A month ago, I experienced what I now realize was a disastrous moment for my personal memories. Without warning, iOS 18 updated automatically on my iPhone, making changes that I hadn’t anticipated or knowingly authorized. At first, everything seemed fine until I tried to retrieve a photo from 2019. To my shock and devastation, I discovered that all my photos from 2019 and earlier had disappeared from my phone, apparently deleted by this new software update.

This wasn’t just a random glitch. My iCloud storage had hit its 50GB limit back in April 2024, and I didn’t purchase additional space. As a result, my phone hadn't been backed up since then. Though my newer photos were still backed up within the available storage limit, everything older seemed lost. Worse, when I attempted to retrieve these older photos, iCloud wouldn’t let me access them. I was stuck in a frustrating limbo, unsure whether they were truly gone for good or still stored somewhere in iCloud's digital vault.

In a bid to recover what I could, I reluctantly purchased additional iCloud storage, hoping this would trigger the "resync" process and allow my older photos to reappear. After speaking with an Apple representative, I learned that my photos were indeed visible on iCloud’s side, but I couldn't access them until the sync process completed—a process that feels excruciatingly slow when precious memories are at stake.

What makes this experience even more frustrating is that both the Apple rep and online sources confirmed that the new update can delete older photos that had once been backed up to iCloud, without user knowledge. It’s hard to comprehend how a software update—something I expected to improve my phone's performance—could silently erase years of my personal history.

What I’ve lost goes beyond just data. I’ve lost irreplaceable moments: the memories of my trip to Ireland with my brother, candid shots of my childhood dog, and the photos of my current dog. I’ve also lost precious images of my late grandmothers, their last candid smiles, and all the other moments that filled my life for four years.

I share this not just as a cautionary tale, but also as a plea to others: don’t wait until it’s too late. Regularly back up your photos. Invest in FOREVER permanent cloud storage for guaranteed safe keeping, never to be deleted. If you continue to use iCloud, check your storage limits, and don’t assume your memories are safe just because they’ve been backed up once. You never know when a simple software update could take them away without warning.

For now, I hold onto the hope that my photos will resync and reappear, but the anxiety of potentially losing them for good has been a heavy emotional burden. My journey with Apple Support continues, but the sting of these lost memories is something I never expected technology to inflict.