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Selling iPhone - need guidance

Tyler23

Tyler23

macrumors 603
Original poster
Dec 2, 2010
5,664
159
Atlanta, GA
Hi everyone, just two quick questions about selling an iPhone 5 running iOS 7.

1) For wiping the phone (and turning off activation lock), what do I need to do? Do I just turn off Find My iPhone, log out of all accounts, and erase all contents and settings? (Might not be able to stop home first to restore the phone).

2) It's a Verizon phone - what would I need to do to disassociate the phone with my account. Just take out the SIM card? And then put it in my new phone?

Thanks all in advance for the help! I've done some searching but in a hurry and can't find the exact answers. :D
 
Tyler23 said:
Hi everyone, just two quick questions about selling an iPhone 5 running iOS 7.

1) For wiping the phone (and turning off activation lock), what do I need to do? Do I just turn off Find My iPhone, log out of all accounts, and erase all contents and settings? (Might not be able to stop home first to restore the phone).

2) It's a Verizon phone - what would I need to do to disassociate the phone with my account. Just take out the SIM card? And then put it in my new phone?

Thanks all in advance for the help! I've done some searching but in a hurry and can't find the exact answers. :D
Click to expand...

To wipe the phone, all you need to do is erase all contents and settings. That's it. That will turn off FmI, and log out of all your accounts. It's a factory reset, in essence.

Yep - take out the sim card, and pop it in your new phone. If that doesn't work 100%, call verizon, they'll sort you out!.
 
Correct on #1. Technically, Find My iPhone and activation lock are turned off when you erase all content and settings (now requires you to enter Apple ID), but I make it a habit of manually unlinking all Apple accounts (including iMessage, FaceTime, etc.) before erasing. There have been bugs of them still linking in the past in older iOS and there's always the risk of re-introducing those bugs each time we get a new iOS version/update.

Always keep your SIM card when selling the iPhone.
 
spyguy10709 said:
To wipe the phone, all you need to do is erase all contents and settings. That's it. That will turn off FmI, and log out of all your accounts. It's a factory reset, in essence.

Yep - take out the sim card, and pop it in your new phone. If that doesn't work 100%, call verizon, they'll sort you out!.
Click to expand...

JayLenochiniMac said:
Correct on #1. Technically, Find My iPhone and activation lock are turned off when you erase all content and settings (now requires you to enter Apple ID), but I make it a habit of manually unlinking all Apple accounts (including iMessage, FaceTime, etc.) before erasing. There have been bugs of them still linking in the past in older iOS and there's always the risk of re-introducing those bugs each time we get a new iOS version/update.

Always keep your SIM card when selling the iPhone.
Click to expand...

Thanks to both of you for your help. One last question.

Should I remove the SIM before erasing all content and settings or after? Does it matter?
 
You might also want to look at what apps you use and if any registered the phone with them (Audible for example), unregister/de-activate your phone with that app to make it easier to activate a future device.
 
nparmelee said:
You might also want to look at what apps you use and if any registered the phone with them (Audible for example), unregister/de-activate your phone with that app to make it easier to activate a future device.
Click to expand...

Hmm, well I don't have Audible, and as far as I know no other apps are set up like that. Never had an issue with selling my 4S and moving to the 5.

Thanks everyone that's responded so far for your advice. Sounds like it should be pretty simple!
 
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