I am upgrading to 4s. I know I can give my 3GS to my son for use as an iPod. But can I wipe it clean before my upgrade connecting his new iTunes to the old phone, yet allowing me to upgrade to 4s from my old 3GS profile in iTunes and not lose a thing. Step/instructions are appreciated.
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Erase 3GS give to son with new iTunes during upgrade
- Thread starter StewBme
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Thx, so backup and connect to iTunes which will then transfers to my 4s and then with the 3GS undocked ????? I don't see restore to new on the phone. Is the restore to new selection while the 3GS is connected to iTunes? Appreciate the help.
I'm pretty sure this should do the trick:
Sync your 3GS to iTunes one last time. Then, unplug it from your computer and go into Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. After the erase process is finished, you should be at the setup screen (if you're running iOS 5, and I assume you are). Go through the setup process without selecting the option to restore from a backup, and you should find a completely wiped phone. Also, keep the SIM card in until you get past the setup; you'll need it to get past the activation screen. After that's done, take it out and put it somewhere safe, because you may need it again (if you ever need to restore, or even update the device).
When you set up the 4S, just plug it into iTunes and use the backup of the final sync you did with the 3GS. You should get a new SIM card included with the 4S, but if not, just use the old SIM from the 3GS after restoring that one.
Sync your 3GS to iTunes one last time. Then, unplug it from your computer and go into Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. After the erase process is finished, you should be at the setup screen (if you're running iOS 5, and I assume you are). Go through the setup process without selecting the option to restore from a backup, and you should find a completely wiped phone. Also, keep the SIM card in until you get past the setup; you'll need it to get past the activation screen. After that's done, take it out and put it somewhere safe, because you may need it again (if you ever need to restore, or even update the device).
When you set up the 4S, just plug it into iTunes and use the backup of the final sync you did with the 3GS. You should get a new SIM card included with the 4S, but if not, just use the old SIM from the 3GS after restoring that one.
Worked great! Clean 3GS handoff to son and my 4s is rolling. Just one question/miss. Can my son run IMessage on the 3GS without a sim card? I just checked his phone and have selected iMessage but it says waiting for activation. Wonder if I missed a step when I transferred phones or impossible. Thinking son without a sim card would think txt MSG function to other apple device users would be cool. Thanks for the earlier instructions, excellent!