Worth backing up my Apps?

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I've been having a spring clean on my Macbook Pro and noticed I have 12gb of Apps in Itunes that are backups of my purchases for my Iphone.

Is it worth keeping a copy of my Apps taking up space when I have the ability to download them whenever I want anyway? What is the general consensus and the pro's and con's of keeping a local copy?
 

chscag

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There's really no point in keeping 12 GB of apps on your MBP when you already have them on your iPhone and they can be re-downloaded from the App store at any time.
 
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Be aware, however, that some apps can "disappear" from the App Store (for example when the developer releases an all-new version or discontinues the product), meaning you *can't* re-download it from the App Store again. I believe Apple is addressing this issue with iTunes 11.1 but until that's been fully confirmed, I'd suggest holding onto the backup of the apps you purchased.
 
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Just curious as a general iTunes question related to the OP's query - i.e. if the backup apps are deleted from iTunes on the MBP, will the next sync and/or backup (both or just one) to iTunes not re-do the app backups? Dave :)
 

chscag

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Yes, they should be restored during the next backup. The question the OP asked though is if he should keep a copy of his downloaded apps on both his Mac and iPhone or iPad. As long as you have a backup, there is no point in keeping the apps in both places since they can be either re-downloaded or restored from the backup.
 
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Just curious as a general iTunes question related to the OP's query - i.e. if the backup apps are deleted from iTunes on the MBP, will the next sync and/or backup (both or just one) to iTunes not re-do the app backups? Dave :)

I never connect my iPhone to my MBP as I've no need to as I use Itunes Match, iCloud, photostream, and the IOS Appstore. I had Itunes on the MBP auto downloading purchases.
 

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