Other Fastest way to migrate/transfer to new iPhone

[F308gt4]

I ordered a 17 Pro Max for my mother in law, who currently has a 12 Pro Max. I’m wondering what’s the fastest way to set up her new phone. I’ve done the phone next to each other transfer in the past, but that usually seems to take a while (hours). Is there a faster/better way to do the setup/transfer?

Thanks!

 

[rambo47]

That's the method I use and it normally takes less than one hour.

 

[rui no onna]

I ordered a 17 Pro Max for my mother in law, who currently has a 12 Pro Max. I’m wondering what’s the fastest way to set up her new phone. I’ve done the phone next to each other transfer in the past, but that usually seems to take a while (hours). Is there a faster/better way to do the setup/transfer?

I believe phone-to-phone transfer is already the fastest. Did you use wireless or cable? Iirc, you can do the transfer with cable which might be faster.

My transfer usually takes less than an hour. After that, the new phone is just downloading apps directly from iTunes. Granted, a lot of my stuff is on iCloud (for syncing between multiple Apple devices).

 

[fatTribble]

I’ve always done a restore from the iCloud backup. That way it can complete on its own without needing the old iPhone to be nearby and charged.

 

[rui no onna]

I’ve always done a restore from the iCloud backup. That way it can complete on its own without needing the old iPhone to be nearby and charged.

On previous iOS versions, encrypted iTunes backup/restore and phone-to-phone transfer did a more complete restore than iCloud backup so I prefer those. I use iCloud restore when I want to clear crud though.

 

[MacDevil7334]

I think the transfer over cable option is only faster if both phones have USB-3 capable ports (so iPhone 15/16 Pro to 17 Pro). If one of the phones has a lightning port or is a non-Pro USB-c iPhone, the transfer will be limited to USB-2 speeds. At that point, doing the transfer over WiFi or restoring from a backup will almost certainly be faster.

 

[F308gt4]

I’ve always done a restore from the iCloud backup. That way it can complete on its own without needing the old iPhone to be nearby and charged.

Thanks. I don’t believe she has an iCloud subscription, just the base whatever they give you. So she may not be able to use iCloud to backup her phone. I think last year, when I ordered my phone from apple, I got a message about temp iCloud backup, but since I ordered the phone for her, not sure if she will be able to use it without paying for additional iCloud storage. Is that right?

Edit: I think she may be able to do this, I just found this link: https://support.apple.com/en-us/104980

 

[fatTribble]

On previous iOS versions, encrypted iTunes backup/restore and phone-to-phone transfer did a more complete restore than iCloud backup so I prefer those. I use iCloud restore when I want to clear crud though.

Interesting. Any idea what is missing from the iCloud backup?

 

[rui no onna]

Interesting. Any idea what is missing from the iCloud backup?

I usually had to re-login to my Mail accounts and some apps again.

With phone transfer, all my Mail accounts transfer over without having to enter the password again. Some apps like Kindle still force an app reset but for the most part, almost everything works like my old phone.

 

[Mactagonist]

Interesting. Any idea what is missing from the iCloud backup?

Passwords

 

[lazyrighteye]

Moving from 16 Pro to 17 Pro Max. While I've always done restore from iCloud backups in the past, I'm interested in a fresh start this time around. Plan to log into iCloud, so Mail, Passwords, ec. sync/install. Then grab the handful of business-critical apps and all it good.

One Tow questions: I can't recall... Do Messages (and their chat histories) get pulled in when logging into iCloud on a new device? Also, what aspects will I be kicking myself for by choosing to clean install and log into iCloud? I know there's gotta be something (or several somethings). Thanks.

 

[rui no onna]

One question: I can't recall... Do Messages (and their chat histories) get pulled in when logging into iCloud on a new device? Thanks.

If you have Messages in iCloud enabled, yes. I think they implemented that feature around iOS 12 or 13.

 

[rui no onna]

Interesting. Any idea what is missing from the iCloud backup?

Hmm, it seems like in-app purchases might also transfer via phone-to-phone transfer but not iCloud backup.

I have an app that's already been completely deleted from the App Store that I install on newer devices using iMazing. It had an in-app purchase to unlock the full version. If I do iCloud restore, I get the limited version while P2P transfer had the full unlocked version.