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RandySea

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 7, 2013
16
6
I am posting this after spending hours on many days with 7 different Apple support people, and waiting a week for a call that never came from higher level support. No one has said what I want to do is unusual or can't work.

Background:
Brand new iPad Mini gen 6 purchased directly from Apple Store online two weeks ago. After the 4th support person couldn't help, I returned the iPad to Apple and got a new one. That was in case the original one was defective.
I currently have an iPhone 13 mini. It is backed up with iTunes on a Windows 10 PC. No iCloud backup.
Both devices running iOs 15.7, bluetooth working, internet connected

As soon as I got the new iPad mini, I tried to set it up from the iPhone using Quick Start. I've done this many times for myself and others, when upgrading to a new iPhone. I'd never tried it with an iPad.

At first, it proceeded as expected. For example, the wifi credentials transferred immediately. Soon my iPhone said something like "Done. Let the ipad take it from here."

Then I got to the screen that gives options for transferring apps and data. The only choice that could apply was a bit oddly worded. Despite initially recognizing that I was transferring from an iPhone, the menu said "transfer apps and data from iPad". Clicking on that choice just had the little activity circle turning for a minute or so. Then I was returned to an unchanged transfer apps and data menu. No apps or data transferred.

Note: At no point in the Quick Start process did I see any error message.

Next I tried using an iTunes backup. I made a fresh backup first. My default was an encrypted backup, so I did this. Then I wiped the iPad, erasing everything back to factory settings. Next I started up the iPad with it connected to the PC. I can't remember the exact sequence, but in iTunes I got the option of restoring the iPad from the iPhone backup I had just made.

I ran the restore. It got most of the apps onto the iPad, at least to the point where they would begin downloading in full. A few apps didn't appear. Maybe they are incompatible with the iPad. But I got almost no data restored. No photos, no emails, no messages. The only data I could find that restored was my bookshelf of books I had gotten from my library and put on my iPhone using iTunes.

I tried the restore one more time, this time making a fresh, unencrypted backup first. No difference.

The last support person I spoke with was supposedly at a higher level. I even let her screen share. She couldn't so anything more than I had. She created a new ticket and referred it to an even higher level. I was supposed to get a reply from them in 2-3 business days. That was a week ago.

Is it possible that direct (not iCloud) apps and data transfers just don't work between an iPhone (iOS) and an iPad (iPadOS) and Apple Support just doesn't realize it and the Quick Start developers forgot to include relevant warnings and error messages?

Or what else?
 
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