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iPhone 12 Pro Max Set up from backup or new phone?

G

GomerBoy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Hi,
I am getting my iPhone 12 Pro Max today...so excited for the upgrade and new technology! 🙂 Just wondering if it is better to restore from the most recent backup of my current iPhone 8 Plus or just start the new phone fresh? Then I would just transfer over my photos and apps?
 
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You will probably get varied replies on this one.

On my main phone, I have always used a backup of some sort (iCloud or encrypted iTunes backup) and transferred all that I could over to the new phone. The only one I haven't tried yet is iPhone to iPhone (will do that when I get my new 12 Mini).

But I have gone from backup to new iPhone each time without any issues at all. I think it's probably just personal preference at this point. Good luck to you!
 
GomerBoy said:
Hi,
I am getting my iPhone 12 Pro Max today...so excited for the upgrade and new technology! 🙂 Just wondering if it is better to restore from the most recent backup of my current iPhone 8 Plus or just start the new phone fresh? Then I would just transfer over my photos and apps?
Click to expand...

I transferred all my data iPhone XS Max to12 PM but didn’t get feeling of new phone so... I did iTunes restore & start as new
 
Yup, you’ll definitely get a mixed bag of responses. Personally, I’ve been using the iCloud backup option ever since it came into existence, and I’ve never had a single issue with it.
 
I usually restore from a local backup, but the setup procedure had me transfer data by putting it near to my 6splus. It seemed to work well but I synced it right after anyway and it took a while there to copy/encode the music. The one photo I had was copied along with everything else with the initial setup.

My copy of Fortnite only got an indication to download from the store then it says it is no longer available. Still works on 6splus. Yet my copy of EA Tetris copied just fine and I don’t think that is in the store anymore either because they lost the license.
 
Setup as new when I get a new device but restore if exchanged/swapped midway through the cycle. You can get little bugs that transfer over the years especially if you use beta's. I find it fun to go through all the settings again as you tend to forget about certain little things - this takes a couple of hours.

iCloud has my photos, contacts, iMessages etc and it's an excuse to clear out apps you don't tend use.

I always end up with more free space and never have any battery drain issues etc.
 
Domadia_Jasmine said:
I transferred all my data iPhone XS Max to12 PM but didn’t get feeling of new phone so... I did iTunes restore & start as new
Click to expand...
My parents, and my wife all did the backup option. All of them were less excited about the new phone because it felt exactly like the old one. I came from a Pixel 4XL so had no option, and had fun setting everything up. That said, it can be a pain to get all your apps re-installed and logged in etc.

For my wife, I did the phone-to-phone direct transfer and I feel like that was the smoothest option.
 
The phone to phone transfer works great. I used this method going from my 11 pro to my 12 pro. Very seamless, but you are correct, it does feel less like a new gadget because everything is exactly like it was on the old device.
 
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I always setup from a backup... that’s what the feature was meant for.

never had an issue with any iPhone I’ve owned.

I’ve never used iCloud and have always backed up to my Mac.

My iPhone 12 Pro was setup from an iPhone 7+ backup.

Been doing this, going back to the iPhone 2.
 
As you've already seen, some swear that starting fresh works best, but I opt for convenience. I want my new device to pickup where my previous one left off, with all the same settings and content.

Since my very first iPhone (a 3Gs) I've always set up my new device from a backup, whether from iTunes, iCloud, or a direct device-to-device transfer. It has never caused any problems.

Frankly, setting up everything from scratch sounds like a headache!
 
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I set up mine as new since everything I care about are part of the iCloud environment and I want to make sure useless crap isn’t brought to a brand new device. Also I love setting up new stuff. In fact I do that every few months
 
I set my new phone next to my old phone and let them do their thing. Can't get easier than that. Of course it's the same set up as my old phone right down to the wallpaper, that's the point. That's how I set up my phone, why would I not want the new one to be set up the same?
 
I plan on doing a backup from iCloud - at home on a fast wi-fi network.

Will first sort thru what is on my present phone and get rid of what I'm not using much and reorganize the remainder.
 
GomerBoy said:
That’s what I am thinking of doing! Does it transfer everything over including texts? How does this work? Do both iPhones need to be side by side? Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
It does copy texts, yes. And yes, you have to keep them next to each other as they transfer.
 
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