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Can I sync to a different device?

CarboysDesire

CarboysDesire

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 9, 2008
818
276
Las Vegas
I currently, and since 2007, have always sync'd and backed up to my iMac 27" desktop, and of course that resides at my home.

I also have a MacBook Air that I use much more frequently these days, and I usually always have it with me.

My 6S Plus will be delivered to my work office tomorrow.

Can I sync my current 6 Plus to my Macbook Air so that when my new 6S Plus arrives tomorrow I don't have to wait until I get home to activate it? I would love to be able to sync my 6 Plus to my Air so that I can activate the new 6S Plus immediately.

I've previously thought that it was not possible, but you guys are smart--is there a way?
 
CarboysDesire said:
I currently, and since 2007, have always sync'd and backed up to my iMac 27" desktop, and of course that resides at my home.

I also have a MacBook Air that I use much more frequently these days, and I usually always have it with me.

My 6S Plus will be delivered to my work office tomorrow.

Can I sync my current 6 Plus to my Macbook Air so that when my new 6S Plus arrives tomorrow I don't have to wait until I get home to activate it? I would love to be able to sync my 6 Plus to my Air so that I can activate the new 6S Plus immediately.

I've previously thought that it was not possible, but you guys are smart--is there a way?
Click to expand...
Yes.
2 options off the top of my head.
1. Back up your current phone to your laptop. Then do the restore in your office.
2. Back up your current phone to iCloud and restore ota if you have wifi at your office.
 
ron7624 said:
Yes.
2 options off the top of my head.
1. Back up your current phone to your laptop. Then do the restore in your office.
2. Back up your current phone to iCloud and restore ota if you have wifi at your office.
Click to expand...

OK, I love this answer, but why am I fearful that it's not so easy?

Shouldn't I be afraid that there are things on my phone that will be erased because they don't exist on my Air at the present time?

I do have wifi at the office, yes.
 
CarboysDesire said:
OK, I love this answer, but why am I fearful that it's not so easy?

Shouldn't I be afraid that there are things on my phone that will be erased because they don't exist on my Air at the present time?

I do have wifi at the office, yes.
Click to expand...
Put iTunes on your laptop and do a full backup including apps
Tomorrow restore from your laptop. It is that easy
Or tonight back up to the cloud, or do both just to be safe
 
OK,
ron7624 said:
Put iTunes on your laptop and do a full backup including apps
Tomorrow restore from your laptop. It is that easy
Or tonight back up to the cloud, or do both just to be safe
Click to expand...

OK, iTunes is already on my Air. And I subscribe to iTunes match so I can access all my music from the cloud anyway from any device. I do that now. All my music is on my desktop, but it's available via iTunes match to my iPad and to my Air. I turned it off for my iPhone because I prefer to have music actually downloaded to my iPhone because my gym's wifi sucks and I can't handle buffering while I'm there, which is 6 days/week but that's another story.

So anyway, I'm not too concerned about losing the downloaded music because I have to re-download it anyway, to the new iPhone.

I'll do this:

1) Sync and back-up on my usual desktop
2) Plug the iphone into my Air and do a full back-up there as well.
3) Tomorrow plug the new iphone into the Air and restore the back-up from #2 above.

That's it?

Seems way toO easy--but I'll try it!

Thank you.
 
Last edited:
CarboysDesire said:
OK,


OK, iTunes is already on my Air. And I subscribe to iTunes match so I can access all my music from the cloud anyway from any device. I do that now. All my music is on my desktop, but it's available via iTunes match to my iPad and to my Air. I turned it off for my iPhone because I prefer to have music actually downloaded to my iPhone because my gym's wifi sucks and I can't handle buffering while I'm there, which is 6 days/week but that's another story.

So anyway, I'm not too concerned about losing the downloaded music because I have to re-download it anyway, to the new iPhone.

I'll do this:

1) Sync and back-up on my usual desktop
2) Plug the iphone into my Air and do a full back-up there as well.
3) Tomorrow plug the new iphone into the Air and restore the back-up from #2 above.

That's it?

Seems way to easy--but I'll try it!

Thank you.
Click to expand...
Your welcome and good luck. The MBA should do the trick. Be sure to post your joy!
 
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OK, I've completed 1 and 2 above.

Not only did I do a back-up but I did a sync too. None of my downloaded music was lost.

So that's good.

I now have a back-up on my Air.

But I'm confused about the Apps. I have about 75 or 80 apps on my phone. None of those apps are in my iTunes on my Air. They are on my desktop Mac only.

So when I restore from back-up on the new 6S am I going to have to re-download all those apps???
 
I suppose I can just wait until I get home, and sync to my desktop and get the Apps that way, instead of re-downloading from the App Store?
 
On your mba, when doing the back up, it asks you if you want to copy the apps. Say yes - and those apps will be part of the restore process on your new phone. Also be sure you encript the back up so your passwords will be restored as well.
But yeah, if you didnt, you can do it again at home later.
 
There's an issue with iOS 9 and the new iTunes. iTunes previously would allow you to copy the existing apps on your device back into iTunes, but as of now it will no longer do so. What will happen when you choose to restore from your MBA is that it will copy over all your system files, iCloud settings, app 'data', etc but not the apps themselves. I'm not sure if this is a bug or a 'feature' by Apple due to the app thinning introduced in iOS 9...

After the restore and once you have activated the phone and reached the home screen - your new iPhone will start downloading all of the apps that were on your old device. You would need to be connected to a wifi network for this to start.
 
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I wasnt aware of that issue. I did back up my phone before dl'ing 9 to iTunes and iCloud and didnt notice that issue-it is highly probable it didnt back up what few new ones would have been on it.
Either way, your shiny new device will be zooming soon. I'm a bit jealous as I'm hanging on to my 'paid for' 6 for another hear. To me, it is still an amazing device and does all that I ask, and quickly too. So I am very happy with my 6, but just a tad jealous haha
 
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