Hi there
My brand new iPad Air was faulty and has been replaced by Apple. I backed up the original iPad to my MacBook Air.
When I connect the two, I trust the computer and then go to the backup and restore interface.
There is no backup available to restore, I presume because this is seen as a new iPad.
If I right click on "Manage backups" I can see the backup exists on the MacBook.
How do I restore from this backup?
I'd appreciate any help!
One way that a backup can be hidden from view in this situation is if it was made on a newer version of iPadOS than the version delivered with the new iPad. (You can only restore to the same version or a newer version.) Updating the new iPad before trying the restore will help unless the backup was taken on an even newer beta version.
One way that a backup can be hidden from view in this situation is if it was made on a newer version of iPadOS than the version delivered with the new iPad. (You can only restore to the same version or a newer version.) Updating the new iPad before trying the restore will help unless the backup was taken on an even newer beta version.
The only way to solve this that I could find was the following:
I had to get the original iPad that was used to make the backup. It had been wiped clean and reconfigured for another user. First I backed up its new data to another iMac and then wiped it.
Then I restored the backup from my Macbook to the original iPad.
Next I wiped the new iPad and then brought the old and new iPads together and transferred the settings and data between them.
Finally I wiped the old iPad and restored its new settings from the iMac.
In other words, I had to do what I did when I first received the new iPad. I was fortunate that I could still access the original iPad which was associated with the backup.
Can anyone confirm that its impossible to restore a backup from a Mac to a device other than the one associated with the backup? It makes no sense that this is the case, but I couldn't find any other way around it. Is this only when transferring from a Mac or PC? Does it work when backing up from iCloud - i.e. the backup can be restored on any compatible device?
You're connecting out of the box, correct? You should use your Mac to set up the device and select set up from backup.
Thanks for your response. That is what I did. It appears the backup on the Mac is not available because it's associated with the original iPad.
Can't restore backup from Mac to replacement iPad
