Resetting iPhone before selling

[markel253]

I will be reserving my iPhone 4 to be picked up at the Apple Store on release day. I have already arranged to sell my 3G.

My question is this. Obviously I will be resetting the phone to factory settings before I sell it. Must this be done before my phone is deactivated (when I pick up my new one) or can I do it after?

Would I/should I remove the SIM from the old phone first, or do I need it in the phone when I connect it to iTunes? Will having the SIM in the phone cause it to be reactivated?

 

[PoitNarf]

Make sure you wipe the phone by chosing "Erase All Content and Settings" from the Reset menu. You can do this at any time. Remove the SIM card before sending it off to the buyer. The SIM card is useless once it is deactivated when your new iPhone is activated.

 

[-aggie-]

By "resetting" what do you mean? I wouldn't do the "erase all content" route, if that's what you mean. Just restore the phone, setup as new, and remove the sim.

^^^
Edit: I see we have differing opinions. Erase all is bad advice, IMO, since the buyer may have a hard time getting it to restore. I've seen it happen too much on here to count.

 

[millerb7]

I will be reserving my iPhone 4 to be picked up at the Apple Store on release day. I have already arranged to sell my 3G.

My question is this. Obviously I will be resetting the phone to factory settings before I sell it. Must this be done before my phone is deactivated (when I pick up my new one) or can I do it after?

Would I/should I remove the SIM from the old phone first, or do I need it in the phone when I connect it to iTunes? Will having the SIM in the phone cause it to be reactivated?

The SIM will reactivate the phone while it's in, but the second you pull it out, the phone is useless until another SIM goes in, and then the phone is activated on "that" SIM.

I just did this 3 phones I jailbroke/unlocked.... I erased all settings via general --> reset... then I put it into DFU mode and restored it via itunes (all with sim in, because once restore was complete i wanted to make sure I still had signal etc. and that I didn't screw anything up. I then jailbroke/unlocked again.

anyways, i don't think it technically matters if this is done before or after, if it was me, I'd do it the day before or the day of picking up my new phone.... just me though.

 

[markel253]

Thanks!

 

[PoitNarf]

By "resetting" what do you mean? I wouldn't do the "erase all content" route, if that's what you mean. Just restore the phone, setup as new, and remove the sim.

^^^
Edit: I see we have differing opinions. Erase all is bad advice, IMO, since the buyer may have a hard time getting it to restore. I've seen it happen too much on here to count.

You should never sell any electronic device without first making sure any and all personal data is wiped from the device.

 

[substeel]

Why remove the SIM before selling?

My understanding was that nothing is stored on the SIM card for the iPhone is that not true? I have sold two iphones after restoring in iTunes (wiping the phone) and selling with the SIM card.

Now when someone goes to activate the phone with ATT will they always be given a new SIM card anyway? Is there no reason to send the SIM with the phone and I am just taking an unnecessary risk of personal data?

 

[-aggie-]

You should never sell any electronic device without first making sure any and all personal data is wiped from the device.

A restore does that.

 

[PoitNarf]

A restore does that.

No, it does not. It doesn't securely wipe the entire device. While true that most people would be unable to retrieve data from the iPhone after a restore of the OS has been performed, there are a handful of very skilled people out there that can get the data off. Only sure way to prevent potential data/identity theft is to securely wipe the iPhone.

 

[PoitNarf]

My understanding was that nothing is stored on the SIM card for the iPhone is that not true? I have sold two iphones after restoring in iTunes (wiping the phone) and selling with the SIM card.

Now when someone goes to activate the phone with ATT will they always be given a new SIM card anyway? Is there no reason to send the SIM with the phone and I am just taking an unnecessary risk of personal data?

Yes, the new owner of the iPhone will need to obtain a new SIM. AT&T will not reactivate the old SIM.

 

[DotCom2]

No, it does not. It doesn't securely wipe the entire device. While true that most people would be unable to retrieve data from the iPhone after a restore of the OS has been performed, there are a handful of very skilled people out there that can get the data off. Only sure way to prevent potential data/identity theft is to securely wipe the iPhone.

How do you "securely wipe" the iPhone please?
EDIT: NM I read above.

 

[SAD*FACED*CLOWN]

How do you "securely wipe" the iPhone please?
EDIT: NM I read above.

Settings> reset> erase all content and settings

 

[wrkactjob]

Settings> reset> erase all content and settings

really? Lol!

 

[wez99950]

Hi, instead of starting a new thread i said i'd post in here instead! I'm hoping to sell my iphone and am meeting someone tomorrow who wants to have a look before they buy.
To wipe the iphone, am i correct in saying that all i do is plug in my iphone into itunes, click restore and let it restore to factory settings? Is that all i have to do?
I'm sorry if this is a silly question, but i want to do it right and not have to post here with a problem i encountered!
Will the iphone start synching automatically to my itunes once it has been restored? Must i do something to stop my info from going back on it?
One last question - i got the iphone unlocked by o2 so when i take out my sim (once it's been restored to factory settings) when i meet the person in the morning, are they able to put in their sim to see if it is working or do they have to connect to itunes with their sim in it?

Thank you to anyone who can advise me on this!

 

[gloss]

really? Lol!

yes. really.

 

[DotCom2]

OK now I am confused again! (easy for me)
What is the BEST way to completely and securely wipe an Iphone for selling?
Restore All Settings from within the device
OR
Restore to New in iTunes???

 

[nlr]

I would do both to make sure and I would restore first.

 

[DotCom2]

I would do both to make sure and I would restore first.

I guess you're right.
Better safe than sorry!

 

[-aggie-]

No, it does not. It doesn't securely wipe the entire device. While true that most people would be unable to retrieve data from the iPhone after a restore of the OS has been performed, there are a handful of very skilled people out there that can get the data off. Only sure way to prevent potential data/identity theft is to securely wipe the iPhone.

I totally realize that, but if you propose an erase all you for security you don't really need, you'd better tell people to at least restore it as new after that "erase all" before selling it. I'd be quite pissed if someone sold me one with erase all and when I tried to restore it, it wouldn't.

 

[markel253]

I totally realize that, but if you propose an erase all you for security you don't really need, you'd better tell people to at least restore it as new after that "erase all" before selling it. I'd be quite pissed if someone sold me one with erase all and when I tried to restore it, it wouldn't.

So are you saying that after a "ERASE ALL", the person who buys it from you cannot simply get a new SIM and connect to iTunes and have the phone set itself up?

 

[wez99950]

so i did a reset from the iphone and 'erase all content and settings'. this only took a few seconds (is that normal? i heard it can take up to 2 hours) and then it showed me connect to itunes sign and told me to enter in a valid sim to unlock and connect to itunes (or something like that).

Does that all sound correct? i'm giving the iphone to the buyer tomorrow morning so want to be sure that i erased my data.

I had it unlocked by o2, that unlocking will remain after erasing all contents and settings - is that correct?

Thanks again for the advice, just want this sale to go as smoothly as possible.

 

[jashsayani]

I would do both to make sure and I would restore first.

Yeah, I will do both too.

People found that data can be retrieved using SSH after erasing the iPhone.

 

[wez99950]

Yeah, I will do both too.

People found that data can be retrieved using SSH after erasing the iPhone.

i didn't do a restore from itunes, i just did erase all content and settings - is that still ok?

i'm worried that people are saying that this usually takes a few hours - it literally took 10 seconds on mine and then i got the 'connect to itunes' enter in valid sim etc. etc. i didn't have it plugged into a charger but i did stick it in within those 10 seconds. I'm afraid my data is still on the phone
Help!

 

[PoitNarf]

i didn't do a restore from itunes, i just did erase all content and settings - is that still ok?

i'm worried that people are saying that this usually takes a few hours - it literally took 10 seconds on mine and then i got the 'connect to itunes' enter in valid sim etc. etc. i didn't have it plugged into a charger but i did stick it in within those 10 seconds. I'm afraid my data is still on the phone
Help!

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2110

If you look at the chart there, it shows that the 3GS (I'm assuming that's what you've got) does not overwrite the data with 1s and instead removes the data encryption key. This is a very quick procedure compared to the secure wipe on the 3G and original iPhone which have to overwrite the flash memory with 1s.

 

[Hellishness]

The SIM will reactivate the phone while it's in, but the second you pull it out, the phone is useless until another SIM goes in, and then the phone is activated on "that" SIM.

I just did this 3 phones I jailbroke/unlocked.... I erased all settings via general --> reset... then I put it into DFU mode and restored it via itunes (all with sim in, because once restore was complete i wanted to make sure I still had signal etc. and that I didn't screw anything up. I then jailbroke/unlocked again.

anyways, i don't think it technically matters if this is done before or after, if it was me, I'd do it the day before or the day of picking up my new phone.... just me though.

How do you do this without upgrading to 3.1.3 which as i understand is not unlockable? I want to completely wipe my jb/unlocked iPhone 3g on tmobile before selling it...