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User profile for user: jumbosstar
jumbosstar Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

How can I have 2 iPhones in 1 account without conflicting their back ups?

I have an iPhone 5s and just bought an iPhone 7. I restored the contents of my iPhone 5s to my iPhone 7 and everything is like a continue where you left off. I am happily using my 7 now and was thinking of doing a back up but have not. I am unsure what will happen, later on, if I plug my iPhone 5s back into my iTunes and decide to do a back up. I am guessing whichever I back up will replace the previous back up and I suspect my iTunes think both are one and the same account.


So here is my problem. I have intentions to still use my 5s for travels but I do not want my back up of this to replace the 7. I would like to tell iTunes I have 2 iPhones and I need separate back ups of each. I hope not to create a new account as I am planning to upgrade my iCloud and store both back ups into 1 iCloud account (since the upgrade gives me 200G of space).


Should I have created a new phone profile when I began using it? But how will I then import all the contents from my previous 5s to the new 7 if I choose a new phone profile. I have since renamed my 7 on my iTunes but I am unsure how it will help when I plug in my 5s to the mac. I am hesitant and a bit fearful. At this stage, I can still afford a do-over if it helps create 2 separate back ups for me. btw I assume my question on back up relates to sync as well. I will also need to extract photos of each phone and keep them separate (not replacing one or the other in the phone after I sync) but I suspect the photos are no big issue.


Also another question, I understand back ups and replaced when a new back up is done. So I can no longer have the old back ups. If I also back up on my Mac, is this the same situation as well?

iPhone 7, iOS 10.2

Posted on Feb 19, 2017 3:22 AM

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User profile for user: Michael Black
Michael Black
User level: Level 10
80,262 points

Posted on Feb 19, 2017 4:28 AM

To keep backups separate, just make sure to give each device a wholly unique device name (settings -> general -> about -> name). iCloud and iTunes backup files take their names from the device names. You can backup as many different devices as you own to iCloud and/or iTunes and each will have its own separate backup file, as long as each device is uniquely identified (and, with iCloud, assuming you have sufficient storage to include all your devices).


Purchased content (App, iTunes, iBooks store content) has nothing at all to do with a particular device - it is associated with your AppleID used to make the purchases. You can use that AppleID with Apple's cloud-based virtual store fronts simultaneously on as many devices as you own.


Similarly, iCloud sync'd content (contacts, notes, calendars, etc) has nothing to do with the device ID as it is only linked to the AppleID used for logging in to that particular iCloud account. You can sign in to that iCloud account on as many devices as you own, and sync that same content to them all.

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User profile for user: Michael Black
Michael Black
User level: Level 10
80,262 points

Feb 19, 2017 4:28 AM in response to jumbosstar

To keep backups separate, just make sure to give each device a wholly unique device name (settings -> general -> about -> name). iCloud and iTunes backup files take their names from the device names. You can backup as many different devices as you own to iCloud and/or iTunes and each will have its own separate backup file, as long as each device is uniquely identified (and, with iCloud, assuming you have sufficient storage to include all your devices).


Purchased content (App, iTunes, iBooks store content) has nothing at all to do with a particular device - it is associated with your AppleID used to make the purchases. You can use that AppleID with Apple's cloud-based virtual store fronts simultaneously on as many devices as you own.


Similarly, iCloud sync'd content (contacts, notes, calendars, etc) has nothing to do with the device ID as it is only linked to the AppleID used for logging in to that particular iCloud account. You can sign in to that iCloud account on as many devices as you own, and sync that same content to them all.

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How can I have 2 iPhones in 1 account without conflicting their back ups?

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