How do I merge two backups into one new iPhone from the previous one?

iPhone backups include the state of the system, such things are bookmarks, web history, the last entry in a spreadsheet, the documents currently in process -- what would a "merge" do with two different states? Only you can to be the one to decide what to do with various parts of each one.

The only thing I can think of would be to restore the newer one, copy what's important to a computer, and then restore the old one and copy the parts you want to "merge" to another folder on the computer, and then see what you can do. But, unfortunately, even the magic of AI can't figure out what you want to do with conflicting states of the documents.

You can’t directly merge two iPhone backups into one, since Apple only lets you restore from a single backup at a time.

Simple way:

1. Restore the first backup to your new iPhone.
2. Manually move data from the other source (like contacts, photos, files, or apps) using iCloud, AirDrop, or syncing apps (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.).
3. Some third-party tools (like iMazing or AnyTrans) can help combine data from two backups before putting it on the iPhone.

If you set up the iPhone 16 with the backup of the iPhone 13, the former now has all the data the latter plus all the new data you created since. Thus the iPhone 16 backup contains all your data, old and new. In which case, restoring the iPhone 16 backup on the iPhone 13 is all you need to do.

No. Backups cannot be merged.

Sonjou23:

An iPhone backup is “all or none” (you get an exact copy of the ONE phone as it was when backed-up)

"how do i merge 2 backups into one new phone from 2 previous phones?"

You don't.