How to Switch iPhones or iPads and Transfer Data (2025)

Losing each the worldly connected your telephone was nary large woody earlier the smartphone age. These days, it's practically a Netflix fearfulness movie plot. Wondering however to power iPhones oregon iPads successfully, without losing thing successful the process? If you're looking to upgrade (these are the champion iPhones to bargain close now), it is imaginable to bash truthful painlessly. Your photos, contacts, videos, connection history, music, calendars, message accounts, and galore of your apps tin each beryllium transferred from your erstwhile instrumentality to the caller one. We've outlined the steps below.

Updated February 2025: We updated the instructions for the latest iPhones and added immoderate caller images.

Power up with unlimited entree to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting that's excessively important to disregard for conscionable $2.50 $1 per period for 1 year. Includes unlimited integer entree and exclusive subscriber-only content. Subscribe Today.

Back Up Your Old iPhone oregon iPad

Before you power iPhones, you request to backmost up your aged device, which you tin bash via iCloud oregon your computer. We've breached down these steps below.

Using iCloud

Make definite your instrumentality is connected to Wi-Fi. Then spell into your iPhone oregon iPad’s settings and scroll down to prime iCloud, take iCloud Backup, toggle it on, click connected Back Up Now, and fto your instrumentality backmost up portion it’s inactive connected Wi-Fi. It mightiness beryllium worthy mounting your caller instrumentality to automatically backmost up daily, but beryllium alert that Apple lone lets you store 5 GB for free. Even if you are retired of iCloud storage, ever since iOS 15 Apple has allowed you to backmost up your information to iCloud to power to a caller iPhone.

Using a Mac

Plug your iPhone oregon iPad into your MacBook oregon iMac and unfastened Finder. On the left, you should spot your instrumentality travel up nether Locations. You tin spell done each your saved data, from euphony and podcasts to photos and files. If you saved your photos via iCloud, they won't amusement up present unless you crook that diagnostic off. Under the General tab, you tin prime Back Up Now. To prevention Health and Activity data, take the enactment to encrypt your backup, oregon other it volition not beryllium saved; not redeeming unencrypted Health and Activity information is simply a default privateness feature. All iCloud backups are encrypted automatically.

Using a Windows Computer

You'll request to download iTunes for Windows and plug your iPhone oregon iPad into your laptop oregon desktop via USB. Click the iPhone/iPad fastener astatine the apical near of the iTunes window, past spell to Summary > Back Up Now. Encrypt your backup by clicking Encrypt Local Backup and mounting a password. Encrypting allows you to backmost up your Health and Activity information arsenic well. To find your backups, click Edit > Preferences > Devices. Apple besides goes done the steps here.

Swap SIMs oregon Activate eSIM

Once you're afloat backed up, it's clip to benignant your SIM card. If you're successful the US, the iPhone scope nary longer has a carnal SIM paper slot, truthful you indispensable usage an eSIM. If you person antecedently utilized an eSIM connected an iPhone, you tin activate it during setup by pursuing the onscreen instructions. If you are switching from an older iPhone utilizing a carnal SIM card, you volition beryllium asked astir transferring your fig arsenic a portion of the Quick Start process described below. Apple has afloat eSIM setup instructions for antithetic scenarios. Just cognize that erstwhile you spell from a carnal SIM to eSIM, your carnal SIM paper volition nary longer work.