Old iPhone Contacts - how to transfer to new phone

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Level 1

8 points

Old iPhone Contacts - how to transfer to new phone

Hi, i have an old iPhone 4s running iOS 7 and an iPhone 6s. Both are supposedly connected to and backed up in iIcloud. When i sync the old 4s it gives me a message that there was a sync on the date and time i made the sync. But when i go to iCloud or try to sync the contacts on the 6s , no contacts show up. As i understand i have to upgrade the 4s to iOS8 in order to sync to icloud, but i am not really going to do that - it would make a slow phone slower, probably unsuable even. And why should i upgrade - its contacts and photos, not some new unimaginable space tech, what makes iOS 8 the cutoff point of what you can and can not sync to icloud anyway.

I also have a macbook pro , is there a way to use it to transfer contacts and photos from the 4s to the 6s. Or is there another way to do the transfer, because i would much rather re-type everything manually, than upgrading that phone to iOS8.

Thanks:)

MacBook Pro with Retina display

Posted on Dec 17, 2017 4:09 PM

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Answer 1

FoxFifth

Level 10

468,717 points

Dec 17, 2017 4:47 PM in response to Lautebos

Syncing with iCloud and backing up to iCloud are two different things.

iOS 5 (not iOS 8) is the minimum requirement for syncing Contacts to iCloud. See: System requirements for iCloud - Apple Support

If I remember correctly the setting in iOS7 is at Settings > iCloud > Contacts. If you turn that setting on your contacts should automatically sync to iCloud (without doing a backup). You can check to see if they have synced by using a computer and logging in to www.icloud.com and looking at the Contacts app there.

On your iPhone 6s if you are running the current iOS, the setting is at Settings > [username] > iCloud > Contacts. If you turn that setting on then the contacts should automatically sync to it. If you leave the setting turned on then any subsequent changes, additions or deletions to your contacts will automatically sync to iCloud.

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