iPhone 11 restore: MacBook vs. iCloud backup, iOS/apps

Rickyleroy wrote:

r4lf wrote:

In both cases your phone will be completely restored.

This is not answer of my question.

'your phone will restore the entire os'

what means ? This means that It will make a clean install of iOS and it copied from backup (that is, from the same state before backup: e.g. if iOS was corrupt this issue will be kept)

Yes it does answer your question in that in both cases the phone is erased and the backup is restored exactly as before, without any excess caches and system data. The results are identical. In both cases you need to reauthorise bank cards and sign back into apps. In both cases apps are redownloaded from app store but app data is retained in the backup.

The only difference between the two methods of backup restore is that "erase all content and settings" and subsequent set up and restore is a manual procedure, Restore by Mac is an automatic process . You can use the Mac to restore from iCloud or from the the Mac backup.

Your choice of backup method depends on whether you pay for a suitably large iCloud storage plan.

The only time your OS is replaced is if you restore or update your phone with a Mac. You will see "Mac is downloading your operating system" or similar words.

1. Apps don't transfer from iPhone to iPhone, only the app data along with app links to the App Store gets transferred.
   1. After the transfer is complete (Quick Transfer, iCloud, or iTunes) depending on the internet speed all apps will get downloaded from the App Store automatically. If an App no longer exists in the App Store or the iOS version is not compatible with the App, then the transferred App data cannot be accessed any further.
2. Apps & Settings --> Apart from the Apps following will also not get transferred between devices
   1. Content from the iTunes and App Stores or PDFs downloaded directly to Apple Books
   2. Content synced from iTunes, like imported MP3s or CDs, videos, books, and photos
   3. Data already stored in iCloud, like iCloud Photos, iMessages, and text (SMS) and multimedia (MMS) messages
   4. Data that are synced to an email account such as Google, iCloud, AOL, Exchange, Outlook, Yahoo, or any Other email client server that supports contact synchronization. e.g. Contacts, Reminders, Notes, Calendars
   5. Face ID or Touch ID settings
   6. Apple Pay information and settings
   7. Apple Mail data
   8. Apple Music
3. Internet connectivity might be necessary for verification and authentication to ensure the backup's integrity and security.

A couple of points that may help to answer your questions:

• The OS is not backed up in either method and not restored.
• A OS reinstall is only possible when using a Mac. That will be the latest OS version available for your device.
• The Apps are not stored in either backup method, only the data used by the Apps if you choose to include it in the backup. The apps that were on the device when it was backed up will be redownloaded again from the App Store and will be the latest version available for that app. If the app is no longer available in the App Store, you will not get that app again.

This support article may also be helpful to see what get backed up and a comparison of each method.

Backup methods for iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

When you restore an iPhone or iPad from an iCloud or Mac backup, the device doesn’t automatically install the latest iOS update before the restore begins. Instead, the restore uses whatever version of iOS is currently installed on the device. This means that if your backup was created on a newer version of iOS, it cannot be applied to a device running an older version—the operating system has to be updated first. In other words, your data can only move forward into the future of iOS, not backward into the past.

On the flip side, if your backup was made on an older iOS version, restoring it onto a device that’s already running the latest iOS is seamless. The system simply brings your data forward without issue—restoring “up” is a breeze, while restoring “back” requires the OS to catch up first.

Re: “No, a new copy of the latest version of the OS will be installed. Backups do not contain the OS.”

If the OP was trying to obliquely ask whether it is possible to downgrade iOS by resetting an iPhone and restoring it from an old backup, the answer is “No.”

Rickyleroy wrote:

what means ? This means that It will make a clean install of iOS and it copied from backup (that is, from the same state before backup: e.g. if iOS was corrupt this issue will be kept)

No, a new copy of the latest version of the OS will be installed. Backups do not contain the OS.

Servant of Cats wrote:

Re: “No, a new copy of the latest version of the OS will be installed. Backups do not contain the OS.”

If the OP was trying to obliquely ask whether it is possible to downgrade iOS by resetting an iPhone and restoring it from an old backup, the answer is “No.”

I should have considered that possiblity.

In both cases your phone will be completely restored.

in case 1. your phone restore will retrieve the entire os from the backup

in case 2. your phone will restore the entire os from internal storage.