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iPhone 13 Pro Setup as new vs restore from iPhone backup

H

handsomelife

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 1, 2010
70
12
Picking up a 13 pro today, does anyone know what the difference is between......

A. Restoring a backup from iCloud as part of the new phone set up

and

B. Setting the phone up as brand new and then signing into iCloud from Settings.

I know I'd need to go download all my apps again but apart from that is there anything else I'd lose if I went with option B instead of option A?!
 
A will restore your content into the new iphone, as if you never left your old iphone. When it's restoring your app, most app will work right away as if you never left (some apps may need you to re-login).

B will just sign you on to iCloud on your new phone, and you'll get things like iCloud email and contacts. But You will have to install your apps (search them from the app store and install manually) and set them up from scratch manually. Once installed, Some apps may automatically download their data backup from iCloud if they used it (eg. Whatsapp, but first you still need to log in to whatsapp as if you have a new phone).
 
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So since the 13s are shipping with 15os RC, do we have to set it up as new > upgrade > then restore iCloud Backup if we don’t want to manually install apps?
 
Every new iPhone I've had has been set up from an encrypted backup on my computer, purely for the benefit that it also carries over data like passwords and card details.

Is this still the only way to achieve this or is iCloud now a solid choice?
 
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If I choose option A, will it upload the new version of an app or the old one??? Currently, I have a few apps where I still have the old version and would like to keep that one.
 
If you restore from an iCloud backup you don't need to manually install apps etc.
 
Why not just use the old phone to do a DIRECT restore to the new phone? There’s a phone to phone direct transfer method that transfer all data which is indentical to restoring from an encrypted backup via the computer
 
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I like to set up my new devices as new on a weekend, without restoring from a backup because backups can acquire software garbage. All the basic stuff (email, contacts, calendar and more) comes online as soon as I sign into iCloud. Plan carefully before the change.

Have all passwords ready. Make a list of all apps to reinstall: on an iPad or iPhone, take screenshots on the old device of all the screens so you know which apps were on the old device. Apps from the Apple stores are listed in the “purchased” section. Handy to have the old device available for reference until the new device is set up. Only takes an hour or two to be 95% done. Then be careful to decommission the old device securely, both on the device and online.

Ends up with clean software on clean new hardware.
 
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iHeartsteve said:
If I choose option A, will it upload the new version of an app or the old one??? Currently, I have a few apps where I still have the old version and would like to keep that one.
Click to expand...

Either way you will get the current app that’s available in the App Store. The device will restore your data from the backup, but it will download all of the apps from the App Store.
 
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I’d just use my old phone to help me perform a direct restore/set up, or download from iCloud. No need to start from scratch and manually download every app individually.

AFAIK, both methods mean you’re going to download a fresh, most up-to-date version of each software onto your new phone. You’re not moving your apps from one phone to another, and inheriting junk with associated app “junk”. Your installs are still fresh, except that your settings and preferences are carried over.

It’s probably 99.9% as good as manual installation, manually logging in, manually changing the settings of all those apps, etc.
 
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