I decided to upgrade my iPhone this month from a version 6 to 12 Pro for various accessibility and technical reasons.

Why Upgrade?

The number one reason was accessibility. I was beginning to find it difficult with the smaller screen size of an iPhone 6. I did increase the size of the fonts but that didn’t really have the effect I desired. It was also becoming fiddly with my fingers and thumbs. I can read perfectly with my glasses on, but I have a habit of forgetting to take them with me, like all the time, so to perform basic functions like handling calls and paying things was an issue.

Second reason was technology, some apps had stopped upgrading. The apps would still work under the outdated version but really needed the security functions the updated ones offered.

What Phone?

I decided to buy the iPhone 12 Pro. Screen size was the main benefit which was instantly noticeable when I bought it. I didn’t want to upgrade to the thirteen, I’m a little superstitious, and couldn’t wait for the fourteen to come out.

On my old iPhone 6 I only had 16Gb of space which was extremely limiting for what I needed to do. Having said that I disciplined myself not to keep any data on it for long which I transferred to the cloud or airdropped to myself on my desktop computer when arriving home. Since I was used to that routine, I only bought a 128Gb model.

I did consider the number of videos I might film in HD or 4K which take up a lot of space, however, this is something I do very rarely. I take more pictures and conclude that this model would be fine for my needs.

Obviously, the other technological advantage was the ability to reinstate or upgrade existing apps.

The Transfer Process

I went through transferring the data using the method in the video below, the video was one of many on YouTube but this one was particularly helpful and very descriptive.

I still had issues with some apps, re-registering or verifying from my old iPhone. Here is what I had issues with:

  • HSBC UK and Canada: needed to scan in a QRCode on my old phone to re-register my login credentials on my new phone.
  • WhatsApp: like signing up but bringing across my data which sits on their server
  • Telegram: re-registering but needed to verify with a code sent to Telegram on my old phone
  • BC Health Gateway: this was the most complicated and forgot most of the steps now to describe them here, but I got there eventually
  • Apple Pay: needed to re-register my credit cards, which was a bit of a nuisance, but understandable
  • Adobe: the login process with Adobe is slightly labour intensive but then I found their “Account Access” app which makes the process easy, it’s worth considering if you use any of their apps on the iPhone of iPad.

So, I would recommend when upgrading phones do not give up your phone immediately as you might need it verify yourself on another device.

Review

I have to say the iPhone 12 Pro is genuinely nice, way better than the iPhone 6, which a much sleeker feel, with lots of screen space. So far, and I’ve only had it a few days, it feels great so far.