Best Options For Moving To A New iPhone
 

I ordered a new iPhone 12 Pro Max to replace my 7+ and am trying to figure out the best way to move to the new phone without dragging over any of the OS and app junk that often makes my 7+ lag or behave strangely resulting in a hard reboot.

I know of the following two migration options, but not sure which one is best:
1. set new phone up directly from a backup of the 7+
2. set the new phone up as "new" then restore a 7+ backup over the new phone OS

But I am hoping for a 3rd option, which I don't know if it's possible - set the new phone up as new, install and configure the apps that I want from scratch, I don't care about the app data, but the missing part is how to sync over my photos (all 10,000 of them) and my text messages - is there a way to do this?

At least the photos can be backed up to iCloud (or anywhere else) and then downloaded to your new phone. Or perhaps a subset of the photos which you want to reside on your device.

I scanned the QR code to move from the iPhone 8 to the iPhone 12. The process backed up and moved the data, passwords and apps from the 8 to the 12. I only had to follow the prompts to setup a passcode and facial recognition. The settings for a work validation app did not move over. I airdropped the settings.

My photos move thru iCloud. Photos are not included in the backup but are uploaded to iCloud when you are connected to wifi. My messages moved as part of the iCloud backup which can include app data and the password chain.

I think that it's possible to move messages, I assume just imessages not sms, into icloud, and of course photos too, and sync them down to the new phone, while I install and setup all of the apps from scratch...I assume that would prevent any junk files or clutter within the OS from being pasted over from a backup and causing issues for the new phone.

Not sure how icloud backup works for photos though - I lose the full size photo on the phone and it stores it in the cloud? What if I turn off the backup after syncing the photos, do I lose access to the full size versions from the phone?

Can you utilise the ‘partial backup’ method as suggested here?

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7805567

I have considered it before, but just decided it would be too much of a hassle.

I looked at the article, but couldn't find those settings, maybe they were removed in IOS 14

I used to always advise set up as new, but honestly the transfer works well now. I set up my wife on her new iPhone 12 Pro Max via the wireless (phone to phone not iCloud) transfer the same "QR" code style mechanism described by TGarza. ~1 hour and everything was moved over perfectly. Less painful.

Meanwhile, I was coming from a Pixel 4XL, so I opted to do a fresh install rather than restore my 1.5 year old iOS image from iCloud. Has taken me 2 days to get everything set up the way I wanted, but it also was kind fun to start fresh. Having a new phone work exactly like the old one is a bit anticlimactic.

This is exactly what I do. Works well.

I was always concerned about moving over junk files, cache, clutter and misbehaving app data from old to new - but is that not really a problem with IOS?

I really don’t know but I suspect less of an issue than Android.

+1

We've been iPhone owners for 10+ years. This method is the best. Went from an XS to a 12. From opening the box to having a fully functioning 12, including all my apps, photos, messages, etc. took about 20 minutes.

Not sure what "junk files" etc. OP is referring to. Apple monitors the App Store pretty closely so there shouldn't be too many "misbehaving" apps. If so, delete and re-download the most up-to-date version.

I mean all of the cache, junk and residual files that normally clutter an app or operating system over time and impact performance - IOS can't be immune to this.

For the most part, your worry is unfounded for iOS. Do the transfer, update all apps to latest, and then you can purge unwanted apps, messages, etc. And load a good ad blocker.

I don't ordinarily buy a program for which the OS has the function built in, but I heartily recommend iMazing https://imazing.com/ as an iTunes alternative (far less bloaty, many more features for granular backup/restore, etc.)

+1 used the iPhone to iPhone with my last 2 iPhones. 0 problems with the data and app transfer to the new iPhone other than some settings for a private company app for VPN verification.