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iPhone 15 Pro Max Any advantages of not transferring from previous iPhone?

M

macman4789

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 12, 2007
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Hi,

With new phone season around the corner, I’ve been meaning to ask the question about setting up a new iPhone. I have used the direct transfer from phone to phone (where apps and data etc are transferred to new phone) about 4 or 5 times in a row now from subsequent iPhones and wondered, is there any benefit in stating a fresh one and installing apps manually?

Are there any left over delete files etc for example which would get transferred over to a new phone? I suppose I’m thinking of it from like a desktop perspective (whether to format a drive first and install an OS or just upgrade). Has anyone had any instances where it was better to start a fresh?

Thanks
 
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No real benefit other than for your own peace of mind that you started from scratch (if that's something you like to do). I do the transfer since it's a lot quicker and transfers things that don't sync to the cloud. Plus, I don't have to re-download and set up every app again. You can always wipe the phone and set up as new later if you suspect something isn't working right, so might as well just go with the easiest/quickest path first.
 
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Almost always but not 100% of the time, phone to phone transfer or restore from backup works fine.
But
When an iPhone is misbehaving in inexplicable ways and the usual attempts at a fix don’t work, even Apple tech support suggests the nuclear option of wiping the phone and setting up as factory new.

So there is some validity to setting up a phone as virgin.
I did it once - and it takes absolutely forever (like 3 days) to get everything back to how your old phone was. I will never do it again. Super tedious waste of time for a new phone.
 
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I have been doing some sort of transfer (the program/procedure has changed over the years) since I think, iPhone 4 with no issues! I have never had a problem that required some sort of drastic action beyond a reboot, deleting a misbehaving/sketchy app, etc. I just checked, i have 249 apps on my iPhone (and I do cull out ones I don't use, from time to time), I can imagine the time it would take to redownload even 80% of them plus get all the iCloud stuff sync'd.
 
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macman4789 said:
Hi,

With new phone season around the corner, I’ve been meaning to ask the question about setting up a new iPhone. I have used the direct transfer from phone to phone (where apps and data etc are transferred to new phone) about 4 or 5 times in a row now from subsequent iPhones and wondered, is there any benefit in stating a fresh one and installing apps manually?

Are there any left over delete files etc for example which would get transferred over to a new phone? I suppose I’m thinking of it from like a desktop perspective (whether to format a drive first and install an OS or just upgrade). Has anyone had any instances where it was better to start a fresh?

Thanks
Click to expand...
The 'profile' I have on my 11 Pro Max right now is the same one I've had since my 3GS in December 2011. When I was jailbroken I usually just put my new iPhone in DFU mode and then restored from an iTunes backup. But starting with my Pixel 3a XL in 2020 and then my 11 Pro Max in 2021, I've just transferred stuff because it's easier.

I have yet to have any problems either way.

For the record though and in response to 'left overs', I'd say yes. Within my iCloud backups and my iTunes backups are config files for the various jailbreak tweaks I've had over the years. When Cydia was active, they at some point told jailbreakers that JB tweak configs were saved in backups. Anytime, I re-jailbreak my iPhone and use a tweak that I've previously used, my old preferences are right there. So, if this can happen with JB tweak config files, I'd be surprised if there were not other things that also transferred.
 
The only problem I've come across (rarely) is when you are doing a backup and restore of a managed device to a non managed or vice versa. In this case its related to certificates.
 
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eyoungren said:
The 'profile' I have on my 11 Pro Max right now is the same one I've had since my 3GS in December 2011. When I was jailbroken I usually just put my new iPhone in DFU mode and then restored from an iTunes backup. But starting with my Pixel 3a XL in 2020 and then my 11 Pro Max in 2021, I've just transferred stuff because it's easier.

I have yet to have any problems either way.

For the record though and in response to 'left overs', I'd say yes. Within my iCloud backups and my iTunes backups are config files for the various jailbreak tweaks I've had over the years. When Cydia was active, they at some point told jailbreakers that JB tweak configs were saved in backups. Anytime, I re-jailbreak my iPhone and use a tweak that I've previously used, my old preferences are right there. So, if this can happen with JB tweak config files, I'd be surprised if there were not other things that also transferred.
Click to expand...
This was why I set up as new whenever I purchased a new iPhone because of me jailbreaking previous iPhones. It takes me just a day to have my device just like the previous one.
 
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StaceyMJ86 said:
This was why I set up as new whenever I purchased a new iPhone because of me jailbreaking previous iPhones. It takes me just a day to have my device just like the previous one.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I was never that dedicated. For me, DFU mode and restore was a middle ground that worked for me. I've never seen a conflict between those old prefs and anything I've done with my device since.

Of course, the last time I had a jailbreak on a primary device was with iOS 9. I've had other jailbreaks since, but only with secondary devices since I am uninterested in the hassle that goes with semi-untethered jailbreaks.
 
eyoungren said:
Yeah, I was never that dedicated. For me, DFU mode and restore was a middle ground that worked for me. I've never seen a conflict between those old prefs and anything I've done with my device since.

Of course, the last time I had a jailbreak on a primary device was with iOS 9. I've had other jailbreaks since, but only with secondary devices since I am uninterested in the hassle that goes with semi-untethered jailbreaks.
Click to expand...
I’ve been lucky to have iPhone upgrade day as my day off including Saturday, so that gives me time to set up as new. I’m not upgrading this year, so I probably won’t update to iOS 18 until the Saturday after iOS 18 is released since I have Sunday’s and a day during the week off.
 
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now i see it said:
Almost always but not 100% of the time, phone to phone transfer or restore from backup works fine.
But
When an iPhone is misbehaving in inexplicable ways and the usual attempts at a fix don’t work, even Apple tech support suggests the nuclear option of wiping the phone and setting up as factory new.

So there is some validity to setting up a phone as virgin.
I did it once - and it takes absolutely forever (like 3 days) to get everything back to how your old phone was. I will never do it again. Super tedious waste of time for a new phone.
Click to expand...
Correct. Clean install is a thing despite many pretending otherwise. And not just erase content & settings.
I had an Apple genius recently tell me that the only way to get a *truly* fresh install is to plug it into a computer and restore from there as an entire new OS file is downloaded. That’s what they do in store if they erase your phone, apparently.
 
manhattanmania said:
Correct. Clean install is a thing despite many pretending otherwise. And not just erase content & settings.
I had an Apple genius recently tell me that the only way to get a *truly* fresh install is to plug it into a computer and restore from there as an entire new OS file is downloaded. That’s what they do in store if they erase your phone, apparently.
Click to expand...
The only thing I carry over from my iCloud is my contacts, photos, and texts. I redownload all my apps, re-sign into my apps, email and change the layout of my Home Screen every year.
 
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Thanks for your replies. I may just start from scratch this year, particularly with the flexibility of changing home screens and icon layouts etc in iOS 18. Although, part of me is thinking do I need all that hassle if it’s all working perfectly fine currently? 30 mins vs 2-3 hours + 🤔
 
macman4789 said:
Thanks for your replies. I may just start from scratch this year, particularly with the flexibility of changing home screens and icon layouts etc in iOS 18. Although, part of me is thinking do I need all that hassle if it’s all working perfectly fine currently? 30 mins vs 2-3 hours + 🤔
Click to expand...
My advice is to just do the super easy phone to phone transfer and use the new phone.
If the phone seems wonky (not just bugs from new iOS 18) then erase & set up as factory new.
 
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I have never seen the device to device transfer work for myself although people I have supported over the phone were able to proceed with the process of transferring data from their old phone to the new one...

I always set up my phone as new whether I am using a new phone or just starting from scratch using the same phone... I don't mind having to sign in again on each app that I use and it also helps with making sure that space used is as minimal as possible during setup although now that I am using iPhone 13 Pro 512GB I don't think I will be performing Erase All Content and Settings as often as before...
 
I have always used backups (iTunes or iCloud) to setup new iPhones from 3GS days. I have too much information I need to even setup from scratch. Just not worth it for me. I never had any problems.
 
I’ll use an iCloud transfer this go round, as well. I do plan to do a clean restart at first of the year, when I retire, to clear off email accounts, and work related apps.
 
I always set up from my previous phone and have never had any issues. I just did a big overhaul of my phone, I had an embarrassing 5 pages of unused apps, I got rid of them all and I’m down to 2 screens and a lot more space. I wanted to do that to make new phone setup a bit quicker (I hope).
 
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I might try phone to phone transfer. Is it best to leave current phone on iOS 17?

Each year I have had to do an update to the new phone which takes even longer when I restore from icloud.
 
I do it every now and then. If most of your data is in various clouds, it's not all that time consuming. I don't think it's as beneficial as starting from scratch every now and then on a Mac though. iOS is really siloed.
 
My photos are in iCloud, I just make sure my emails and app data are saved on their respective servers. Then I just set up the new phone as new and download the apps. Otherwise it’s gonna take forever.
 
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