How to Transfer Data to New iPhone: 3 Easy Methods

We’ve transferred data between iPhones probably 30 times at this point — across product reviews, family upgrades, and the occasional “I dropped my phone in the ocean” emergency replacement. And every single time, someone asks us the same question: “Will I lose anything?”

Short answer: almost nothing. Long answer: a few things don’t transfer, and knowing what they are before you start saves you from that sinking feeling when you open your banking app on the new phone and it asks you to re-verify everything.

Here are the three methods, ranked by how much we trust them.

Method 1: Quick Start (Our Recommendation)

This is Apple’s peer-to-peer transfer. No cloud, no computer. Just two phones sitting next to each other. It’s the method we use for 90% of transfers, and it’s been rock-solid since iOS 16.

What You Need

• Both iPhones powered on and charged above 50% (or plugged in — seriously, plug them in)
• Wi-Fi enabled on both
• Bluetooth enabled on both
• Your old iPhone running iOS 12.4 or later (if your old phone is that old, you have bigger problems)

Steps

1. Turn on your new iPhone. If you’ve already set it up, you’ll need to erase it first (Settings → General → Transfer or Reset → Erase All Content).
2. Place both phones near each other. Within a few inches. The old phone will show a “Set Up New iPhone” prompt.
3. Scan the animation. Your old phone’s camera scans a swirling dot pattern on the new phone. It’s weird. It works.
4. Enter your old phone’s passcode on the new phone when prompted.
5. Set up Face ID on the new phone (you can do this later, but just do it now).
6. Choose “Transfer from iPhone.” This is the direct transfer option. It sends everything over a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection without going through iCloud.
7. Wait. Transfer time depends on how much data you have. Expect 30-60 minutes for 64-128GB, 1-2 hours for 256GB+. Both phones will show progress bars.

The eSIM Question

If your carrier supports eSIM transfer (most US carriers do now), you’ll see a prompt during Quick Start to move your phone number to the new device. Tap to confirm, and your old phone loses cellular service while the new one activates. This usually takes under 5 minutes. If it fails, don’t panic — you can always call your carrier or visit a store.

For physical SIM users: just move the SIM card to the new phone after the transfer completes. The iPhone 16 series is eSIM-only in the US, though, so if you’re upgrading from an older phone with a physical SIM, the eSIM transfer prompt is your moment.

Method 2: iCloud Backup and Restore

Best if your old phone is broken, lost, or already sold. You need an existing iCloud backup.

Steps

1. On your old phone (if you still have it): Settings → [Your Name] → iCloud → iCloud Backup → Back Up Now. Make sure it completes.
2. On your new phone: Start the setup process. When you reach “Apps & Data,” choose Restore from iCloud Backup.
3. Sign in with your Apple ID.
4. Choose the most recent backup. Check the date and size — make sure it’s the one you just made, not one from three months ago.
5. Stay connected to Wi-Fi while apps re-download. The phone will be usable during this process, but some apps will show a loading circle. Don’t rearrange your home screen until everything finishes.

iCloud Storage Reality Check

Your free 5GB of iCloud storage probably isn’t enough for a full backup. Apple offers temporary free storage for device transfers — when you start a transfer, you’ll get a prompt offering extra space that lasts 21 days. Accept it. The alternative is paying $0.99/month for 50GB, which honestly, you should probably be doing anyway.

Method 3: Mac or PC Backup and Restore

The fastest method, and the one we recommend if you have a Mac available. Wired transfers don’t depend on your internet speed.

Steps

1. Connect your old iPhone to your Mac (Finder) or PC (iTunes/Apple Devices).
2. Select your iPhone in the sidebar.
3. Enable “Encrypt local backup.” Cannot stress this enough — without encryption, the backup skips saved passwords, Health data, Wi-Fi passwords, and call history.
4. Click Back Up Now. A 128GB iPhone takes about 10-15 minutes over USB.
5. Disconnect old phone. Connect new phone.
6. On the setup screen, choose Restore from Mac or PC.
7. Select the backup you just made. Enter the encryption password.
8. Wait for the restore to complete. The phone will restart.

What Transfers (and What Doesn’t)

Here’s the honest breakdown that Apple’s support pages bury in footnotes:

Transfers perfectly:

• Photos and videos (all of them)
• Messages (iMessage + SMS history)
• Contacts, calendars, notes
• App layout and home screen arrangement
• Wi-Fi passwords and Bluetooth pairings
• Health and fitness data (if using encrypted backup)
• Wallpapers and settings

Does NOT transfer:

• Apple Pay cards — you’ll re-add them with a few taps, but they don’t move automatically
• Banking app logins — most banks require re-verification on a new device for security reasons. Have your login credentials ready
• Google Authenticator codes — if you’re using Google Authenticator (not Apple’s built-in 2FA), you need to export codes before wiping the old phone. This catches people every single time
• Spotify downloads — streaming apps generally re-download your offline content, but you need to be on Wi-Fi
• Some app-specific data — apps that don’t use iCloud backup (rare, but they exist) will start fresh

How Long Does It Actually Take?

In our testing across multiple iPhone generations:

Method	64GB	128GB	256GB	512GB
Quick Start	20-30 min	40-60 min	1-1.5 hrs	2-3 hrs
iCloud	30-60 min	1-2 hrs	2-4 hrs	4+ hrs
Mac/PC	10-15 min	15-25 min	30-45 min	1-1.5 hrs

These are real-world numbers, not Apple’s estimates. Your mileage varies with Wi-Fi speed (for iCloud) and USB cable quality (for Mac/PC — use the cable that came in the box).

Pro Tips from 30+ Transfers

• Charge both phones to 80%+ or plug them in. A dead phone mid-transfer is not recoverable gracefully.
• Don’t rush to trade in your old phone. Keep it for at least 48 hours after the transfer. Open your most important apps — banking, authenticators, work email — and make sure everything is there.
• Update both phones first. Transferring from iOS 17 to a phone running iOS 18 works. Transferring from iOS 18 to a phone running iOS 17 does not. New phones usually ship with older software, so update the new phone before restoring.
• Disable VPN on both devices during the transfer. We’ve seen VPNs interfere with the peer-to-peer connection during Quick Start.

The best method is whichever one you can start right now. But if we had to pick one — Quick Start. No computer needed, no cloud dependency, and it moves everything in one shot including your eSIM. Plug both phones in, start the process before dinner, and by the time you’re done eating, so is the transfer.