iPhone 15 Pro Max New iPhone, Computer or iCloud backup to restore from?

[theanimala]

Ordered a 15PM to replace my too small to me iPhone 13. Historically I would always plug my phone into my back and do an Encrypted Backup, then plug in my new phone to the computer and restore from that backup.

I finally updated my iCloud account and have enough storage to backup my phone. Is there a preferred method (computer or iCloud) to restore my phone from? I only do this every few years, obviously not an expert on these things…

One other question, is it easy to delete my phone backup from iCloud if that is the method I use? I know iCloud is secure, and I use complex passwords, but part of me is just uneasy having my personal data in the cloud. If I do backup/restore from iCloud I’d like to know how easy it is to delete my phone backup when complete.

 

[Bigwaff]

It's easy to restore a new iPhone from either local backup or an iCloud backup. In my experience, the local backup is faster, however, you still have to wait for all the apps to download and install regardless of whether backup is local or iCloud. iPhone backups haven't included the app bundles for some time now.

 

[eyoungren]

Why not just use the transfer app? It'll ask if you want to do that from the new phone.

You just put old phone next to new phone, put both on the same WiFi network and let the new phone transfer everything from the old phone.

 

[Apple_Tiger]

I just do the phone to phone transfer.

 

[theanimala]

Thanks guys. Does phone to phone transfer also copy all of the password info? I thought only am encrypted backup did that. The account passwords are always the hardest part of an upgrade. If I can do that phone to phone transfer then it’s a done deal.

 

[now i see it]

phone to phone transfer basically clones the old phone onto the new one. Everything is exactly the same on both. I just did it yesterday. It took about 35 minutes. Effortless.

 

[ibookemo]

Thanks guys. Does phone to phone transfer also copy all of the password info? I thought only am encrypted backup did that. The account passwords are always the hardest part of an upgrade. If I can do that phone to phone transfer then it’s a done deal.

In my experience, yes.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Unless you completely eschew using iCloud to store your photos & messages there’s no significant benefit to any of the transfer methods. iCloud data comes from iCloud; apps come from App Store no matter how you transfer (phone-to-phone, iCloud, or computer) so the vast majority of the restore process is identical for any method.

If you do keep your photos & messages local, then there could be a benefit to local restore.