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Other Question: Do you use backup to set up your new phone or start fresh?

I have restored from a backup for every iPhone since the iPhone 3G. iTunes via cable to now wirelessly phone to phone. I’ve never had an issue, and I like keeping my info and settings intact. Also, for the last several years, my “old” iPhone has been running either the public beta or the RC of the latest iOS, so I’ve had a chance to customize the new formats ahead of time.

I know some people prefer to start fresh each time, and that’s fine too. I completely understand why, I just don’t do it.

It’s really just personal preference; IMO, there’s no big downside either way.
 
Nav45 said:
So for a newbie, is it better to do a direct phone to phone transfer or to back it up to iCloud and then download that to the new phone?
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My vote would be transfer. You don't have to go through the annoyance of configuring all of your settings again at the very least.

Backing up is always a good idea, but it's not required to have a backup anymore. You can choose to migrate during the setup. You use the camera to scan something on the old phone and then just keep them near each other while your data is transferred.

Ntombi said:
I have restored from a backup for every iPhone since the iPhone 3G. iTunes via cable to now wirelessly phone to phone. I’ve never had an issue, and I like keeping my info and settings intact. Also, for the last several years, my “old” iPhone has been running either the public beta or the RC of the latest iOS, so I’ve had a chance to customize the new formats ahead of time.

I know some people prefer to start fresh each time, and that’s fine too. I completely understand why, I just don’t do it.

It’s really just personal preference; IMO, there’s no big downside either way.
Click to expand...

Same same. If you had some strange, nagging problem that was bothering you I can see starting fresh. But the advice that says to do it so your phone doesn't getting bogged down with issues hasn't held water for me. Now if you just want an easy way to clean up your phone it completely makes sense!
 
Ok, thanks guys. I am wondering if it would be a good idea to only backup certain things to the new phone like contacts, photos and messages while starting from a brand new slate. Good idea?
 
I've done both, but I generally restore from an encrypted backup. Make sure both devices are on the same version of iOS though, otherwise you can run into issues.
 
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I often have done fresh starts but what happens usually is I then spend about 2 hours putting it back to pretty much exactly how it was before. 😂 It does feel nice to do though so I might do it again this year.
 
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Joseph C said:
I often have done fresh starts but what happens usually is I then spend about 2 hours putting it back to pretty much exactly how it was before. 😂 It does feel nice to do though so I might do it again this year.
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I understand completely. I don't do fresh installs because they offer any benefit. It's more of a peace of mind thing. Sometimes it just feels good to start fresh.
 
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Shh said:
I understand completely. I don't do fresh installs because they offer any benefit. It's more of a peace of mind thing. Sometimes it just feels good to start fresh.
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Sometimes I start fresh randomly just for the feeling of mental decluttering - I like the idea of setting up stuff like Focus modes and my notification/privacy settings for apps again from a clean slate.

But my phone is so well set up and organised as it is, it doesn't tend to improve upon what I had before but it does feel good mentally. If that makes sense.
 
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Joseph C said:
Sometimes I start fresh randomly just for the feeling of mental decluttering - I like the idea of setting up stuff like Focus modes and my notification/privacy settings for apps again from a clean slate.

But my phone is so well set up and organised as it is, it doesn't tend to improve upon what I had before but it does feel good mentally. If that makes sense.
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That's exactly how my mind works. "Mental decluttering" is a good way to put it. It also helps that Apple products in general are immensely easy to set up. I can set up my Mac in an hour after a clean install as opposed to Windows which takes me all friggin' day. And Time Machine in macOS is just a magical thing.
 
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Sheepish-Lord said:
You have to convert it either in the iPhone settings or call your carrier. The physical sim will be useless after going esim.
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Right. I understand that. I guess I just wonder if I go ahead and convert the phone I have, if that will transfer over to the new phone when I migrate everything. I’m not sure the eSim is active in this phone I have anyway since I have a physical SIM.
 
Jackbequickly said:
‘I was told by two different AT&T employees to update to iOS 16 with my 13 Pro Max and when I did the ”data transfer” it would move my service over to my new iphone !$ ProMax.
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That seems logical - I just don’t know if my eSim in my current phone is assigned to my actual number since I am using the eSim, but I’ll get with ATT and be sure of that before Friday.
 
Anyone done both a phone to phone transfer as well as the computer backup to phone? The wireless phone to phone that I’ve done in the past takes forever. Would consider doing the full computer backup if that speeds things along.
 
PixelsMaster said:
Anyone done both a phone to phone transfer as well as the computer backup to phone? The wireless phone to phone that I’ve done in the past takes forever. Would consider doing the full computer backup if that speeds things along.
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One of the reasons it takes a while is because it needs to download all of your apps again. I believe that backups don't backup apps any more either (just their data).
 
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MisterSavage said:
One of the reasons it takes a while is because it needs to download all of your apps again. I believe that backups don't backup apps any more either (just their data).
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The apps do take a while, but the portion of the restore where you can’t use your phone at all while it’s on the restore screen has taken over an hour before. That’s the part I’d like to shorten/avoid.
 
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PixelsMaster said:
The apps do take a while, but the portion of the restore where you can’t use your phone at all while it’s on the restore screen has taken over an hour before. That’s the part I’d like to shorten/avoid.
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I've done both but I've never timed how long it took. Neither seemed great time-wise tbh.
 
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I do the direct transfer. I find it requires the least amount of fussing and reentering passwords etc. it’ll also transfer my Apple Watch to sync with the new phone.

Only one caveat - both phones are unusable during the transfer. So I backup my photos (photos and videos taking the largest storage) to google photos and then delete from my current phone. This keeps the total transfer size small. Otherwise the direct phone to phone transfer takes a long time for a 256gb phone with a ton of storage on it. Last time I did it it took maybe ~30 minutes
 
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