TwinHopQuick Start, iCloud or a computer: what moves to your new iPhone
TwinHop team · Updated
For most people Quick Start or an iCloud backup is enough, and both are free. A computer backup helps when iCloud is too small, when you want to keep a copy yourself, or when the new phone is already set up and you only want some apps back with their data.
The three ways Apple offers
| Quick Start | iCloud backup | Computer backup (Mac or Windows) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you need | Both iPhones side by side, Wi-Fi or a cable | Enough iCloud storage for the backup | A Mac with Finder or a PC with the Apple Devices app or iTunes, and a cable |
| When it works | Only while the new iPhone is being set up | During setup of the new iPhone | During setup, or on an erased iPhone |
| Where the copy lives | Nowhere: data goes phone to phone | In iCloud | On your computer, as long as you keep it |
| Cost | Free | Free up to 5 GB; more needs iCloud+ | Backup needs no key; moving needs a $19.99 key |
| Apple’s guide | Quick Start, wired | iCloud | Finder, Apple Devices or iTunes |
All three move the same kinds of things: photos, messages, contacts, settings, your Home Screen and the data inside your apps. The apps themselves come back from the App Store, which is where most surprises start.
TwinHop moves apps together with their data to a new iPhone, from a Mac or a Windows PC.
Download TwinHopWhen Quick Start is the right choice
Use it if both phones are with you and the new one is still on the first setup screen. It’s fast, needs no storage anywhere, and Apple supports it directly. With two iPhone 15 or later models you can connect them with a USB-C cable instead of Wi-Fi.
It doesn’t help once the new iPhone is already set up: to use it then, you have to erase the new phone and start again.
When iCloud is the right choice
Use it if you already back up to iCloud and the backup fits. If it doesn’t, Apple lends you free temporary iCloud storage for a new iPhone: the backup is kept for 21 days, and you can ask for 21 more if the phone hasn’t arrived. Don’t erase your old phone until the restore is done. Apple’s guide.
When a computer is the better choice
- iCloud is full and you don’t want to pay for more. A computer backup costs nothing and stays on your disk.
- You want to keep the copy. A backup on your computer can be restored again later; Quick Start leaves nothing behind.
- The new iPhone is already set up. Apple’s tools restore a whole phone, which means erasing it first. A tool that restores only selected apps can add them to what is already there (see the photo note below).
- Apps came back without their data, or are stuck on “Waiting…”. See Apps didn’t transfer to your new iPhone.
What none of them moves
- Passwords from the Keychain, unless the backup is encrypted. Many apps will ask you to sign in again.
- Call history from an unencrypted backup.
- Music and books bought from Apple or synced from a computer: download them again.
- TestFlight and developer builds.
Banking and authenticator apps often need to be activated again on a new phone, whichever way you move. Keep the old phone working until they do.
Where TwinHop fits
TwinHop is a Mac and Windows app for the computer route. It backs up the old iPhone to your computer, installs your apps on the new one from your Apple Account purchases over the cable, and then restores the backup, so the data goes into apps that are already installed. It can also add only the apps you pick to an iPhone that is already set up.
A note on photos when adding apps to a phone that’s already set up: after any restore, iOS may remove photos and messages that aren’t in iCloud. That’s why TwinHop first backs up that phone, so anything removed can be brought back. Turn on iCloud Photos and Messages in iCloud, or copy your photos to the computer, before you start.
Backing up needs no key. Moving to the new iPhone needs a $19.99 key for one year, which doesn’t renew.
Sources: Apple Support 102659, 117383, 108344, 120001, 104980, 108770, what iCloud backs up. Checked October 10, 2026.