I’ve been shuffling my personal data from iPhone to iPhone since the very first model. I’d get anxious about whether I was moving everything over safely, or if I’d need to start over and lose hours of waiting. Because when you get a brand-new phone, you’d rather spend your time configuring the most important settings the way you like, or exploring new features, like Apple Intelligence.
Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to shift data to a new iPhone from the phone you have now — even if it’s an Android model.
If you’re upgrading your current phone to the latest operating system, here’s how to download iOS 18, and here’s our review of iOS 18. And if it’s an iPhone 15 Pro or later, get up to speed on what Apple Intelligence offers.
For more, explore a bunch of hidden iOS 18 features, and learn everything you can do with the iPhone 16’s new camera button.
Read more: A Billion Pixels a Second: A Rare Look Inside Apple’s Secret iPhone 16 Camera Labs
You’ve got several options when it comes to setting up your new iPhone.
2. Apple direct transfer
If you do not have a recent iCloud backup or your Internet connection is slow, you can transfer everything from iPhone to iPhone, either wirelessly or via cable. When the Quick Start process asks for the source, choose the direct transfer option.
Make sure you have both phones (preferably plugged in and charging to ensure they don’t run out of battery), a Wi-Fi connection and enough time for the process to finish — it could take over an hour. You can speed up that process by connecting both phones using a USB cable, but note that you might need an adapter if your current phone is an iPhone 14 or earlier with a Lightning port. Apple has more details on how to make a wired transfer work.
The more information you have on your phone, like photos in your camera roll, the longer it will take. When the transfer starts, the phones will show you a time estimate. Every time we’ve used this tool, that estimate has been accurate within a couple of minutes. It’s worth taking the time if you don’t use Apple’s iCloud service to back up your phone.
3. Use a Mac or PC
The method I use with every new iPhone is to restore from an encrypted backup using a Mac or PC. Not only does this process transfer all of your apps, settings and preferences, but it also means you don’t have to sign into the countless apps you have on your phone.
Before you can use this method, you’ll need to create an encrypted backup of your current iPhone. I know that may sound intimidating or overly complicated, but it only means you have to check an extra box and enter a password.
On a Mac, you’ll use Finder to back up your old iPhone. We outlined the steps when Apple killed iTunes. Just make sure to check the Encrypt backup box and enter a password you’ll remember when prompted. Let your Mac go to work, creating a backup file. It will let you know when it’s done.
Apple made an Android app called Move to iOS that makes moving your messages, photos, videos and more from an Android phone to an iPhone easy.
Apple said it has redesigned Move to iOS to make it faster and easier to migrate from your Android phone to your new iPhone. The company goes on to say it has sped up Wi-Fi migration with transfer speeds up to 5GHz, and you can use Wi-Fi on your iPhone to connect to your Android phone. You can also connect your Android phone to your new iPhone with a USB-C or USB-C to Lightning cable to move everything over more quickly, Apple said.
No matter the process you used to set up your new phone, you’re in for excitement and fun as you explore what it can do.
Here is what you can do with the new iPhone 16 camera button and your monthly reminder to clear your iPhone cache.
