Do I have to back up my iPhone before I update it?

I updated it my iPod to ios6 with out syncing it to the my computer and all my pictures erased! Will the same thing happen to my iPhone

Always a good idea to back up your device before any downloads especially updates.
If you download something and it doesn't want to play right in your phone, things could get bad really fast.

  • What will happen if I don't back up my iphone 5c before i get the screen fixed? I'm taking my phone in to get the screen fixed but my phone is too full to back up, if i just take it in then will it be okay or will i lose everything!
  • Should i replace the back of my iPhone 4 before i sell it? It cracked last year, but I just put a screen protector over it and continued using it. Now my contract is up, and I'm selling it&getting the iPhone 5. Should I replace the back glass (since its easy to replace) before selling it, or would that cost more? Which would be cheaper?
  • Is it worth replacing my cracked iphone back before i sell it? I have just got the iphone 5 and i want to sell my iphone 4 to mobile exchange they offered around £130 for it in working condition but when i emailed and said it has a small crack on the back they said the price could go down to £46 depending on how bad, but i need to send it off for them to asses. My question is, i can get the back repaired for £15 and then send it off, but will this be cheaper then sending it with the damage? Anyone had the same problem? Cheers!
  • Is it possible to update read emails on iPhone before opening Mail app? It's super annoying when my Mail app displays a number of unread messages and when they appear on the lock screen, after I've already opened them on my computer. Is there any way to get it to update read emails, so I don't have to open Mail to get the badge counter to go away?