen if this process has worked.

If this didn’t work for you the next option is DFU mode. We cover how to put an iPhone into DFU mode separately.

Step 3: Restore your iPhone from a backup

Now you have wiped your iPhone you can get on with the process of recovering it from your backup. Or, if you have a brand new iPhone, you can follow these steps to set it up as a clone of your old iPhone with all your data just as you left it.

How to recover from an iCloud backup

We’ll start off with how to recover from an iCloud backup:

1. Swipe up from the Welcome screen.
2. Tap on English (or your language) and select your country or region.
3. Click on Set Up Manually.
4. Work through the various steps until you get to the Transfer Your Apps & Data screen and tap on From iCloud Backup. Check the date to make sure it’s the backup you want.
5. Log into your Apple ID and wait while your device signs in.
6. Now choose an iCloud backup from before you downloaded the beta. Click on Show more backups to find an older one if you don’t see it.
7. Wait while the Restore from iCloud takes place, which could take a while.

The device will need to be connected to Wi-Fi throughout the process, and it can take a while, depending on how much data needs to be restored. It’s also likely that you’ll be asked to log in again so that any purchased items from the App Store or iTunes Music can be downloaded.

When the core elements of the backup are finished you’ll be able to use the handset again, but you might notice that apps and other data continue to install in the background. This is perfectly normal.

How to recover from a Finder/iTunes backup

Whether you are using the Finder on a Mac running macOS Catalina or later, or iTunes on an older macOS or PC, the process for recovering the iPhone backup is similar.

1. You need to plug it into a Mac or PC.
2. If you’ve not connected the device to this particular computer before, you’ll see the ‘Welcome to Your New iPhone’ page.
3. Click continue and then agree to sync your iPhone.
4. With this completed, you’ll be taken to the device summary page in the Finder/iTunes, which includes various options for backing up and restoring your device.
5. In the Backups section you’ll see a button marked Restore Backup (as long as you have one). Click this.
6. If Find My is switched on then you’ll see a message telling you that it needs to be turned off before you can proceed. To do this, open Settings on your iPhone and tap your name/face at the top of the screen, then tap iCloud. Scroll down until you see Find My, tap it, move the toggle switch to off, enter your password to confirm, then return to iTunes on your Mac or PC.
7. After clicking Restore Backup a popup should appear with the current iterations available. Select the one you want, then click the Restore button.
8. Now your iPhone will run through its automated restoration process. iTunes will let you know when the update is complete, then you can disconnect the iPhone and go about your business with your data safely on board.

iOS, iPad, iPhone