story of my newly purchased iphone 7

This tale of a simple change from iphone 6 to iphone 7 is of numerous unexpected events.

1. iphone 7 safely purchased after iphone 6 took a swim. I could immediately see the battery life on the 7 is better.

2. a simple restore from backup gave a warning to update the software. Highly disingenuous.

3. i believed i had to update my iMac. To my current regret, i chose to upgrade to Big Sur.

3a. Nearly 2 hours to download 12.6 gigabytes.

3b. Install took quite a while with a single warning that the iMac may reboot more than once. Ha !

3c. it got stuck in a reboot loop of various angles. System reboot, user login, reboot , apparent freezing.

4. Fortunately, some experience of mine helped.

4a. Reset SMC
b. Reset PRAM
c. login on backup admin account
d. safe mode
e. single user mode
f. disk utility first aid

in short, nearly every “easy” trick in the book

5. some unpleasant surprises: Finder, Menu bar, dock and Music app look bad. i was able to adjust some but it’s a shock to the aesthetics.

Meanwhile, iphone 7 and iOS 14 have their own surprises

6. the screen can not decide if sensitive or not to the touch

7. some options of sharing websites were needlessly moved and cough simplified.

8. Some system software requires WIFI after iphone restore. no warning until it happens.

9. Locating the restore took luck. no warning that the restore is moved.

in short, be 2x backup. be near WiFi. the procedure may be quick but it was hours and hours.

Make a pro do it if you don’t feel up to it.