iPhone 17 How can you tell if a wired iPhone-to-iPhone migration was performed and not wireless?

[Luba]

I connected a USB-C charging cable to the 2 iPhones and selected Transfer From Phone, the transfer took about the same time (2 hours) as the last time when I did a wireless iPhone-to-iPhone migration. Same amount of storage on the phone as the last time I did a transfer, about 200 GB storage on old iPhone (16 Pro). I don't think all 200 GB was transferred to iPhone 17, apps and other data are downloaded in the background after the transfer.

The transfer was stuck at "1 minute remaining" for about 10-15 minutes and my old iPhone (16 Pro) was down to 15% battery so I connected to power and almost instantly the transfer was complete. The new iPhone (17) was also gaining in battery percentage so it seems the old iPhone was also charging it!

 

[joeblow7777]

I wish I had an answer for you, but I was recently in a similar situation. I was transferring between two phones that were connected by wire, and I honestly couldn't tell if it was even working. Seemed to be taking just as long as the wireless connection I had aborted.

 

[alFR]

Problem is not all USB C cables are equal: they support different data speeds (and charging rates). If you were using one that only supports USB2 speeds for data it could potentially take longer for a wired transfer than wireless.

 

[Luba]

Problem is not all USB C cables are equal: they support different data speeds (and charging rates). If you were using one that only supports USB2 speeds for data it could potentially take longer for a wired transfer than wireless.

I used the Apple USB-C charging cable that came with the 16 Pro. Probably at USB2 speed?

The source phone (16 Pro) was charging the target iPhone 17, was that a feature of the 16 Pro?

 

[darthbane2k]

The clue is the message on the screen. If wired it asks you to keep iPhone connected to the new phone, if wireless it tells you to keep close to the new phone. Agree this could be clearer.

 

[palemonkey]

At the point where you select iCloud restore or phone transfer the little icon on the button changes to be an iPhone with a cable.

 

[ab22]

I used the Apple USB-C charging cable that came with the 16 Pro. Probably at USB2 speed?

The source phone (16 Pro) was charging the target iPhone 17, was that a feature of the 16 Pro?

Yes - included cable is USB-2

Yes - 15 & later will charge anything that supports USB Power Delivery - 4.5W according to Apple.

If the new device was a 17 (not Pro) then only USB-2 speeds anyway.