Update a New iPhone 15 to iOS 17.0.2 Before Transferring from Your Old iPhone

Or if you have a local backup on your Mac, connect a USB cable and do a Restore from the Finder.

It’s effectively the same thing. A restore doesn’t wipe/reinstall iOS (you’d need to go to a DFU Mode restore to do that). It wipes all but the OS. Then when it reboots, it behaves as a new phone, allowing you to migrate from a backup or another device.

Why is this the same thing? Because there is no official way to merge two iOS device systems. Any restore always involves wiping what used to be there. Unlike macOS, where you have the option to retain old content as a part of migration.

If you want/need to merge a backup with existing content on your phone, you need a third party tool, like iMazing.

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