iPhone 15 users report data backup errors

By Hoai Anh October 7, 2023 | 12:01 am PT

People look at the new iPhone 15 Pro as Apple's new iPhone 15 officially goes on sale across China at an Apple store in Shanghai, China September 22, 2023. Photo by Reuters

Many people who bought the iPhone 15 recently complain that they are unable to transfer data to it from their old devices.

Ngoc Thuong, a buyer in Hanoi, said" "I bought an iPhone 15 Plus and activated it at the store. The staff there tried to transfer the data three times but every time failed at a certain step."

Ngoc Quang in Ho Chi Minh City said he spent all evening trying to back up data but failed. Finally, he upgraded the phone to the latest iOS version, and reinstalled it to transfer the data.

Ngoc Sang, an executive at a phone store on Thai Ha Street, Hanoi, said in the first few days after the iPhone 15 was officially sold, he thought the error was due to the old devices or customers’ problematic Apple ID accounts.

However, after a week many iPhone 15s saw the problem persist.

Researching on Apple’s support webpage and some international technology forums, Sang noticed a data backup error appearing on iPhone 15s that had iOS 17 or 17.0.1 software installed.

The iPhone 15 versions sold in Vietnam first had iOS 17, and so most of them had the problem. Apple later fixed the problem by installing version 17.0.2.

"We have to ask technicians to update the operating system after activating customers’ new devices. This takes time but is the only way to fix the problem currently," he said.

iOS 17 was released on Sept. 18 with changes in call features, messages and AirDrop data transfer capabilities.

Three days later Apple had to release the 17.0.1 update to patch three security holes, and the 17.0.2 version to fix data errors in the iPhone 15 series.

On Sept. 26, it expanded iOS 17.0.2 to all remaining iOS 17-supporting devices. On Oct. 4, Apple rolled out iOS 17.0.3 to fix an overheating problem in the iPhone 15.