One setting decides whether a computer backup made before iOS 27 keeps your Health and Activity data or leaves it behind. Apple’s own instructions for backing up with a Mac say plainly that saving that data requires turning on encryption and setting a password before you click Back Up Now.
iCloud backups do not carry this risk, because Apple encrypts every one of them by default. A backup made on a computer is the one place this decision is actually optional, and it sits on a screen most people click through quickly.
The line in Apple’s own instructions
Apple’s article on backing up with a Mac walks through connecting the device by cable, opening the Finder, selecting it from the sidebar, and trusting the connection. Partway down that same screen sits the setting that matters most this weekend.
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Apple states it directly: “If you want to save Health and Activity data from your device or Apple Watch, select ‘Encrypt local backup’ and create a password.”
Apple pairs that instruction with a warning that is easy to underestimate: “You can’t recover your backup without this password.” There is no reset link and no account recovery mentioned in the article. The password is the only key.
| Item | What Apple publishes |
|---|---|
| iCloud backup encryption | Always on |
| Computer backup encryption | Off by default; must be turned on |
| Health and Activity data on a computer backup | Included only if the backup is encrypted |
| Password recovery for an encrypted computer backup | Not offered; Apple states it cannot be recovered |
| iOS 27 release | Monday, September 14, 2026 |
Why iCloud does not have this problem
Apple’s comparison of the two backup methods states the asymmetry outright: an iCloud backup “Always encrypts your backups,” while a computer backup “Offers encrypted backups (off by default).” iOS 27 arrives Monday regardless of which method someone chooses, but only one of the two starts from a safe default.
That same comparison notes that iCloud backups can be made and restored from anywhere with Wi-Fi, while a computer backup depends on that specific Mac or PC being available. Choosing iCloud removes the encryption decision entirely, simply by never presenting it as optional in the first place.
What travels with an Apple Watch
Apple’s article on what iCloud backs up notes that an Apple Watch’s backup rides inside its paired iPhone’s backup rather than existing as a file of its own. That includes whatever Health and Activity information the Watch has recorded, which is exactly the data an unencrypted computer backup is documented to skip. Anyone updating an iPhone paired with an Apple Watch Series 12 or an Apple Watch Ultra 4 is backing up both devices at once, whether or not they realize it.
If the backup already failed once
| Documented condition | Apple’s fix order |
|---|---|
| Not enough disk space | Free space on the computer, or switch to iCloud |
| Backup corrupt or incompatible on restore | Update software, reconnect by USB, restart, check security software, try another computer |
Apple’s article on failed backups covers two documented causes: not enough disk space, or a backup that turns out to be corrupt or incompatible on restore. Its fix order is to update the computer and the backup software, reconnect by USB, restart everything, check security software on Windows, and try a different computer or iCloud instead. None of Apple’s documented steps involve resetting a password on an encrypted backup, because there is not one to reset, which is exactly why choosing that password carefully this weekend matters more than most Settings screens ever do.
What Apple has not said
- Why encryption defaults to off on a computer backup rather than on.
- Any way to recover Health and Activity data from an unencrypted backup after the fact.
- Whether iOS 27 changes this setting, its wording or its default. The article describing it predates the release and has not been revised for it.
Today is Saturday, September 12, with iOS 27 due free on Monday, September 14, alongside the rest of this month’s Apple announcements. If Health and Activity data matters and a computer backup is the plan, Apple’s own instructions say the encryption box needs to be checked, and the password needs to be one that will not be lost, before Back Up Now is clicked, not after.
