How to Set Up Your New iPhone (2025)

Hey there, what a beautiful caller iPhone you have! Whichever 1 of nan many iPhones successful Apple's lineup you snagged, nan setup acquisition is astir identical. Here’s really to group up a caller iPhone decently to guarantee a three- to five-year lifetime, springiness aliases take, of happiness. (Or conscionable one, if you’re an yearly upgrader.) Things ever spell much smoothly erstwhile you're prepared, truthful make judge you person nan pursuing fresh for nan easiest imaginable setup:

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

After you group up your device, cheque retired our guides connected cases—the Best iPhone 16 Cases, Best iPhone 15 Cases, Best iPhone 14 Cases, and Best iPhone 13 Cases—to protect your handset, and spot our Best MagSafe Accessories guideline to kit it out.

Updated September 2025: We've updated this guideline to bespeak iOS 26 and nan iPhone 17 range.

First, Back Up Your Old Phone

Start by backing up your aged phone. If it's an iPhone, this will make copying complete your information easier. The simplest method is to backmost up to iCloud by going to Settings, scrolling down to iCloud, iCloud Backup, and past tapping Back Up Now. You tin find replacement methods and much specifications successful our guideline connected how to backmost up your iPhone. We besides person a guideline connected how to backmost up your Android phone for folks switching from Android.

You tin return advantage of Apple's Quick Start characteristic for switching iPhones simply by enabling Bluetooth connected your aged iPhone and having it adjacent erstwhile you move nan caller 1 on. We person a guideline connected how to move iPhones that goes into much extent and offers immoderate replacement methods, but we besides spell into it below.

Setting Up Your New iPhone

Use nan small metallic SIM paper instrumentality to unfastened your telephone and instrumentality your SIM paper into your caller iPhone. Skip this measurement if you are utilizing an eSIM—iPhones successful nan US person been eSIM-only for respective years, and much world iPhone models are ditching nan beingness SIM card.

Hold down nan powerfulness fastener to move it on. You’ll beryllium greeted by nan Apple logo and nan connection “Hello” successful galore languages. Select your preferred Appearance to group matter and icon size. You tin past take Quick Start (the easy way) aliases Set Up Manually (the difficult way).

Quick Start

If you’re an Apple vet and person your aged iPhone handy, effort Quick Start for nan fastest way to getting that caller iPhone group up. Make judge your aged iPhone is afloat charged and Bluetooth is turned on, past bring your caller iPhone adjacent to your aged one, and corroborate that you want to usage nan aforesaid Apple ID connected nan caller device.

An animation should look connected your caller device; hover your aged 1 complete it until that image appears successful your viewfinder. Wait until you spot Set Up New iPhone connected your aged iPhone. Enter your password astatine nan prompt, and you should spot Finish connected New iPhone. You tin update nan software, and you’re connected your measurement to mounting up Face ID. From there, you tin take precisely what you want to backmost up, and which settings—including for Apple Watch, if you person one—you want to transportation over.

Alternatively, you tin simply prime Set Up Without Another Device, From iCloud Backup, aliases From Mac aliases PC. Then participate your Apple ID and password, and spell drawback a peppermint mocha while your iPhone restarts pinch each of your settings, preferences, apps, and much successful place. In different words, it’ll beryllium conscionable for illustration your aged device, but … newer.

If you’re coming complete from Android, download nan Move to iOS Android app from Google Play. On nan Transfer Your Apps & Data surface during nan setup process for your caller iPhone, pat From Android. Go backmost to your Android phone, unfastened nan app, pat Continue, and travel nan instructions from there. You can’t transportation everything, but you tin bring complete your contacts, messages, photos and videos, calendars, and email accounts. Some apps will moreover make nan jump. Just beryllium alert that, depending connected really overmuch information you have, it tin return a agelong clip to move. Connect your iPhone and Android telephone pinch a USB-C cable to transportation information faster.

Set Up Manually

If this is your first Apple rodeo, aliases you want a caller commencement and for illustration fiddling astir successful menus, prime Set Up Manually. Follow nan onscreen instructions to activate your iPhone aliases iPad. You will link to your Wi-Fi network, activate your eSIM aliases popular your beingness SIM into nan caller device, group up a six-digit passcode, group up Face ID, and reconstruct aliases transportation your information and apps. You tin take to reconstruct From iCloud Backup, From Another iPhone, From Mac aliases PC, From Android, or, if you want a cleanable slate, Don't Transfer Anything. People coming from Android, retrieve you tin usage nan Move to iOS app.

Next, you'll motion successful pinch your Apple ID, take whether to move connected automatic updates, and group up features for illustration your iCloud account, FaceTime, iMessage, and Location Services. You’ll besides beryllium asked if you want to group up Siri, which includes saying a fewer phrases truthful nan adjunct tin get to cognize your voice. You tin group up Screen Time, which tracks your instrumentality usage and lets you group limits.

Set Up Additional Features

Whichever way you choose, you'll beryllium prompted to group up a last fewer features, including Apple Pay, wherever you tin adhd in installments aliases debit cards, iPhone Analytics, if you want to stock information pinch Apple, and Action Button customization (if your iPhone has one). You tin besides group up Apple Intelligence (if you person an iPhone 15 Pro aliases later) and Notification Summaries, and you'll spot info connected really to usage nan camera, Siri, and Emergency SOS feature.

It sounds for illustration a batch of decisions and inputs, but nan process takes only a fewer minutes. Better yet, nary of these choices are binding; you tin find them each again later successful nan Settings app.

A Quick Word connected eSIM

Apple has supported eSIM technology since nan iPhone XS. It's fundamentally an physics SIM paper alternatively of nan tiny, beingness spot you insert into your telephone for cellular connectivity. The iPhone 14 bid was nan first to wholly get free of nan beingness SIM paper slot (in nan US). That intends nan only measurement to group up a cellular relationship successful nan US is pinch an eSIM.

If you're unfamiliar pinch nan process, don't worry, it's very easy. During setup, you'll beryllium asked if you want to transportation your number from your aged iPhone. Once you agree, it will return a infinitesimal aliases 2 to activate cellular information connected your caller iPhone, and you're bully to go. Keep successful mind that your aged beingness SIM paper will efficaciously extremity moving erstwhile you do this.

If you're coming from an Android telephone (with aliases without eSIM support), you will request to scan a QR codification provided by your carrier. This mightiness moreover beryllium nan lawsuit pinch an iPhone if you're having trouble—just interaction your carrier, and they should beryllium capable to benignant things retired quickly. Some Android phones whitethorn support nan easier eSIM transportation process, for illustration Google's Pixel 10 series.

Adding Other Accounts and Setting Preferences

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

Your caller instrumentality will beryllium moving iOS 26, which boasts immoderate important caller features, but you mightiness see changing these privateness settings correct away.

One past recommendation: Get free of nan clutter. You tin delete immoderate of Apple’s many, galore banal apps you don't want (including, of course, Stocks). Do it! It feels great, I promise. We moreover person tips connected nan key iPhone settings to change. Oh, and while you’re digging astir successful Apple’s software, spell to Settings and past Focus to return advantage of nan Do Not Disturb mode that lets you trim down connected nan changeless watercourse of alerts.

Hitting these basics should get you started connected nan correct path. When you're settled, possibly look into Apple Shortcuts. And if you're done pinch your aged iPhone, publication our instructions connected how to factory-reset it.

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