iPhone backup/ restore to a second iphone

[beachycove]

Question for iPhone initiates:

I have an iPhone 4s running ios7. I want to buy another 4s used, for use by another family member, because it does everything we need and is cheap. The trouble is that most used 4s phones these days are bought running iOS8 or iOS9, which I don't want on the new phone. iOS7 is as high as I want to go.

Let's assume I can buy a nice second 4s running iOS8. If I backup my current iPhone 4s in iTunes, can I restore to the new iPhone 4s and end up with iOS7 on both?

 

[Anonymous Freak]

No.

In order to restore a backup, the new phone has to already be running the OS from the backup.

That means if you upgrade to a new phone, and want to restore the backup, you have to make sure your OLD phone is on the newer OS the new phone ships with before restoring the backup.

 

[beachycove]

That narrows the potential field of used phones....

Still, good to know! Thank you.

 

[CC_333]

If you're not opposed to jailbreaking, and can a 4s with a jailbreakable OS (all versions of 7, most versions of 8, but only iOS 9.0.x), you can use Beehind to downgrade to iOS 6.1.3.

It's less modern than 7, but it runs really fast.

And then, to restore the backup, you can use one of the many third party backup/restore programs out there (I use AnyTrans) to port it over.

This is all moot if you have a need for the newer version, in which case your previous course of action is correct.

c