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I would setup as a new device and copy the old pics to the new phone. That's it.

Installing from a fresh setup get's you rid of all those apps you don't use ;-) and give's a lot of free space on the new phone ;-)
iCloud would automatically bring the photos over :D
 
If there was the option or possibility to actually add pictures to the camera roll after setting up the iPhone as new, I would set it up as new.
But since there isn’t, either you restore to keep your camera roll, or if you do as new, the roll is gone, so I have to restore...
 
Can’t you just set it up as new and then enable iCloud afterwards so it’ll start syncing your photos?

If you have iCloud photos.
I don’t.
I like having my photos locally on my phone.
And even with iCloud photos I don’t know if they go to the camera roll or a different album for iCloud.
 
Those of you planning on restoring from a backup, are you using iCloud backups or local backups on your computer??

Right now I have everything but my photos backed up via iCloud but I’m wondering if I should plug my iPhone X into my new MacBook Pro to back it up and then restore my 11 pro when it arrives from the MacBook backup.

Any advantage or disadvantage of doing it either way?
 
Restore from backup and then head to settings > general > reset > reset network settings. AFAIK this just removes carrier settings, saved wireless networks and bluetooth devices.

Doing what I do I get to keep my app and app layouts ie folders etc which I wouldn’t with settings up as new

The same here. Lot's of Apps and data. Way too much hassle to install from new every year. New only if there would be a problem.

Re-entering WiFi passwords and connecting Bluetooth devices is only a minor task.
 
I’m one of the people that likes setting up my new phone each year.

I have a bunch of apps I never use at this point and it’sa great way to clear them out. Also I am usually on the beta when the new phone comes out so the only way to restore would be to put my new phone on the beta as well which I would prefer to avoid.
 
I have always restored from iCloud in the past, but its a pain having to set up passwords etc in all apps again.

This time, assuming the new device comes with iOS 13 already, I will update my current handset to iOS 13, then do a full encrypted backup via iTunes, before doing an iTunes restore. I have been told that should sync all passwords etc across as well?
 
Those of you planning on restoring from a backup, are you using iCloud backups or local backups on your computer??

Right now I have everything but my photos backed up via iCloud but I’m wondering if I should plug my iPhone X into my new MacBook Pro to back it up and then restore my 11 pro when it arrives from the MacBook backup.

Any advantage or disadvantage of doing it either way?
When you do it via a Mac all your passwords are kept with all apps. Liters;lay just like using your old iPhone.
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I have always restored from iCloud in the past, but its a pain having to set up passwords etc in all apps again.

This time, assuming the new device comes with iOS 13 already, I will update my current handset to iOS 13, then do a full encrypted backup via iTunes, before doing an iTunes restore. I have been told that should sync all passwords etc across as well?
Yes.
 
When you do it via a Mac all your passwords are kept with all apps. Liters;lay just like using your old iPhone.
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Yes.

Ok so I’ll go for a backup/restore with my MacBook, then can I delete the backup file so it doesn’t take up more than half of my MBP’s hard drive?

My incoming 11 pro has a bigger hard drive than my 2019 touchbar MBP.
 
Ok so I’ll go for a backup/restore with my MacBook, then can I delete the backup file so it doesn’t take up more than half of my MBP’s hard drive?

My incoming 11 pro has a bigger hard drive than my 2019 touchbar MBP.
Do you have iCloud? If you do and that’s where you store your pictures, the backup won’t be that large.
 
iCloud backup. Years ago people would set up as new due to bugs, but it seems like that’s been ironed out.
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I start every new phone with a fresh build. It’ll sound bad, but I kind of enjoy the set up process. I do a purge of all the apps and downloads that have accumulated over the year and start with the basics I know I need.

the purge is always nice :)
 
i always set up as new whether its an iphone or android. if you did an itunes backup on ios12 then you get an iphone 11 with ios 13 it wont back up to your iphone 11 because of the version mismatches. i found this recently when i got a replacement for my sons iphone x and he was on an ios13 beta that he backed up. itunes wouldnt restore his backup because the replacement iphone was on ios 12. so thats something else to think about. the only thing you miss from doing new is your pre-installed apps. everything else is in the cloud like messages and contacts and photos so you are never without those no matter what version of ios.
 
Do you have iCloud? If you do and that’s where you store your pictures, the backup won’t be that large.

I do not have my photos being backed up to iCloud but I do have everything else backed up. I pay for 200gb of iCloud storage though.

So how can I backup my photos to iCloud so when I backup my phone to my mbp via iTunes it won’t backup the photos to the computer?

I was going to call Apple and have them assist me in this because I don’t need the photos on my computer (and that’s the vast majority of the 200gb used on my phone).
 
If you have iCloud photos.
I don’t.
I like having my photos locally on my phone.
And even with iCloud photos I don’t know if they go to the camera roll or a different album for iCloud.
I have iCloud photos and they all stay in the album. Also, if you keep them on your phone and your done gets lost or stolen, then what?

Since iMessage in the cloud, it makes restoring from new easier. Contacts, photos, and messages are all I care about. I set up as new and as soon and these 3 all show up every time when I set up as new because of iCloud.
 
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I always set up as new. I think half of the fun of upgrading is installing stuff rather than restoring and being right back in your old phone. All the essentials are backed up on iCloud anyway.
 
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I used to start new but it's become a hassle doing this so I stopped. The last 3 iphones, I've been restoring from backup.

I restore from a full backup (itunes encrypted backup) on my mac than icloud backup.
 
There's a new option to copy across settings from one phone to another too now which doesn't seem to be mentioned above. There's also a change in Reminders which haven't been compatible between iOS12 and 13 yet - I assume if I update my existing X before setting up my new 11 then that'll take of itself.

I think I'll start again from scratch as a new phone - my Apple Music, Contacts, Photos and Notes & email will all come down from the cloud without any fuss. I keep full-size original Photos locally, which is one of the main reasons I keep buying 256GB phones but doesn't take long on fibre broadband.

A Spring clean / purge is nice, otherwise it doesn't feel new. I can see arguments for both approaches - new wallpaper & some of the junk cleaned out just makes it feel like more of a change for me.
 
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I start every new phone with a fresh build. It’ll sound bad, but I kind of enjoy the set up process. I do a purge of all the apps and downloads that have accumulated over the year and start with the basics I know I need.

I've been restoring from iCloud and iTunes backups forever when moving to a new or different iPhone. This past summer though, my iPhone was damaged while travelling and I had it replaced at an Apple Store. Not sure why, but I felt like starting fresh for the first time ever. Honestly its such a good feeling. So much is synced from iCloud, and I just slowly installed apps that I found I needed day to day. Maybe a bit of a nerdy thing or some time wasting, but its fun in a way to start fresh and spend some time with it.
 
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There's a new option to copy across settings from one phone to another too now which doesn't seem to be mentioned above. There's also a change in Reminders which haven't been compatible between iOS12 and 13 yet - I assume if I update my existing X before setting up my new 11 then that'll take of itself.

The file transfer option is probably what I will choose. It used to be a full backup form iTunes was the best option, but Apps are no longer backed up, only the placeholder for the app, which means downloading ALL your apps all over again. So annoying as that means re-entering credentials for EVERY app. If the file transfer option saves me that, that's what I will do.
 
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