All Devices iTunes restore or OTA?

[one more]

Is there any difference between restoring an iOS device with iTunes vs just installing iOS 13.1 OTA? As I was running a series of betas, I would like a fresh installation. At the same time, however, I would not like to lose hours tweaking everything back into place. Thank you all!

 

[Shirasaki]

I’d say no, mainly because of how reinstalling macOS works out. Maybe doing a DFU would give you a fresher install, but very few people know exactly how those things work.

 

[big samm]

Can't have both... Either you do a ota and keep all the clutter and junk files or start as new and you will be sure to have a properly working device. One thing i would suggest is start as new set all the apps and passwords then immediately make a backup. That way you have a clean backup with no clutter or junk files.

 

[Shirasaki]

Can't have both... Either you do a ota and keep all the clutter and junk files or start as new and you will be sure to have a properly working device. One thing i would suggest is start as new set all the apps and passwords then immediately make a backup. That way you have a clean backup with no clutter or junk files.

But this backup will contain no app data.

 

[one more]

Can't have both... Either you do a ota and keep all the clutter and junk files or start as new and you will be sure to have a properly working device.

This is my question.

Yesterday I did a “large” OTA install (1,75 GB), as I was moving from iOS 13.1 beta 4 and the public 13.1 release. Does my iOS device still keep all this beta “clutter and junk” or does it remove/overwrite it, considering the size of the install file?

If I go iTunes restore route, the downloadable file is much bigger - 3,75 GB, so around 2 GB extra, compared to OTA.

However, I also remember that even after restoring my iPhone from the most complete (encrypted) iTunes backup with iOS 13, it still took me around half a day to get everything working again as it should. This is a big minus for me.

My iOS devices work fine right now after OTA, but I just wonder if they would work even better or gained some more extra storage if I had done a full iTunes restore. Has anybody actually tested both iTunes and OTA installations on two identical devices to see the difference?

 

[newellj]

You can either update the OS or wipe and restore the whole phone with iTunes. The reason the file is larger is that iTunes writes the whole OS if you update (and if you restore). OTA only patches the updated portions.

 

[one more]

You can either update the OS or wipe and restore the whole phone with iTunes. The reason the file is larger is that iTunes writes the whole OS if you update (and if you restore). OTA only patches the updated portions.

I understand this, my question is more whether there is any proven advantage of using a full restore method (iTunes) vs OTA?

OTA is more convenient by far, but in the past I have seen comments on these forums that iTunes restore is the “cleanest” way to go for major iOS upgrades.

So I am wondering if somebody had actually compared both methods side by side and if they had any actual proof that iTunes restore is a better way for a system update?

I see that iTunes restore is great for setting up new devices or trying to fix the “broken” ones, but what about our “normal” updates?

 

[newellj]

I don’t think you’ll find any A/B tests. In theory the OTA patches are fine, just like the incremental MacOS updates. But a fair number of people wait a day or two for the combo update because they have greater confidence in a complete download of the OS. Apple would probably tell you that they should be equivalent, and in most cases they’d probably be right. It’s personal preference.

 

[one more]

Ok, so I chatted to Apple Support and they recommended to do a restore via iTunes after running any betas. On it right now. Thanks everybody for your feedback! 👍

 

[Sorig]

When I updated my iPhone 5S from iOS 10.2 to iOS 11.1, I had major battery drain.

I restored to 11.1 with iTunes and set up as new and that fixed the battery drain.

if you don’t have any problems then don’t waste your time with a restore.

 

[one more]

All done, iTunes restored both my iPad and iPhone to iOS 13.1. Subjectively, both devices seem snapper now.

Thank you all again for your input!