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Are you going to backup and restore or set as new iPhone?

  • Backup and restore

    Votes: 43 43.4%
  • Set as new

    Votes: 56 56.6%

  • Total voters
    99

royinla14

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 12, 2011
541
145
Any thoughts about whether it's better to set the iphone as new or just back up and restore?
 
I don't like the old backups bringing baggage to my new phones... Like broken .plists and things of the sort.

Set as new!
 
Set as new...let iCloud restore the necessities (email, msgs, contacts, notes, pictures, etc).
 
Set as new...let iCloud restore the necessities (email, msgs, contacts, notes, pictures, etc).

iCloud doesn't restore your old messages just by signing in. That requires a restore unless something has changed recently.
 
Last edited:
iCloud doesn't restore your old messages just by signing in. That requires a restore unless something has changed recently.

Weird...last time I setup as new I believe all my iMessages came up. Either way though, New Phone is always better in my opinion.
 
I'm pretty sure that when I went from my 3Gs to my 5s I restored. The only issue was that my wallpaper didn't scale quite right.

I'm not sure that I understand the difference between setting up as new and then getting your content and settings back via iCloud/iTunes vs. just restoring right off the bat.
 
back up and restore since I want to get back my app data.

This. Used to always set up as new but recently, out of convenience and laziness? (haha), restored from a backup. It worked fine. On the iOS 8 beta, I had to revert back to iOS7 (set as new) for a bit and then back up to iOS8 (restored from iOS7 backup). All went well. Everything runs as expected.

I'd say that unless your old phone is having some serious issues, restoring from a backup is perfectly fine.
 
Weird...last time I setup as new I believe all my iMessages came up. Either way though, New Phone is always better in my opinion.

Interesting. I wonder if others who set up as new can chime in on this. I have never experienced this but I'd love to be wrong here.

You're sure you didn't restore an iCloud backup?
 
Interesting. I wonder if others who set up as new can chime in on this. I have never experienced this but I'd love to be wrong here.

You're sure you didn't restore an iCloud backup?

No I setup as new, when I received my last 5s (replacement via ACare+), but I am probably just remembering wrong.
 
I guess if one can't just "let go," a restore may be in order.

I guess the biggest issue may be text and camera roll. :rolleyes:
 
I guess if one can't just "let go," a restore may be in order.

I guess the biggest issue may be text and camera roll. :rolleyes:

I just don't get why you won't restore from back up, isn't that one of the reasons to back it up? If you're going to restore as new, why bother backing it up?
 
How do I upgrade to the new iCloud plans to back up all my pictures, because 25 gb is not enough for me, I'm going for the 200 GB 3.99 a month, but I don't see an upgrade option.
 
I just don't get why you won't restore from back up, isn't that one of the reasons to back it up? If you're going to restore as new, why bother backing it up?

Yea, I always have. Even when I got my replacement two months ago. But as I looked through my phone, I saw allll those apps that I just don't use anymore and would rather download as I need. Non-the-less, I restore as I feel better using that route.
 
A few days before I'll plug the phone into iTunes and do a backup. New phone, it copies everything over when I select it as my new phone. When it's done plug old phone in and wipe it to a factory fresh phone with nothing on it. Take pictures of it with new phone, place in box, sell for same amount as I just paid, so $0 out of pocket at the end. I've never paid a dime for an iPhone. First one was free and I've always broke even in sales. Great roi. Work pays most of my monthly so my end is $35 a month with a new phone every two years. Wasting lots of money on smart phones isn't my cup of tea. More pressing and important things in life.
 
A few days before I'll plug the phone into iTunes and do a backup. New phone, it copies everything over when I select it as my new phone.

cornerexit - Thanks so much. Here's my question about your advice: After you've backed up your old phone thru iTunes, when you get your new phone, do you plug that new phone into iTunes and set it up as "New" or do you do it wirelessly, or does it not matter which way you do so?

I've got a 4S which has been a fantastic little workhorse, and has no discernable issues at all. But it's 3-1/2 years old, and I want my new 6+ to work well. I've set up all my previous (3S, 4, and 4S) iPhones as "backup" and haven't had a single issue, but I want to do the best thing for this one.

Thanks so much for your advice!
 
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