Help! Securely Deleting all Contents on iPhone 4s. Difference between Restore & Reset

[VideoNewbie]

ok ive been told i have two ways of securely deleting my iphone 4s before i sell it

1.) go to itunes and do a restore to factory settings which ive been told takes 5 minutes

2.) go to settings> general> reset>erase all contents and settings which takes hours


what is the difference between the two? is #2 more secure than #1?

 

[BlueKhufu]

ok ive been told i have two ways of securely deleting my iphone 4s before i sell it

1.) go to itunes and do a restore to factory settings which ive been told takes 5 minutes

2.) go to settings> general> reset>erase all contents and settings which takes hours


what is the difference between the two? is #2 more secure than #1?

Number 2 is usually faster on newer devices. See http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2110#

Apple suggests option 2 first, then 1 if you have issues. See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4137

Hope this helps.

 

[luqtotheman]

ok ive been told i have two ways of securely deleting my iphone 4s before i sell it

1.) go to itunes and do a restore to factory settings which ive been told takes 5 minutes

2.) go to settings> general> reset>erase all contents and settings which takes hours


what is the difference between the two? is #2 more secure than #1?

number 2 is a lot faster and more simple. I usually do #2. If you are getting it factory unlocked they request that you do method one to finish the unlocking process.

 

[Mr Hill]

ok ive been told i have two ways of securely deleting my iphone 4s before i sell it

1.) go to itunes and do a restore to factory settings which ive been told takes 5 minutes

2.) go to settings> general> reset>erase all contents and settings which takes hours


what is the difference between the two? is #2 more secure than #1?

Option #1 for the sure fire way to completely factory restore it. I bought a 4S from a girl a few weeks ago and she did the 'erase all contents and settings' and when I got home and activated it some of her pictures and email accounts were still on the phone.

 

[yeah]

Don't worry, the encryption of the iPhone will keep you safe!

 

[norwegian wood]

Option #1 for the sure fire way to completely factory restore it. I bought a 4S from a girl a few weeks ago and she did the 'erase all contents and settings' and when I got home and activated it some of her pictures and email accounts were still on the phone.

Any risqué photos? Lol

 

[Gjwilly]

ok ive been told i have two ways of securely deleting my iphone 4s before i sell it

1.) go to itunes and do a restore to factory settings which ive been told takes 5 minutes

2.) go to settings> general> reset>erase all contents and settings which takes hours


what is the difference between the two? is #2 more secure than #1?

Neither method should take hours.
That's just flat out wrong.
If it is taking hours you've got something very very wrong.

As to the difference:
#2 leaves whatever iOS is currently on the device, on the device, and simply erases all files and settings returning the phone to out-of-the-box condition.

#1 does the same thing except that it goes the extra step of downloading the latest iOS from Apple's servers, deleting the existing iOS from the device, and replacing it with the downloaded version. If the latest iOS has been downloaded recently then it will skip the download and just use the recently downloaded version, provided that it is still the most current version.

#2 is therefore usually quicker and the end result is the same provided that the existing iOS isn't corrupted in some way.