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The instructions from Apple for restoring from a backup say that all contents need to be erased first: Restore your device from an iCloud backup

If you’ve already set up your device, you will need to erase all of its content before following these steps to restore from your backup.

Does this burn the phone down to the ground? I'm not interested in losing the current iOS 16.5 on it. What does this "erase all contents" actually do?

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    It refers to your content (apps and data).
    – nohillside ♦
    Commented Sep 10, 2023 at 17:19
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    You can't merge the current phone contents with those of a backup. Restoring the backup means erasing the entire current contents, then restoring from the backup. The backup does not contain an iOS of any sort, the restore will always be to the latest iOS or latest your device can use, if it's an older model.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Sep 10, 2023 at 17:26
  • OK i'm trying out the backup
    – WestCoastProjects
    Commented Sep 10, 2023 at 17:37

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As @nohillside and @tetsujin mentioned this process does not burn down the phone but only removes data and apps. I started the backup process but then my prior phone "woke up" and agreed to send the data directly - so the restoration process did not need to come from the iCloud backup.

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