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Upgrading iPhone and changing cellular provider at the same time

I ordered a new iPhone directly from Apple. I will be upgrading from an older iPhone. I also have an Apple Watch. We are also switching cellular providers when I do this since my current provider charges way too much for 5G service. Anyone know what the best way to accomplish this in the least amount of steps?


Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Posted on Sep 20, 2021 1:53 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 20, 2021 3:22 PM

Here's a more complete link for you --> How to pair your Apple Watch with a new iPhone - Apple Support


The added complication you have is your are not transferring the same cellular service to the watch.

13 replies

Sep 20, 2021 2:07 PM in response to famy

You will need to unpair the Apple Watch from your current iPhone. Then you'll need to establish cellular service with your new carrier (assuming your watch is cellular) and then set up the watch on your new phone.


Moving data from one phone to another is actually pretty easy. See this link --> Transfer data from your previous iOS device to your new iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support


The very first thing it tells you to do is unpair your watch from your previous phone.

Sep 21, 2021 3:02 PM in response to famy

A watch is not locked to a carrier. I've moved my watch to a new phone, but I've never changed the carrier in the process. From memory, when you are setting up the watch on the new phone, you will be asked if you want to keep your cellular plan. Clearly, you won't want to do that. What I don't know is when or how you get the new carrier on your phone. You should have that discussion with your new cellular provider to know how that will work. And you should also make absolutely certain they DO support Apple Watch. As an example, for some time Spectrum has supported iPhone. However, they did NOT support Apple Watch until very recently.

Sep 21, 2021 3:24 PM in response to lobsterghost1

I already verified that they support Apple Watch. And I believe that you just go to Settings, Cellular to possibly drop the old provider and pick a new provider on the new phone. I guess I can contact my new provider-to-be to see what they have to say. Thanks for your help. I'll post back when I figure it all out.

Sep 26, 2021 1:00 AM in response to lobsterghost1

I actually checked with Apple support and the recommendation was to:

1) unpair the Apple Watch

2) backup the old iPhone

3) turn on the new iPhone and copy from the old iPhone to the new one

4) get the new cellular plan working

5) pair the Apple Watch to the new iPhone and restore its data.


That’s what I did and t took awhile, but it all worked out in the end.

Sep 26, 2021 5:59 AM in response to famy

I'm glad it all worked out for you. I was hoping to hear back from you. You were right that Quick Start does move the watch over to a new phone without having to unpair the watch. In your case, you were changing cellular plans, so unpairing would be required. In my case, I wasn't changing cellular plans. Quick start asks if you want to move your watch over, you tap yes and everything moved over seamlessly.



Upgrading iPhone and changing cellular provider at the same time

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