iOS 13 for iPhone SE

I’m ready to pull the trigger on upgrading to this from iOS 12- Any reason why I shouldn’t at this stage.
All responses are welcome.

I have no idea what your particular situation is and what caused you to wait, so the answer I give you here should be taken with a grain of salt.

I am not aware of any reason you should delay and a few reasons why you should proceed in all haste.

-Al-

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Hi Paul,

I have not upgraded my SE to iOS 13 yet, simply because my daily machine is still on Sierra and I’m afraid to lose functionality between them. I can’t confirm that I will, but I don’t want to take the chance.

I will likely be upgrading to High Sierra but I still think that may be old enough to cause issues.

Diane

My desktop machine is still on Sierra–nothing more recent is supported–and my iOS devices are on iOS 13. The one thing I’ve noticed is that I can no longer get lists of open Safari tabs between the desktop and the iOS devices–the iOS devices get each others’ but not the desktop’s, and and the desktop no longer sees tabs from either iOS device.

Dave

I upgraded my SE to iOS 13. I can’t say iOS 13 does anything better than iOS 12 for me. But I can say that with iOS 13 Apple removed iTunes wifi sync status/controls (which I didn’t see anybody mention beforehand in their iOS 13 reviews) which to me is bummer.

iOS 13 did restore Safari tab syncing, but only after they broke it. It had been working just fine on iOS12 before the Mac Safari update. That screwup then forced iOS 13 updating in order to “preserve” tab syncing. I wasn’t thrilled.

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Thanks Simon and Dave. I am still syncing via iTunes on another Sierra machine. I’m afraid iTunes will break at some point - and I’m sure there will be a point in time I’m forced to change that due to a new phone. I remember having to move iTunes to my laptop when an iOS update refused to see whatever version I was running on my G4 tower (a Tiger machine I think?) with my iPhone 4s. It’s been a cluster for me since, as a year or two later I bought a new laptop with half the storage space and then had to move iTunes to an external drive.

My SO upgraded his XR to 13 and neither of us like the new Photos layout.

Diane

I’ve been running iOS 13.1 on my SE pretty much since it was released. Runs very smoothly and the new ‘share’ sheets are a huge improvement!

Do you have a Mac computer that it talks with, and what version are you running on that?

Thanks
Diane

The major problem you may have if you are a Reminders user, is that iOS requires a revised Reminders database, which is only compatible with macOS Catalina.

Diane, have you considered testing on a spare iOS device? Assuming you have something lying around, you could nuke it and install iOS13 from scratch. Then attempt to have your Sierra Mac sync to it. See if you can get that spare device to work exactly as your present SE with all your data etc.

Obviously, many of us don’t have suitable spare iOS devices just lying around, but I guess if you really want to get some assurance and try it out beforehand, you could buy a new device from Apple and just make sure to return it within 14 days. I have never had any issues returning an Apple product within that grace period and getting fully reimbursed.

Funny how I have spare computers but not iOS devices! My SE is the newest mobile device. My SO has an XR but I don’t want to hook it into my ecosystem.

You’ve bought a phone, attached it to your number and used it for testing then returned it in 14 days?

Diane

Thanks all for you responses. I just might leave it alone. When some of the apps don’t work in iOS12 -then I will definetly update. The old -“if it ain’t broke -why fix it”. I am not a iPhone power user -so it works for me. But that philiosphy is not applicable to my use of my Mac Pro where I am a power user. The reminders just pop up at the wrong times. I’ll just trash it and another week later I am sure it will automatically download another copy.

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I use all the operating systems -from El Cap to Mojave, as I have 4 drives in my Mac Pro.
Catalina is not an option for me at this time. But I did install it on an external SSD for use with my iMac.
P
To avoid questions regarding Mojave. Yes I have Metal Video Card and it works fine in the Mac Pro.

Actually, I do have a spare SE at home (my wife’s old one). So I haven’t actually done it with an iPhone that way myself. “Attaching the number” consists of just moving the SIM card over from one iPhone to the next. That’s how I went from my old 6 to my “new” SE. I went back and firth between the two devices two or three times so the process is reversible. No unpleasant surprises there.

I have in the past purchased a couple Macs from Apple and returned them within 14 days. I’ve used that to test various models and one case I even purchased two because I couldn’t decide which one I’d want more. I returned the other a week later. Every time I have done this it was no questions asked and I always had my money wired back within days. It was very little hassle. In my experience that’s an area where Apple is really magnificent. :)

haha I’ve done that with shoes I’ve ordered online (sizing) but never something so expensive! I bought my SE from Verizon but I don’t think I swapped the SIM. Interesting!

This is one of the few times I miss being in IT - getting to test new toys. :slight_smile:

Diane

Is it necessary that one or the other or both phones be unlocked before doing this?

If the SIM is from a different provider than what the phone is locked to, yes.

I have never purchased a SIM-locked iPhone so fortunately I haven’t had to deal with unlocking. My wife did though and it was a pain to get it unlocked. Not Apple’s fault, but her carrier’s.

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Yes, I sync it with iTunes on a MacBook Air running Mojave (for backup and photo and music syncing). But I think it would work with earlier versions of MacOS, too. In the past, Apple hasn’t required the latest MacOS to be able to sync with the latest iOS.

That’s not entirely true, and it’s not an issue. iOS 13 doesn’t require a new Reminders database. It allows you to leave Reminders as it is and continue to work with older MacOS versions. I’ve been doing this for months with no problem.

The main thing is to say no when asked if you want to update the Reminders database after upgrading to iOS 13. Then it leaves you alone, but there’s a button to upgrade the database at a later date.

If you like your iPhone the way it is, why upgrade? Personally, I have an iPhone 6 SE using 11.4 that is loaded with Apps that I use regularly. I back up to a MacBook Pro with High Sierra. It works for me.

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That’s pretty much what I’m doing, same as you. But when apps I use need an iOS update or they won’t work then I’ll upgrade to 13. Just hate the annoying reminders- even after I delete the upgrade software.
I also back up on my macbook with hi sierra

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