I have two iPad Pros, one is a 2022 11 inch and the other is a 10.5’ iPad Pro. Can I set them both up on one ID? I want to be able to use hand off and keep the older model in my office.

Yes, you can set up two iPad Pros on one Apple ID. This will allow you to use Handoff, AirDrop, and other features that require you to be signed in to the same Apple ID on multiple devices.

To set up your new iPad Pro, follow these steps:

1. Turn on the iPad Pro.
2. Tap Continue.
3. Select your language and region.
4. Tap Set Up Manually.
5. Enter your Apple ID and password.
6. Tap Next.
7. If you have two-factor authentication enabled, follow the on-screen instructions to verify your identity.
8. Tap Next.
9. Select your iCloud settings.
10. Tap Next.
11. Tap Agree to agree to the terms and conditions.
12. The iPad Pro will start to download your apps and data from iCloud.

Once your iPad Pro is set up, you can follow these steps to use Handoff:

1. Start using an app on one of your iPad Pros.
2. Bring the other iPad Pro close to the first iPad Pro.
3. If the Handoff icon appears on the second iPad Pro, tap it to continue using the app on the second iPad Pro.

You can also use AirDrop to share files and photos between your two iPad Pros. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On one of your iPad Pros, open the file or photo that you want to share.
2. Tap the Share button.
3. Select the other iPad Pro from the list of devices.
4. The file or photo will be transferred to the other iPad Pro.

If you want to keep your two iPad Pros separate, you can create separate user accounts on each iPad Pro. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On one of your iPad Pros, go to Settings > Users & Accounts.
2. Tap Add New User.
3. Enter the name and password for the new user account.
4. Tap Create User.

Once you have created separate user accounts, each user will have their own separate apps, data, and settings. This will allow you to keep your two iPad Pros separate and organized.

Here are some additional tips for setting up and using multiple iPad Pros with one Apple ID:

• If you have a lot of apps and data, you may want to consider upgrading your iCloud storage plan. This will give you more space to store your apps and data in the cloud, so you don't have to worry about running out of space on your iPad Pros.
• You can use Family Sharing to share apps, music, movies, and books with other family members. This can save you money on app purchases and give you access to a wider range of content.
• If you have any problems setting up or using your two iPad Pros, you can contact Apple support for help.

You can set up the new iPad using Quick Start or a backup and that will essentially clone the new device with the contents on the old device.

The exceptions would be is if you have photos and music that were synced to the old iPad from your Mac, you would have to sync that content on the new iPad. Synced content is not stored in backups.

Another exception is content that you sync with iCloud. While that content should sync with the new device automatically, sometimes you have to enable those apps to sync again in the settings under Apps using iCloud.

What you must remember is that it is impossible to keep both devices perfectly in sync at all times. For example if you have an app on one of the iPads that doesn’t sync content with iCloud, that data will be on that iPad only, even if you have the same app on the other iPad.

When you use handoff, the devices must be near each other.

Use Handoff to continue tasks on your other devices - Apple Support

Here are the various ways that you can set up the new device with the data from the old device.

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

Both of your iPad’s will need to be setup with the same AppleID. You can “clone” your current iPad to the new iPad Pro using the normal transfer methods.

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

If the donor iPad, from which you are transferring your data precedes iOS12.4, QuickStart will not be available.

“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:

How to back up your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch – Apple Support

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

After setup is complete, ensure that you have enabled all the Apps and iCloud services that you wish to synchronise via iCloud - on both devices:

Settings > [Your Name / AppleID] > iCloud - enable Apps and services as required

Handoff services are enabled for each device elsewhere in settings:

Settings > General > Airplay & Handoff > Handoff - set to ON

Additional information can be found within the iPad User Guide - and additional support pages:

Hand off tasks between iPad and your other devices - Apple Support

Use Handoff to continue tasks on your other devices - Apple Support

Centexbear wrote:

Thank you very much, I do have one question that you might be able to help me with as well. Will everything transfer to the new device, like mail settings and other features such as contacts, my calendar, and Apps etc? Do I need to I need to change some on the older tablet first in order for this to work properly? I don’t want to do this transfer and the new device is missing some features that I will need when the device I’m using becomes unsupported by Apple updates.

Everything should transfer when you set up the new device. Mail settings should transfer, but depending on which email provider that you use, you may have to enter the password in order to get the account working. I have three email accounts one of which is gmail. I had to enter my password and then authenticate the account before all of my mail boxes loaded in the mail app. I didn’t have to do this with the other two accounts. All three are IMAP.

If you include Contacts, the Calendar in your backup, they should also transfer over if you restore the backup. If you sync those items with iCloud or an email account, they should transfer over as well, but if they don’t, check to make sure that they are turned on in Settings>Your Name>iCloud> Apps using iCloud>Show All. In the next window you can whether the switches are turned on. In theory, you shouldn’t have to turn them on again if you had them turned on in the old iPad. When you transfer the data and settings or restore a backup, those items should already be turned on in the new device. If you sync those items in your email account, check in the email account settings to make sure they are turned on in there.

it’s always a good idea to update the old device first which will mean that you will have to update the iOS on the new device when you set it up. If the new device asks you if you want to update the software, go ahead and so so.

I really appreciate your fast response and your very helpful response. This is by far the best response I’ve gotten from my internet searches on doing this and it seems to be pretty straightforward. We rarely use the new MacBook Pro and I think I can do my own backups on it as well. It’s the first one we’ve bought and it’s a bit of a learning curve from Windows.

You can backup on the Mac using the Finder.

We currently have the 50GB plan but I don’t know if that is enough to support this on two separate accounts on a shared family plan and two iPhone 13 devices. It would be a total of 6 devices and the MacBook.

You are talking about iCloud storage I assume. You cannot backup the Mac in iCloud. However, if you have 6 devices using the shred storage, most likely you will need the bigger 200GB plan. In my home where we use Family Sharing, we have 8 devices backing up to iCloud, which includes 5 iPads and 3 iPhones. We are using 87GB of iCloud storage and we do not use iCloud Photos which would take up even more space.

However, I have an external 2TB LaCie external hard drive that I purchased directly from Apple when I purchased the two 2022 11 inch iPad Pros, two 2nd generation Pencils, and two iPhone 13 mini’s directly from Apple. I haven’t used it yet, but it says it has a “tool kit” software suite that I am assuming will let users back up the MacBook Pro and the iPads as well. If I need to upgrade my cloud storage, then it’s worth it to have two options to continue to use both iPads and not just the new one.

You can use the external drive to back up the Mac, but you cannot backup the iOS devices directly to an external drive. You have to backup using the Finder. You can backup the iOS devices to iCloud and to the Mac if you want to do so. It’s a good idea to have two sets of backups for each device.

A couple of other things to know … passwords are not included in iCloud backups. They are included in encrypted backups on the Mac.

About encrypted backups on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

What does iCloud back up? - Apple Support

If you use Keychain, then the passwords will transfer/sync to the new device. Keychain requires two factor authentication if you are not already using it. If you don’t use it now, the password will not sync.

Set up iCloud Keychain - Apple Support

Two-factor authentication for Apple ID - Apple Support

There is no such setting for Users and Account on any iPad. At this point, iPads are still single user devices unless they are managed with a MDM profile.

I did not find your remark to be rude, there is absolutely no need to apologize. My comment about multiple users was directed to Jps_13 as you now realize.

All the best moving forward!