iPhone 7/Plus How to nuke an iPhone 7 that no longer can connect to the internet ? (RESOLVED)

[now i see it]

I have an iPhone 7 that finally went belly up and it can’t connect to the internet via Wi-Fi or cellular or to a personal hotspot.
This phone had connectivity problems in the past before it died (curse of the iPhone 7) and the battery is shot (phone completely discharges to zero when left off for two weeks). So its worthless.
GPS no longer works either.

I have an iPhone 8 to replace it, but I want to nuke reset this phone to remove it from the Find My iPhone network- but you can’t disable Find My iPhone if the phone can’t connect to the internet.

How do I get this POS iPhone completely out of my life forever?

Thanks for any tips!

 

[BugeyeSTI]

What do you plan on doing with it? Do you just want to erase it and recycle it? Maybe you can remotely erase the device using find my then remove it from your list

 

[Fred Zed]

Here’s a solution , just take precautions regarding toxic fumes and battery. Perhaps open and remove battery first.

 

[now i see it]

It’s going to trash or recycling.
If an iPhone can’t connect to the internet then it can’t be remotely erased via Find My.
I just want to completely erase it (haven’t tried to do that yet) and disable it from iCloud and Find My network - but not sure how to do that if it can’t connect to the internet.
Thanks

 

[I7guy]

Physically destroy the phone, send it to recycling and then remove the device from icloud.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

It’s going to trash or recycling.
If an iPhone can’t connect to the internet then it can’t be remotely erased via Find My.
I just want to completely erase it (haven’t tried to do that yet) and disable it from iCloud and Find My network - but not sure how to do that if it can’t connect to the internet.
Thanks

Can Apple remove find my considering you're the owner (unless you can't provide proof of purchase)? You can recycle it at an Apple store, maybe they can remove find my and erase the device when you turn it in.. With your presence to verify they erase it of course

 

[now i see it]

Ok - I removed it from my list of devices on iCloud.com with my Mac then proceeded to try to Erase All Content and Settings on the iPhone 7.

Guess what? You can’t reset an iPhone via Erase All Content and Settings if it can’t connect to the internet. I just tried. It asked me to sign in with my Apple ID but of course it can’t verify because it can’t connect to the internet.

So I guess this iPhone will have to be ground up into tiny pieces so it’s impossible to access it.

This seems like a lame way to do this. There’s no way I could sell this phone for parts. It has a new screen (mistake)

 

[ApfelKuchen]

You can restore iOS via your Mac (iTunes or Finder, depending on your macOS version). It will make an internet connection via the Mac.

 

[now i see it]

Well I finally got a cellular connection (after 30 minutes). It wasn’t the cell tower at fault since my other iPhone always had a cellular connection- it was this damn iPhone 7 taking its last gasp.

I quickly disabled Find My (after entering A-ID verification, then signed out of iCloud (after entering A-ID verification) then Reset all Content and Settings (after entering A-ID verification) and the iPhone finally got wiped to the factory setup screen.

That was close. I then turned it off, removed the SIM card and tossed that diseased thing in a drawer. Got lucky.
Man - iCloud sure makes things tough when you just want to leave and have a sick device.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Connecting to a Mac might have worked but I didn’t try it because I got a cell connection for a bit.

 

[ericwn]

You can restore iOS via your Mac (iTunes or Finder, depending on your macOS version). It will make an internet connection via the Mac.

Exactly that method should have fixed it as a fallback scenario.

 

[Bandaman]

Have you tried to do a DFU mode restore to see if it fixes the issue?