Apple appears to be dealing with a bug that is resurfacing data that iPhone owners thought they had permanently deleted. Several iPhone users have reported that after updating their devices to iOS 17.5, deleted photos, some even very old ones, have reappeared. Last week, iOS beta testers also reported the same issue. Users who have encountered the bug say they are seeing old photos reappear in their Recents album after Monday’s update. iOS offers users the ability to restore deleted photos, but after 30 days in the trash they should be deleted forever, and Apple shouldn’t have copies of them.
There is a possibility that the problem is not just limited to photos. One user wrote on X that he saw old voicemails return after the update. Several beta testers had reported the same issue with previous beta versions of iOS 17. Whether the issue involves Apple secretly keeping old, deleted data or is simply an anomaly in how iOS 17.5 handles that data, the situation is not been clarified by the company.
