How to Set Up Your New iPhone (2024)

What a lovely caller iPhone you have! Whichever 1 of the many iPhones successful Apple's lineup you bought, the setup acquisition is astir identical. Here’s however to get acquainted with it to guarantee a two- to four-year lifetime, springiness oregon take, of happiness. (Or conscionable one, if you’re an yearly upgrader.) Things ever spell much smoothly erstwhile you're prepared, truthful marque definite you person the pursuing acceptable for the easiest imaginable setup:

• Your aged phone (not essential, but it's astute to person it handy)
• Your SIM card (not required for eSIM activation)
• Your Wi-Fi details
• Your Apple relationship details (you indispensable person an Apple relationship to usage an iPhone)

After you acceptable up your device, cheque retired our guides connected cases—the Best iPhone 15 Cases, Best iPhone 14 Cases, Best iPhone 13 Cases, and Best iPhone 12 Cases—to support your handset, and spot our Best MagSafe Accessories usher to kit it out.

Updated September 2024: We tweaked this usher to bespeak the latest mentation of iOS and the caller iPhone 16 range.

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First, Back Up Your Old Phone

Start by backing up your aged phone. If it's an iPhone, this volition marque copying implicit your information a spot easier. The simplest method is to backmost up to iCloud by going to Settings, tapping connected your sanction astatine the top, and choosing iCloud, iCloud Backup, and tapping Back Up Now. You tin find alternate methods and much details successful our usher connected how to backmost up your iPhone. You tin besides instrumentality vantage of Apple's Quick Start diagnostic for switching iPhones simply by enabling Bluetooth connected your aged iPhone and having it adjacent erstwhile you crook the caller 1 on. We person a usher connected how to power iPhones that goes into much extent and offers immoderate alternate methods, but we're besides going to spell into it below.

If you’re coming implicit from Android, beryllium definite to download the Move to iOS Android app from Google Play. On the Apps & Data surface during the setup process for your caller iPhone, pat Move Data from Android. Go backmost to your Android phone, unfastened the app, pat Continue, and travel the instructions from there. You can’t transportation everything, but you tin bring implicit your contacts, messages, photos and videos, calendars, and email accounts. Some apps volition adjacent marque the jump. Just beryllium aware, depending connected however overmuch information you have, it tin instrumentality a agelong clip to move.

Setting Up Your New iPhone

Stick your SIM paper into your caller iPhone (skip this measurement if you are utilizing an eSIM) and clasp down the powerfulness fastener to crook it on. You’ll beryllium greeted by the Apple logo and the connection “Hello” successful galore languages. You tin past take Quick Start (the casual way) oregon Set Up Manually (the hard way). Which way you take depends connected whether this is your archetypal iPhone.

Quick Start

If you’re an Apple vet and person your aged iPhone handy, effort Quick Start for the fastest way to getting that caller iPhone acceptable up. Make definite your aged iPhone is afloat charged and that Bluetooth is turned on, past conscionable bring your caller iPhone adjacent to your aged one, and corroborate that you privation to usage the aforesaid Apple ID connected the caller device. An animation should look connected your caller device; hover your aged 1 implicit it until that representation appears successful your viewfinder. Wait until you spot Finish connected New [Device] connected your aged iPhone. Enter your password astatine the prompt, and you’re connected your mode to mounting up Face ID. From there, you tin take precisely what you privation to backmost up, and which settings—including for Apple Watch, if you person one—you privation to transportation over.

Alternatively, you tin simply prime Other Options and Restore from iCloud Backup oregon Restore from Mac oregon PC Backup. Then participate your Apple ID and password, and spell drawback a peppermint mocha portion your iPhone restarts with each of your settings, preferences, apps, and much successful place. In different words, it’ll beryllium conscionable similar your aged device, but … newer.

Set Up Manually

If this is your archetypal Apple rodeo, oregon you conscionable privation a caller commencement and similar fiddling astir successful menus, prime Set Up Manually. Follow the onscreen instructions to activate your iPhone oregon iPad. You volition link to your Wi-Fi network, activate your eSIM oregon popular your carnal SIM into the caller device, acceptable up a six-digit passcode, acceptable up Face ID oregon Touch ID, and reconstruct oregon transportation your information and apps. (You tin take to Restore from iCloud Backup, Restore from Mac oregon PC, Transfer Directly from iPhone, oregon Move Data from Android.) People coming from Android, retrieve that you tin usage the Move to iOS app. You whitethorn besides beryllium funny successful our useful iPhone tips for ex-Android users.

Next, you'll motion successful with your Apple ID, take whether to crook connected automatic updates, and acceptable up features similar your iCloud account, FaceTime, iMessage, and Location Services. You’ll besides beryllium asked if you privation to acceptable up Siri (you do!), which includes saying a fewer phrases truthful the adjunct tin get to cognize your voice. Your last options subordinate to Screen Time, which tracks your instrumentality usage and lets you acceptable limits, and immoderate show settings similar True Tone (where available) and Display Zoom to acceptable icon and substance size to suit you. It sounds similar a batch of decisions and inputs, but the full process takes lone a fewer minutes. Better yet, nary of these choices are binding; you tin find them each again aboriginal successful the Settings app.

A Quick Word connected eSIM

Apple has supported eSIM exertion since the iPhone XS. It's fundamentally an physics SIM paper alternatively of the tiny, carnal spot you insert into your telephone for cellular connectivity. The iPhone 14 bid were the archetypal devices to wholly get escaped of the carnal SIM paper slot (in the US). That means the lone mode for you to acceptable up a cellular transportation successful the US is with an eSIM.

If you're unfamiliar with the process, don't worry, it's precise easy. During setup, you'll beryllium asked if you privation to transportation your fig from your aged iPhone. Once you agree, it volition instrumentality a infinitesimal oregon 2 to activate cellular information connected your caller iPhone, and you're bully to go. Keep successful caput that your aged carnal SIM paper volition efficaciously halt moving erstwhile you bash this.

If you're coming from an Android telephone (with oregon without eSIM support), you volition request to scan a QR codification provided by your carrier. This mightiness adjacent beryllium the lawsuit with an iPhone if you're having trouble—just interaction your bearer and they should beryllium capable to benignant things retired quickly.

Adding Other Accounts and Setting Preferences

Otherwise, it’s conscionable a substance of personalizing your preferences. Want to adhd an email account? Go to Settings, Mail, Accounts, and take Add Account. Want to fine-tune which apps refresh successful the inheritance (and drain your artillery successful the process)? Head to Settings, General, Background App Refresh, and toggle your small bosom out. Want to prevention clip connected web forms? Go to Settings, Safari, Autofill, and preload your interaction info. You tin besides crook connected the artillery percent presumption by going to Settings, Battery, and toggling connected Battery Percentage.

Your caller instrumentality volition beryllium moving iOS 18, which boasts immoderate important caller features, but you should change these privateness settings close away.

One past recommendation: Get escaped of the clutter. iOS present lets you delete Apple’s many, galore banal apps. Do it! It feels great, I promise. We adjacent person tips connected however to customize your iPhone's location screens. Oh, and portion you’re digging astir successful Apple’s software, spell to Settings and past Focus to instrumentality vantage of the Do Not Disturb mode that lets you chopped down connected the changeless watercourse of alerts.

Hitting these basics should get you started connected the close path. When you're settled, work our hidden iPhone tips and tricks for much goodies. And if you're done with your aged iPhone, work our instructions connected how to mill reset it.