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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2013-10-05, 14:30

Apologies for the 18-month bump, but it's been...well, 18 months. And in that time we've had:

- iPhone 5 unveiling
- New iPod touch (2012)
- Fourth-generation iPad
- iPad mini
- iPhone 5s
- iPhone 5c

...and we're on the cusp of a new fifth-generation and updated Mac mini.

All that, in addition to the 900 bazillion iOS devices already sold and in use all around the world...

18 months and six, almost eight, separate, distinct product announcements/unveilings. This stuff isn't shrinking or going away, and I imagine Apple's in this for the long haul, regarding iOS.

And so I ask my original question - one that I've yet to get a satisfactory, reasonable answer on: if Apple themselves made a big deal about iOS finally going "PC-free", and all the iDevices are well into two years of being able to function and exist on their own, without a full-on computer to activate/set them up...how exactly would once go about migrating a nearly-full 32-64GB previous-generation iPad to a new fifth-generation model that we all know is coming soon (same goes for iPhones and iPod touch, if you happen to have only one of those as your sole digital/Internet device)?

As far as I know, Apple doesn't allow for a direct-connection between one's old iOS device and a new one (the way you can connect two Macs and use Migration Assistant).

Why not?

And they still haven't provided a product like I talk about in this thread...some sort of iOS-based Time Capsule (combo wifi unit/backup drive that you can use for migrating your existing music, photos and other settings to a new iOS device if you don't have a computer).

I know several people with iPads as their only device. A couple of them are coming up on two years, so I know, at some point, they're going to move up to a newer model.

And then going to contact me for help/advice when the time comes. And I don't know what to tell them, on how to go about it!

And the answer can't be a) "buy a computer" because that negates the entire damn point of PC Free and is automatically an expensive, needlessly complicated and point-missing solution, or b) "use the computer of a relative or friend to perform the operation". In addition to being a pain-in-the-butt that requires my involvement and time, some of these people don't live in my town, so we couldn't even set them up a user account on my iMac where they can borrow my Mac to "lifeboat" their data and restore to a new machine (and, frankly, I'm not looking to have that burden/responsibility, of having other people's data and content on my computer, and feeling like I'm somehow on the hook for its safekeeping or whatever).

So...you have an aging iPad. You have no standalone computer, Mac or PC. You've got hundreds of photos and videos, lots of apps and maybe 1,000 or more songs on your current iPad...how in the holy hell, with the previous paragraph in mind, do you take that 32GB+ of data (much larger than the modest 5GB iCloud storage one gets for free, which is no help in this matter) and put it onto their new, shiny iPad.



This still hasn't been solved or addressed, 18 months after I last talked about it (and with quite a few new iOS devices released in that timespan, creating even more of a need).

Don't don't theoretically, and don't assume these users have access to a reasonably savvy friend with a PC or Mac who can help them. They're just regular people with well over 10GB of content on their 16-32GB iPads (some over 20GB).

To me, Apple has two routes to pursue (or, even better, they could implement both):

1) The aforementioned iOS-friendly Time Capsule, where it's implemented via software update or tweaking to exist/be part of the current Time Capsule products, or a brand new, iOS-only standalone Time Capsule (iCapsule) built from the ground-up to back up/restore iOS devices in a computer-less environment (I prefer the later, as I think it would be cleaner and simpler to set up and use, plus the capacities wouldn't have to be nearly as high as you see in the OS X Time Capsules of 1-3TB). That's not necessary for iOS devices that currently top out at 128GB, and knowing most people probably just buy the 16-32GB models. So if Apple just offered a modest 256GB iCapsule, that's going to more than hold everyone's data for a long, long time. And, unlike the Mac, people probably don't need the ability to go back to previous states or versions of documents, so 256GB for iOS may itself be overkill. It might be designed to just do a "most recent only", once-version backup, and, therefore a 128GB versions is more than enough. Maybe offer two models...64GB for those with 16 or 32GB devices (for a little headroom/growing space) and a 128GB model for those with 32 or 64GB devices?

2) A simpler, and cheaper, solution would be to allow iOS devices to connect to one another via a two-headed Lightning cable, at which point you tell the new iOS device to set-up/restore from the connected older model you're replacing. This would be all part of that initial setup process, where you're asked if you have a current iPad or iPhone or whatever. If so, you're then prompted to connect the $19(?) cable and initiate the migration process.

Without Apple providing at least one of the two above options, buying a new iPad to replace your current one - when you don't have a Mac or PC in the mix - is going to be a royal pain in the balls. And I think we're on the cusp of this actually becoming an issue, with all these zillions of iPad 2 and 3 models coming up on their second and third years.

But nobody's addressing it.

And Apple has to be aware of the situation because they've got something like this in their own stores, as noted in my previous post above from April 2012...

It's still weird, 18 months on, that Apple provides the ability to purchase and own these devices without the need for a separate, standalone computer...but offers no solution or product to easily facilitate the replacement/upgrading to a newer model.

Again, am I the only person who finds this odd, and lacking?

Those of you who only have an iPad (if there are any here): tell me...how, exactly, are you going to go from your current second, third or fourth-generation model to one of these new ones in another month or so? I'd love to know.



NOTE: Here in the U.S., Apple currently charges $20/$40/$100 for 10/20/50GB iCloud backup plans. Nobody's going to do that. And even if they did (if the prices were dramatically lower), what if you're sitting on a nearly-full 64GB iPad (and thinking about going to a 128GB on the next go-around). 50GB backup isn't really going to help you.

This needs to be an in-home, hardware-based, user-controlled/monitored combo device (wifi router/wireless backup drive). Or, at the absolute least, the means to connect an old device to a new one and migrate your data and settings directly.

The fact that nobody's talking/writing about this - and Apple is dead silent and showing no movement in this area (besides implementing a version of it for their own stores and support staff) blows my mind.

Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2013-10-05 at 14:46.
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