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Swapping my mother's iPhone

My mother has an old iPhone that soon won't work on Verizon. My sister has an iPhone8 of hers that she no longer uses. They're both on Verizon.


So I've been given the phone and the mission of going to my mother's and switching her phone.


I'm just a little blurry on the procedure. I figure I'll wipe the iPhone 8 so I'll be giving her a more or less pristine phone. But what's the best protocol for getting the info from her old phone to this newer one?


Thanks!

Posted on May 13, 2022 5:21 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 13, 2022 5:35 PM

These days you can use QuickStart, but probably not on any iPhone old enough that service will be discontinued (iPhone 5 series or older I believe).


You should be able to back up to a computer (PC or Mac) and then restore from it to transfer almost all the contents. There are some things that may not transfer though, including apps that are no longer supported and some settings or configurations don't necessarily transfer. I've found that large icons and fingerprints don't transfer. App only reload from Wi-Fi (at least for an iPhone 8) and if it's no longer available on the App Store there's not much one can do about it. Also - there can be incompatibilities in the app data when they transfer to considerably newer versions.


You don't even necessarily need to wipe the iPhone 8. The transfer will pretty much wipe it before transferring the data.


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


If you have any difficulties with this, you might try getting an appointment at an Apple Store and they should be able to help you with the transfer using their computers. My dad got a replacement iPad, and he'd never backed up before. They helped him do the transfer at an Apple Store before taking in the exchange.


7 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 13, 2022 5:35 PM in response to Twain23

These days you can use QuickStart, but probably not on any iPhone old enough that service will be discontinued (iPhone 5 series or older I believe).


You should be able to back up to a computer (PC or Mac) and then restore from it to transfer almost all the contents. There are some things that may not transfer though, including apps that are no longer supported and some settings or configurations don't necessarily transfer. I've found that large icons and fingerprints don't transfer. App only reload from Wi-Fi (at least for an iPhone 8) and if it's no longer available on the App Store there's not much one can do about it. Also - there can be incompatibilities in the app data when they transfer to considerably newer versions.


You don't even necessarily need to wipe the iPhone 8. The transfer will pretty much wipe it before transferring the data.


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


If you have any difficulties with this, you might try getting an appointment at an Apple Store and they should be able to help you with the transfer using their computers. My dad got a replacement iPad, and he'd never backed up before. They helped him do the transfer at an Apple Store before taking in the exchange.


May 13, 2022 10:33 PM in response to Twain23

Twain23 wrote:
Okay. She's elderly, so it's really just a question of transferring texts and phone info. You're suggesting that I can transfer the data from the old phone to my laptop, and then later transfer the data to the iPhone 8. It hadn't occurred to me that this process would wipe the old, but that sounds like a step saved.

Thanks for the link too. And the suggestion about the Apple store.


It doesn't have to be wiped if the donor is there to enter any passcodes and to remove Find My iPhone. However, it's pretty easy to do a wipe from the phone. I've seen it take less than 2 minutes.


But if it's trusted on a PC or Mac, it should be pretty easy to just click on "Restore Backup" in Finder (Mac) or iTunes (PC or older Mac) and you'll have an option to select the backup. The "restore" process is more or less cloning the contents to the newer device. It's the "Restore Backup" button here, which will bring up the available backups (probably just one).


May 13, 2022 5:59 PM in response to y_p_w

Okay. She's elderly, so it's really just a question of transferring texts and phone info. You're suggesting that I can transfer the data from the old phone to my laptop, and then later transfer the data to the iPhone 8. It hadn't occurred to me that this process would wipe the old, but that sounds like a step saved.


Thanks for the link too. And the suggestion about the Apple store.

Swapping my mother's iPhone

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