Migrating from one iPhone to another in 20 easy steps

When my wife and I were in line to get our iPhone (yes, we stood in line, sheepishly), they ran out of iPhones just as they got to her. So she got a 4GB, and I got nothing. However, being the classy girl she is, she ordered me an 8GB on the spot, and gave me her 4GB for the interim. This from the girl who normally doesn't give a flip about technology, but had the iPhone release date on her calendar months in advance.

Anyway, I got the 4GB all set up and worked out some of the kinks with our setup, when my 8GB arrived. So I timidly set out to swap phones, afraid that some obscure activation problem would brick both of our devices. Long story short, it worked quite well. Here's the details on how I did it, and some tips if you're considering doing the same:

Step 1: A few things don't make it through to my new device, notably bookmarked YouTube videos, my Yahoo! mail configuration and e-mails, and if I remember correctly, Google map bookmarks and recent locations. Fortunately, as a precaution I had jotted all of this information down beforehand. Also, check your voicemail messages, in case they get deleted during the transition (they shouldn't).

Step 2: Put the old iPhone in the cradle and let it sync completely. Go ahead and import any photos you've taken for good measure.

Step 3: Shut down both the old and the new iPhones (assuming the new one is on) by holding down the top button for about 10 seconds.

Step 4: Swap the SIM cards from one phone to the other.

Step 5: Startup the new iPhone. It will say "Incorrect SIM. Please connect to iTunes to reactivate iPhone." Put the old iPhone aside for a moment.

Step 6: If you've been monkeying around with your new iPhone, you'll want to reset it so that it doesn't confuse the sync process. On the new iPhone, choose Settings | General | Reset | Erase All Content and Settings. It'll say "This will delete all media and data. All settings will be reset as well." Go ahead and continue, and the phone will eventually reboot. After the reboot, you'll get "Incorrect SIM. Please connect to iTunes to reactivate iPhone."

Step 7: Put the new iPhone in the cradle and iTunes will launch.

Step 8: iTunes will say "Let's get started". Go ahead and continue, and it will ask for the current mobile number (put in the number that matches the SIM), zip code, and last 4 of your social security number. Continue, and iTunes will verify the account information.

Step 9: iTunes will say "A data plan has been created to take advantage of the innovative features of the iPhone...". Scratch your head, and continue.

Step 10: Sign in to iTunes with your Apple ID. Continue.

Step 11: Agree to the iTunes and AT&T conditions.

Step 12: iTunes will ask you to "Review your information", will say "This may erase all voicemail messages" and then "Please wait while AT&T is processing your activation. This may take up to 3 minutes."

Step 13: iTunes will say "Congratulations, AT&T is activating your iPhone. Your iPhone will notify you when activation is complete." Hit continue.

Step 14: You will get "An iPhone has been previously synced with this computer" with the options of "Set up as a new iPhone" and "Restore from the backup of [xxx]". Go ahead and choose the restore option. Hit continue.

Step 15: "Restore in progress" shows up on the iPhone, and eventually the phone will show "Settings have been restored. Please leave iPhone connected, it will appear in iTunes after it restarts."

Step 16: Enter your voicemail password on the iPhone.

Step 17: I noticed here that the new iPhone didn't appear in iTunes. I detached and reinserted it, and iTunes said "Your iPhone contains diagnostic information..." and offered to send it to Apple. I complied, and afterwards the phone began to sync.

Step 18: iTunes synchronized my files back onto the iPhone, with one caveat: my previous settings on the iPhone "Info" tab in iTunes were not restored, and I had put checkmarks next to the things I wanted (Contacts, Calendars, and Bookmarks), and also chose "Replace information on this iPhone" for those items just for good measure. Selected Sync to finish up the process.

Step 19: Tentative smile, as it appears that all my stuff has been restored, except for my WiFi password, YouTube bookmarks, and e-mail.

Step 20: Since e-mail didn't reset properly, I had to delete and recreate the Yahoo! account, after which my e-mail trickled back onto the device from the server.

After all that, I chose Settings | General | Reset | Erase All Content and Settings on my old iPhone, and did a first-time sync with it on my wife's Mac, which went swimmingly.