Mac Mini & MBP 13 + iCloud...Do I need Time Machine Back Up For Each Mac?

[pilotkid]

Hello All,

Like the title says, I have a MBP 13in(Intel) and a Mac mini M1 and I am wondering if I need to do a time machine back up for each Mac if I'm utilizing iCloud for photos and documents. I also have a iPhone 12 Pro Max that backs up to iCloud as well. I am just trying to see if I need to spend the money on getting a separate dedicated external HD for the Mac mini as my MBP does have a dedicated external HD for Time Machine back ups and it is backed up regularly.

Thank you!

 

[pilotkid]

Hello,

Sorry to nag but does anyone have an insight on this?

 

[Gregg2]

If you're not saving things exclusively to one or more of the Macs you have, then one TM backup will suffice.

 

[RedTomato]

They do slightly different things.
----
Time Machine (1) keeps older versions of files. So if you want to go back to an older version, or if a virus corrupts your files, Time Machine has the old versions. (2) keeps a full backup of your filesystem including apps. So if an update goes wrong and you want to roll back to your old system setup, Time Machine can do that.

What Time Machine doesn't do: It doesn't provide an off-site backup in case your house burns down. It doesn't let you share or sync files between computers and devices.
------
What iCloud does: (1) Provides an off-site backup of documents and photos for disaster recovery. (2) Keeps your photos and files synced between your machines, phones and devices. (3) Lets you save disk space on machines with smaller storage by offloading old / unused files and photos.

What iCloud doesn't do: It doesn't keep old versions of your files. It doesn't back up apps. It doesn't let you roll back bad updates. If you have 'save HDD space' on and a lot of files, iCloud might contain the only copy of a lot of your files / photos, which carries its own risks.
----
FYI you could attach your current TM HDD to the Mac Mini and have both the MBP and the Mini back up to the same HDD. (ie. leaving it permanently attached to the Mini.) The first backup is the slowest and best done directly attached, (you already have this for the MBP) but subsequent backups are much smaller. The MPB can backup over wifi to the TM HDD on the Mini.

For what it's worth, I no longer run Time Machine. All my machines back up to a 2TB iCloud storage space. Anything goes wrong, I can easily re-download any apps from the internet, and with the Mac App Store, restoring software installation and re-entering licensing is no longer the headache it used to be.

However I'm uncomfortable with the sole version of a lot of my files/photos only existing in iCloud, so I will soon buy a cheap used intel Mac Mini just to keep a full local copy of my iCloud 2TB space.

 

[pilotkid]

They do slightly different things.
----
Time Machine (1) keeps older versions of files. So if you want to go back to an older version, or if a virus corrupts your files, Time Machine has the old versions. (2) keeps a full backup of your filesystem including apps. So if an update goes wrong and you want to roll back to your old system setup, Time Machine can do that.

What Time Machine doesn't do: It doesn't provide an off-site backup in case your house burns down. It doesn't let you share or sync files between computers and devices.
------
What iCloud does: (1) Provides an off-site backup of documents and photos for disaster recovery. (2) Keeps your photos and files synced between your machines, phones and devices. (3) Lets you save disk space on machines with smaller storage by offloading old / unused files and photos.

What iCloud doesn't do: It doesn't keep old versions of your files. It doesn't back up apps. It doesn't let you roll back bad updates. If you have 'save HDD space' on and a lot of files, iCloud might contain the only copy of a lot of your files / photos, which carries its own risks.
----
FYI you could attach your current TM HDD to the Mac Mini and have both the MBP and the Mini back up to the same HDD. (ie. leaving it permanently attached to the Mini.) The first backup is the slowest and best done directly attached, (you already have this for the MBP) but subsequent backups are much smaller. The MPB can backup over wifi to the TM HDD on the Mini.

For what it's worth, I no longer run Time Machine. All my machines back up to a 2TB iCloud storage space. Anything goes wrong, I can easily re-download any apps from the internet, and with the Mac App Store, restoring software installation and re-entering licensing is no longer the headache it used to be.

However I'm uncomfortable with the sole version of a lot of my files/photos only existing in iCloud, so I will soon buy a cheap used intel Mac Mini just to keep a full local copy of my iCloud 2TB space.

Thank you for the detailed response, I appreciate it. In your fifth paragraph you mention keeping my time machine back up drive permanently connected to the Mac mini and I can still have my MBP back up to it...how is that done? I am assuming through my Wifi but how do I set that up? It seems like for my needs and situation that iCloud should be just fine, but you can never be too careful. I am mainly concerned that if something bad happened I would loose years and years of photos, as well as a handful of important documents.