How to transfer ALL Data between iPads

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Level 1

9 points

How to transfer ALL Data between iPads

Hi, I have recently bought an iPad 8th gen to replace my 7 year old iPad Air. I have been trying to transfer all my data to the new iPad via iCloud back-up, but my new iPad only now has about 60GB of "stuff", whereas the old iPad has about 100GB. I suspect most - if not all - the missing data is the "legacy" photo albums and music that I synced from my PC using iTunes when I first got the iPad Air in 2014. I no longer have this PC so cannot re-sync to my new iPad. Essentially the data on my iPad Air is my "master" copy. Surely there must be a (Apple-approved) method to transfer ALL data between iOS devices without going back to the original iTunes installation - after all, it is all my data!

iPad, iPadOS 14

Posted on Jan 19, 2021 7:48 PM

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Answer 1

Adam_Michael Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 20, 2021 2:41 PM in response to LotusPilot

Thanks for your response :-)

I'm pretty sure I have already followed all the guidance on those page links you provided, and in fact I have tried setting up the new iPad from scratch twice now, on both occasions restoring from an iCloud backup, but still have about 40GB of photos and music missing. And the missing stuff is all from my pre-iPad era. Any photos that I've taken since I bought the first iPad are there. And music I've bought in that same time period is there. But anything that originally came from my PC / iTunes is not there (but is still in my old iPad, obviously).

I believe (or perhaps fear) there are two different issues.

For photos, I can't find anything that says photos aren't backed-up, but there is also mention of using iCloud sync for photos. I do not have this enabled, and if I try to enable it (on my old iPad) I'm warned I will lose 11,000 photos, so I obviously don't proceed.

For music, reading the Apple articles about what is backed up to iCloud, it only mentions purchases made from Apple... well most of my music is not from this source, it is my personal CD collection that was ripped into MP3s. If these files aren't backed up, I'm not even sure how an iCloud Back-up can be called a back-up if there are large amounts of (legal, owned by me) data that isn't backed up.... that is a real misnomer!

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Answer 2

Jan 20, 2021 7:17 AM in response to Adam_Michael

These support pages should get you started with setup of your new iPad - and the methods of transferring your data from old to new iPad:

Set up your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch – Apple Support

Transfer data from your previous iOS device to your new iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Use Quick Start to transfer data to a new iPhone, iPad or iPod touch – Apple Support

Older models of iPad, with iOS versions older than iOS 12.4, will not be able to use QuickStart.

“Transfer” is rather a misnomer. In reality, your data and setup is merely cloned to the new device. Nothing is moved or removed from the original device.

An alternative is to restore either an iCloud or iTunes backup to the new device:

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support

Assuming that your old iPad holds the “master” copy of your data, perhaps the simplest resolution is to wipe the new iPad - and start again from scratch. To reset and start again, on your new iPad:

Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content & Settings

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Answer 3

Jan 20, 2021 4:23 PM in response to Adam_Michael

Commercial/copyrighted media synchronised from a the iTunes Library on your PC/Mac computer is not included in device backup for two principal reasons:

1) Digital Media consumes a considerable amount of space; as the media has been loaded from your external library, it can be simply and efficiently synchronised from your iTunes Library to your new device(s).

2) iTunes on PC/Mac provides DRM (Digital Rights Management) controls. As potentially copyrighted material is neither backed-up to an external source, or copied to another device, copyright restrictions are not circumvented. Synchronising from your iTunes library ensures that Digital Media is legitimately accessed.

It is easy to forget that “purchase” of digital media does not constitute ownership of the material. You don’t “own” the copyright; your purchase is effectively a licence to view/play the material.

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How to transfer ALL Data between iPads

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