‘Warning: Update Your iPhone 15 to iOS 17.0.2 Before Transferring Data From Another iPhone’

Joe Rossignol, MacRumors:

If you are unboxing an iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, or iPhone 15 Pro Max today, make sure to update the device to iOS 17.0.2 before transferring data to the device from another iPhone, or else you might encounter issues.

iOS 17.0.2 is only available for the iPhone 15 lineup. Apple says the update fixes an issue that may prevent transferring data directly from another iPhone during the device setup process, so installing it is very important. The update should appear during the setup process, or it can be installed via the Settings app under General → Software Update if you proceeded to set up the device as new and transfer data later.

Oof, not what you want on launch day: some new iPhones running the factory-shipped version of iOS 17 are getting stuck on the Apple logo when attempting a device-to-device transfer, and then require a complete software restore. For what it’s worth, I went through the device-to-device transfer process multiple times with my review units and never hit this bug, but that’s just luck. The good news is a new iPhone 15 should offer to install the 17.0.2 update as soon as you connect it to Wi-Fi during the setup process, and that screen explicitly warns you not to proceed without updating if you plan to use device-to-device transfer.

★ Friday, 22 September 2023