iPhone 6(S)/Plus Can I restore Xs Max backup to 6 plus?

[Eagle1337]

Hi guys,

my dad's old iphone 6 plus is not so stable anymore, so I wanted to give him my Xs Max while I wait for a new iphone. but how does that work, can i restore my icloud backup from my xs max onto a lower version iphone? I know that series 6 does not support ios14, so is that the culprit? or is it related to the hardware.

I have 2 options - source backup is Xs Max - and target is either 6 plus or an iphone 7. is any of that possible? or will i ruin my backup.

Or - can i use the 6 plus with my Apple ID and not restore the backup, and wait with doing that till i have a newer phone?

thanks,
soren

 

[ian87w]

Hi guys,

my dad's old iphone 6 plus is not so stable anymore, so I wanted to give him my Xs Max while I wait for a new iphone. but how does that work, can i restore my icloud backup from my xs max onto a lower version iphone? I know that series 6 does not support ios14, so is that the culprit? or is it related to the hardware.

I have 2 options - source backup is Xs Max - and target is either 6 plus or an iphone 7. is any of that possible? or will i ruin my backup.

Or - can i use the 6 plus with my Apple ID and not restore the backup, and wait with doing that till i have a newer phone?

thanks,
soren

Can you give him your Xs Max after you get the new iPhone? It's just weeks away.
Or, try resetting his iPhone and restore form backup to see if it would help. Or reset his phone and start fresh.

If he must have a new phone, then I would just do what you said in the end. Give him your Xs Max, and survive a few weeks with stock 6 Plus. With many things are on the cloud nowadays, I would think it won't be a big issue. Things like Whatsapp etc (if you use that) can be restored outside the general backup.

 

[palemonkey]

You can restore it to the iPhone 7 as that supports iOS 14

 

[Eagle1337]

Can you give him your Xs Max after you get the new iPhone? It's just weeks away.
Or, try resetting his iPhone and restore form backup to see if it would help. Or reset his phone and start fresh.

If he must have a new phone, then I would just do what you said in the end. Give him your Xs Max, and survive a few weeks with stock 6 Plus. With many things are on the cloud nowadays, I would think it won't be a big issue. Things like Whatsapp etc (if you use that) can be restored outside the general backup.

Thank you for the swift reply.

So i can just reset the 6 plus and use my apple id and then use it "bare" (i assume game progress will be restored if i download the game?) and then when i get a new phone i can restore the xs max backup (which should include the game progress etc. as its saved in cloud?)

its my wifes turn to get a new iphone first, so i have to wait a bit until i saved up some more so thats why i am looking into using the 6 plus or 7 in the interim period.

thanks,
soren

 

[Phil77354]

If you have an Apple computer, iMac or laptop, then you can back the phone up to the computer and it will save it as a dated file that you can then use to restore to a different phone at any point in the future.

 

[C DM]

If you have an Apple computer, iMac or laptop, then you can back the phone up to the computer and it will save it as a dated file that you can then use to restore to a different phone at any point in the future.

Seems like the potential issue in play here would be the iOS versions that are involved, as has been mentioned in earlier replies.

 

[Phil77354]

Seems like the potential issue in play here would be the iOS versions that are involved, as has been mentioned in earlier replies.

I understand that. My point is that the backup is saved and can be used when you have a phone that is compatible with the iOS version that the backup is based upon. The original question had to do with the older 6s that did not have that capability. Saving the backup on a computer for use when the new phone is available is a way to get around that, I believe.

 

[Eagle1337]

Thanks for the inputs guys, what happens to the delta from when i create that backup and until i restore it on a new iphone ? i assume all progress in apps, photos etc. would be ok as its not really dependent on iOS version?

Lets say a month goes by between the backup and when i use the iphone 6 plus, i guess that delta would be saved as normal to my apple ID? or are there any caveats i have to keep in mind.

 

[Phil77354]

Thanks for the inputs guys, what happens to the delta from when i create that backup and until i restore it on a new iphone ? i assume all progress in apps, photos etc. would be ok as its not really dependent on iOS version?

Lets say a month goes by between the backup and when i use the iphone 6 plus, i guess that delta would be saved as normal to my apple ID? or are there any caveats i have to keep in mind.

Any backup you store, whether on the cloud or on your Mac, is going to be the status of your phone at that instant in time. Everything that changes from that point forward will not be included.

If your phone is set up to automatically keep itself backed up to the cloud, then the backup is regularly updated and kept current. That is how iCloud backups work, only the most recent is kept.

It is different when you manually back your phone up to your Mac - either iMac or laptop. That backup is a separate file that is identified by date and time and kept until you remove it. In that way, you can keep an archived backup that would not be over-written, if that has value to you.

Nomenclature wise - nothing is saved to your 'apple ID', it goes to iCloud - just to be clear, and I assume that is what you meant.