If you’ve just taken the plunge and purchased a new iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, or iPhone Air, you probably want to get it up to date and running as soon as possible. These are the four ways to transfer your data quickly, securely and above all, stress-free (even if you come from a Android phone).
To learn more, explore many hidden features of iOS 26 and see how thin the iPhone Air is.
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1. The Practical Method: Restore from iCloud
During the setup process, you will be asked if you want to directly transfer apps and information from your old iPhone to your new one using Quick Start. This feature first rolled out with iOS 12.4, so if it’s been several years since you upgraded your phones, this will be the first time you’ve seen this option.
The easiest and quickest way to set up your new iPhone is to restore from a recent iCloud backup. As you go through the initial setup process, tap Restore from iCloud BackupSign in with your Apple account (formerly called Apple ID before iOS 18), then choose the most recent backup of your old iPhone.
If the backup is more than a day or two old, take a few extra minutes to create a new backup. To do this, open the Settings app on your old phone, search iCloud Backup in the Search field at the top of the screen, then click on the corresponding result. Click Back up now to update the cloud backup.
Once that’s finished, go back to your new iPhone and select the backup you just created as the one you want to restore from.
Your phone will then restore your settings and preferences, and you can start using it in about 15 minutes. It will continue to download your installed apps in the background.
Once everything is restored, you’ll need to sign back into any accounts you added to your phone, go through your apps, and make sure you’re still signed in.
You have several options for setting up your new iPhone.
2. The Fastest Method: Apple Direct Transfer
If you don’t have a recent iCloud backup or your Internet connection is slow, you can transfer everything from iPhone to iPhone wirelessly or via cable. When the quickstart process asks for the source, choose the direct transfer option.
Use a cable designed for fast data speedsthe process can be surprisingly quick and is my favorite way to upgrade to a new iPhone. Connect the two phones via cable; Note that you may 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.
If you’re going the wireless route, make sure both phones are plugged in and charging to ensure they’re not running out of battery and are connected to your Wi-Fi network (this is part of the setup process on the new phone). And also make sure you have enough time for the process to complete: it could take over an hour.
The more information you have on your phone, like photos in your library, the longer it will take. When the transfer starts, the phones will show you an estimated time. Every time I used this tool, this estimate was accurate within minutes. It’s worth taking the time if you don’t use Apple’s iCloud service to back up your phone.
3. The longest and most complete method: use a Mac or PC
A longer but safer method is to restore from an encrypted backup using a Mac or PC. Not only does this process transfer all your apps, settings, and preferences, but it also means you don’t need to log into the countless apps you have on your phone.
Before you can use this method, you will need to create an encrypted backup of your current iPhone. I know this might seem intimidating or overly complicated, but it just 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 and be sure to follow the necessary steps to make an archive backup. Check the Encrypt the backup and enter a password that you will remember when prompted. Then let your Mac get to work by creating a backup file. He’ll let you know when it’s done.
Restore your data from a backup of your old iPhone using your computer.
On a PC you will need to use iTunes (this is not completely dead) or the Apple Devices app to create a backup, as explained here. Again, you will need to ensure that Encrypt the backup is checked and enter a password.
To restore your new phone, open Finder or iTunes and connect your phone to your computer. Click Trust when prompted, then follow the prompts, selecting the backup you just created as the one you want to use to restore the phone. You will need to enter the backup password before the process begins, so make sure you don’t forget it.
Once this is done, your new phone will be an exact copy of your old phone and you won’t have to spend time logging into random apps or accounts.
4. For Android Users: Switch to iOS
Apple doesn’t have many Android apps listed on Google’s Play Store, but Move to iOS is one of them. This free app will connect your Android phone to a new iPhone and allow you to transfer the most important information from one phone to another.
Here is the whole process step by stepas well as a few caveats, like the fact that it won’t transfer any locally stored music or PDF files.
Apple has created an Android app called Move to iOS that makes it easy to move your messages, photos, videos and more from an Android phone to an iPhone.
Apple has announced that it has redesigned Move to iOS to make migrating from your Android phone to your new iPhone faster and easier. The company goes on to say that it has accelerated Wi-Fi migration with transfer speeds of up to 5GHz and that 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 faster, Apple said.
No matter what process you used to set up your new phone, you’ll experience excitement and fun exploring what it can do.
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