Cant open my new iPhone

Question

I used to have an iPhone 5c and i used iTunes to back up it on my windows laptop.

Now I've got an iPhone 7 and I am trying to set it up but I can't. First, I entered my iCloud and tried to "restore from iCloud backup". It works until it is 99% and then it gives me a message that it can't be done.

I tried to get the backup from iTunes "restore from iTunes backup". The laptop didn't recognize the phone and told me that it needs the last version. I tried to download it but it didn't work either.

Now if I choose to "set up as new phone" will all my data be lost, especially my contacts, notes, whatapp history, photos, etc?

What do I need to do to get it working?

Thanks

Answer 1

iOS backups are tied to the version of iOS on your device. You can't restore a backup on a device running and older version of iOS than was used to make the backup.

I had the same problem last week with my new iPad. It shipped with some version of iOS 9. Here's what I did to fix it:

1. Don't worry about setting it up as a new iPhone. You will be able to restore from your backup later.
2. Set it up as a new iPhone. You will probably have to put your iTunes account information.
3. If it asks you about making backups, skip that part.
4. Once you are through to the home screen, run the Settings app and update to the latest version of iOS.
5. Once the latest version of iOS is installed reset all settings on your phone. When the phone reboots you should be back at the setup screens.
6. Now you should be able to restore from either iCloud or iTunes backups.

You can also use iTunes on your Mac to download and install the iOS update.