Sandman
So regardless of this "internal switch" whatever that is supposed to mean, your phone data - while unrecoverable inside your old phone - was not actually lost since you're smart enough to utilize the automatic and free of charge backup mechanism in iCloud (or the automatic free of charge backup mechanism in iTunes if you distrust the cloud).

nospam
a backup certainly makes things easier, but the data in his old phone was still there.

he's wrong.

PeterN
Sorry, I forgot you were aware of what the Apple Store people told me.