Off Topic Productions

OK, I'll say up front that this is probably one of the more stupid posts you'll run across. I admit my carelessness ahead of time.

I will also say in advance that I have contacted my phone store, Apple.com (via chat), and have posted these issues on other forums, with no hope in sight.

I've had my iPhone 11 since June this year. Around 3 weeks ago, I decided to change my passcode. But being severely ill for around a year, I became annoyed with having to use a passcode, and I set my phone time-to-lock to "Never." I deemed this acceptable as I have been self-confined to my home except for medical visits.

Then, I deleted some apps, installed a couple of new ones, and decided to restart my iPhone. When it came time to enter my (newly changed) passcode, I soon realized I could not remember it. Long story short, I ran out of attempts and my phone is now permanently locked. I can no longer even try to remember the passcode.

The stupidest thing I have carelessly done is fail to ensure data was backed up. I am facing a total reset of my phone, which apparently will cause all data to be erased.

It appears that photos are automatically backed up, BUT there is a limit. Hopefully I will later find that at least some of the more important ones still remain in backup. Another concern is my contact list; I have no idea if these are in any way saved and retrievable following a total phone reset. Ditto for text and Messenger conversations ... many of these are very important, such as conversations with people at work, people with whom I've spoken concerning new employment, interviews, etc.

Bottom line, is there any way whatsoever I can access my phone after forgetting my passcode, and NOT losing my data? My local phone store of course keeps records of customers, including the serial #'s of their phones, so I could reasonably prove I am the owner of the phone .... but they said they still could not help me with accessing it.

If anyone can help me in some way to regain access to my phone and not lose my data, I will pray for you to win the next Powerball.

Thanks in advance

I know it's been a while, but I want to add my two cents. Unfortunately, there's no way to access your phone and retrieve the data without the passcode. Apple has strict security measures in place to protect the data on the device, which is why they won't be able to help you regain access without the passcode.
However, if you've enabled iCloud backup, you may be able to restore your data from a previous backup. You could also contact verizon SIM unlock to help you unlock it in the new device.

Is your problem solved? Are data still important?
If you remove the passcode, all your phone data will be erased. But data cannot be backed up without a passcode, you can only restore from your latest iTunes backup. What if Apple customer service has no other way to protect your data?
Seriously, you can’t even use your iPhone without removing the passcode. There are many ways to remove passcode, a lot of them on Google, and there are also many unlocking software such as Joyoshare iPasscode Unlocker. But no one can remove the passcode without losing data.