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I activated a replacement iphone 5. When I tried to restore from my iCloud backup, it said the os of the backup was not compatible with the replacement phone os so I chose the option to activate as a new phone. (Old phone was on 7 - replacement phone was sent to me with an earlier os).
Is there any way to restore my settings from my last iCloud backup?
iPhone 5, iOS 7.0.4
I know this thread is old now, but it is so helpful! I believe the critical thing here is the lack of knowledge demonstrated by the tech on the phone! It would be impossible for Apple ot upgrade every device before selling it, but when you call for help you should, at the very least, receive it! To leave a paying customer bashing around on the forums, and being scolded for being unable to find an obscure but critial piece of information (you did say upfront that you were new to these phones!) is unacceptable. I am going to need this information soon, and I appreciate very much your asking, and also hanging in there, ad maintaining good manners in the face of rudeness on the forum! Well done! Thank you!
Well I figured it out. I had already updated the os on the replacement phone before posting this question. After reading some other posts, decided to erase all settings. Then when phone came back up, I activated using my last iCloud restore done with OLD phone...(about a week ago) and this time, it worked.
Apparently, erasing the phone settings left the 7 os intact, so it was able to restore from a compatible backup this time.
Note to Apple, would probably help if replacement phones were sent with compatible os - I see where others had this problem too....
Sure. Update your current phone to the latest iOS available for it, then: Settings>General>Reset>Erase All Content & Settings. You should now be able to restore your previous phone's backup to your replacement phone.
So, Apple is supposed to stop the replacement process for each phone, pull the phone from the packaging, update the iOS, put it back in the packaging, and then send it out? Each and everytime they send out a replacement?
That's ridiculous. Just update your replacement phone to the current iOS if you need to, and then restore. It doesn't take that long.
Yeah - guess you're right. It just took me hours to figure out what to do/not do. New to iphones and never had to restore before. Maybe Apple could at least include the very simple instructions wjosten posted. Would have saved me a lot of stress and time....
plawatap wrote:
Yeah - guess you're right. It just took me hours to figure out what to do/not do. New to iphones and never had to restore before. Maybe Apple could at least include the very simple instructions wjosten posted. Would have saved me a lot of stress and time....
Apple does provide instructions.
iOS: Back up and restore your iOS device with iCloud or iTunes
Note that iTunes and iOS do not support installing backups of newer versions of iOS onto devices using earlier versions of iOS.
iOS: Unable to restore from backup of a newer device
Symptoms
When restoring an iOS backup to a iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that is not using the latest version of iOS, you may see the following behavior:
Resolution
Update your device to the latest version of iOS to be able to restore the backup.
I meant provide instructions with the replacement phone - or the very chatty tech who fielded my support call could have warned me. Instead, I fumbled around for hours. Do you work for Apple or something...
No one on here works for Apple (except for a few of the 'Community Specialists').
Give feedback to Apple at www.apple.com/feedback if you want them to start including such detailed instructions in printed form in the repair box. Because to be honest, it's not that hard to find this information.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=restore+iphone+backup
iOS: Back up and restore your iOS device with iCloud or iTunes
Thanks for the helpful suggestion - I will give Apple feedback.
Sorry, but I wouldn't have expected that
a) my replacement NEW phone had an old version of ios software
b) during activation, it would not let me restore from iCloud - only alternative was to activate as new phone
c) after installing ios7, I would then need to erase my settings and start activation again.
No detailed instructions are needed. The helpful other response said it in three concise sentences...
The Tech could have told me that just as efficiently, instead of spending time telling me how to remove my SIM card "and put it somewhere safe" days before my new phone showed up. Those detailed instructions were included.
Just sayin...
A) Your replacement iPhone will have whatever iOS was installed when it was originally placed in the queue for device replacements. That probably happened quite some time ago, perhaps even prior to iOS 7 being released.
Consider this; if you went to a retail store today and bought a brand-new iPhone 5 in the box (assuming that such a retail store still had leftover stock to sell), would it have the iOS that was available when it was first put in the box and shipped to the store? Or would the store open up boxes periodically, update the iOS, and then reseal the box?
The iPhone 5 was discontinued before iOS 7 was released. Therefore, it is unlikely that a replacement iPhone 5 would have an iOS installed that was not yet officially released at the time of device manufacture.
B) That's perfectly normal behavior. You cannot restore a backup that uses a newer iOS than the device itself is currently running.
C) Yes, because it's two separate processes. One: Update the iOS. Two: Restore the backup.
Did the tech make sure you'd created a backup of your original device?
I appreciate the great lengths you are going to to explain all this but you are still missing the point. I didn't know all this crap before I started so a simple "here's what to do when activating your replacement phone" would have helped a lot.
The tech asked me when my (totally fried) phone had last been backed up and I didn't know. Turns out it must be backing up automatically, since I don't do it, yet there was a backup dated Feb 6 (the morning my phone got fried), which I discovered during activation of the replacement phone.
All the tech did was have me log into icloud and delete "my iphone" since he said he couldn't start the replacement process until those were gone (yes, I had two out there). And frankly, told me I would lose all my contacts etc that were in my phone (photos too). Not a word about any of the above, or that I would be able to restore my old settings or anything. Turns out, I lost nothing in the end.
You clearly know a lot more about all this than I ever wanted to learn!
I was repsonding to your query "Note to Apple, would probably help if replacement phones were sent with compatible os".
Apple has no way of knowing what your last backup's iOS was.
As already stated, submit your feedback to Apple at www.apple.com/feedback.
Think of it this way, At least the phone came with some logical direction....unlike IKEA! Right there with you MARINE. USAF Got your back!
This was truly helpful! I went through the same exact thing today. Apple should really send the phone with the most updated software. That would have made this a smoother transition.
TroysToye wrote:
This was truly helpful! I went through the same exact thing today. Apple should really send the phone with the most updated software.
How would that be possible, please explain?
How can I restore from icloud backup after activating replacement phone as new
