How to transfer data from your old iPhone to a new one

Until a few years ago, installing a new iPhone always meant losing something. Half of your settings are gone. Some apps had to be reinstalled from scratch and you wouldn’t know until you searched for them. Some people just gave up and started from scratch. Years of application data are gone. Apple has fixed most of these issues with Quick Start.

Unlike before, when you needed a Mac or PC to backup your iPhone and transfer data to a new one, Quick Start does it all wirelessly. It’s as simple as placing the two devices next to each other and then following a few steps to transfer everything: contacts, photos, messages and even app settings. And if for some reason wireless isn’t working for you, connecting the two iPhones with a cable can fix everything.

Quick Start is one of those “magical” Apple features. Simply turn on your new iPhone next to your old one, confirm that you want to use your Apple ID for setup, and Quick Start takes care of it from there. Your old iPhone displays an animation on the new one that you can scan with its camera. This is what pairs the two devices and initiates the transfer.

Now you’ll go through some basic iPhone setup steps, such as entering your current passcode and setting up Face ID or Touch ID. When your new iPhone asks how you want to proceed, choose your most recent iCloud backup or transfer everything from your old iPhone via direct transfer.

Are you in a hurry to start using your new phone? Choosing iCloud is your best option, because it downloads the essentials first and does the rest in the background. but it takes much more time when you have lots of photos, videos and more on your old phone. iCloud is usually the fastest option, especially when you have a good Wi-Fi connection.

Fast start generally works well for most people, but that doesn’t mean things can’t go wrong. In some cases, the transfer may end up stopping due to a weak Wi-Fi signal or simply because you have a lot of data to transfer. Don’t just sit there staring at the progress bar. Safely restarting your iPhone cancels the process and you can start again.

A wired connection can be helpful if wireless transfer fails. Find a USB-C cable or, if your phone is older, a Lightning cable. Plug in both devices. The cable in the box, however, is limited to USB 2 speeds. That’s fine for charging, but not for moving large amounts of data. While base iPhone models have USB 2 ports, the iPhone 15 Pro and newer Pro models support USB 3 transfers at up to 10 Gbps. This is over 20 times faster than USB 2, so the difference in transfer speed is huge. You just need the right cable.

Some people may run out of storage space on their new device during the transfer. This usually happens when upgrading from a device with more storage than the new one. If this happens, unload some large files from your old phone before trying again. It’s also worth checking: both phones must be running the latest version of iOS. Incompatible software versions are a common reason why the entire setup completely fails.

You might not have your old iPhone in hand when the new one shows up – trade-ins are the usual reason. If so, don’t worry. Back up your data to iCloud while you still have your old phone with you. Your new iPhone will give you the ability to sign in to your Apple account. Then restore from an iCloud backup.

A Mac or PC works too. Plug your iPhone into the Mac or PC. Mac users will see the iPhone icon right in the sidebar. Go ahead and search for “Back Up Now”. Windows takes an extra step first: you’ll need the Apple Devices app from the Microsoft Store. It’s a free app, though. With the new iPhone in hand, connect it to that same Mac or PC.