iPhone 17 Pro Tip for those on iUP - do NOT wipe your old phone until you've activated your new phone

[mikethebigo]

This is something I messed up last year, and just want to pass along this knowledge. With the iPhone Upgrade Program, if you do an in-store pickup of your new phone, you're required to trade in your old phone at the same time. Last year, I wiped my old phone on the way to the store, so that it'd be ready for trade in without hassle in the store.

Now that the phones are eSIM, the workflow for activating the new phone on your network (at least this was true with Verizon) is to turn the phone on, and then it will authenticate the eSIM transfer by sending a text message to your old phone. If that phone isn't operational and can't receive the text, you cannot activate your new phone without speaking to Verizon support.

While I understand the security aspect here, it is pretty annoying that this forces me to turn on and activate the new phone in-store, before I wipe and trade in the old phone. That means setting up my passcode/FaceID/etc etc in store, and I'll probably have to wait there until iCloud stuff is downloaded and set up. I'd rather do it at home - but it's not possible if I must trade in my old phone at the time of pickup.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Yeah made this mistake with my 15 Pro Max. Made life miserable for awhile. Thank you for your post.

 

[CG2382P]

Can't you just "set up as new" with no backup restore, go home, then wipe and restore your backup?

 

[mikethebigo]

Can't you just "set up as new" with no backup restore, go home, then wipe and restore your backup?

I suppose yes, though that still is a rather crappy experience to half set up the phone and then wipe it and start over at home.

 

[eyoungren]

I'm not on eSIM yet, but not having my old phone and my new phone side by side AT HOME to transfer my data is one of the (many) reasons I keep my phones and don't do trade-ins.

I really do not like being inconvenienced.

 

[mikethebigo]

I'm not on eSIM yet, but not having my old phone and my new phone side by side AT HOME to transfer my data is one of the (many) reasons I keep my phones and don't do trade-ins.

I really do not like being inconvenienced.

I understand the push for eSIM but it really is far more inconvenient.

 

[eyoungren]

I understand the push for eSIM but it really is far more inconvenient.

My current phone is an 11 Pro Max. There are a few reasons why I went with this model in 2021, a physical SIM being one of them. Over the last few years I've seen the number of issues reported here and in other places. One particular irritant I have seen that my own carrier does, is that if you lose your phone (that has an eSIM) and you need to identify yourself to the carrier, they will text your phone.

Now, how do you respond when you've lost your phone and that's the phone the carrier is texting to validate your identity?! The answer is to go into a store and present your ID. More inconvenience.

Also, it's only JUST recently where my carrier has made it so you can transfer an eSIM from one carrier phone to another. But you have to go through their app to do it. And their app is awful.

At the very least, I've learned just what I don't want to do when the time comes to have a phone with eSIM.

 

[mikethebigo]

My current phone is an 11 Pro Max. There are a few reasons why I went with this model in 2021, a physical SIM being one of them. Over the last few years I've seen the number of issues reported here and in other places. One particular irritant I have seen that my own carrier does, is that if you lose your phone (that has an eSIM) and you need to identify yourself to the carrier, they will text your phone.

Now, how do you respond when you've lost your phone and that's the phone the carrier is texting to validate your identity?! The answer is to go into a store and present your ID. More inconvenience.

Also, it's only JUST recently where my carrier has made it so you can transfer an eSIM from one carrier phone to another. But you have to go through their app to do it. And their app is awful.

At the very least, I've learned just what I don't want to do when the time comes to have a phone with eSIM.

Yep. It’s a way worse experience. In my opinion purposefully so to discourage people from switching carriers. The physical SIM allows for that convenient level of physical security where you can switch phones without needing to do extra authentication. But it’s going to be a thing of the past soon… Apple execs likened it to a floppy disk drive in an interview this week.

 

[joeshmo2010]

Can’t you tell them you just want to trade in the old phone via mail? I swear that’s how I’ve done it in the past.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

I'm not on eSIM yet, but not having my old phone and my new phone side by side AT HOME to transfer my data is one of the (many) reasons I keep my phones and don't do trade-ins.

I really do not like being inconvenienced.

IIRC you can do a trade-in deal and still keep your old phone to transfer data. Then bring or mail your old phone in for the trade credit later.

 

[eyoungren]

IIRC you can do a trade-in deal and still keep your old phone to transfer data. Then bring or mail your old phone in for the trade credit later.

I thought there might be, but I wasn't sure. But, there are other reasons I keep my phones, even if this one is mitigated.

 

[edubfromktown]

Great advice as some of my friends and colleagues have gotten burned by incomplete iCloud restores.

One lost most of her contacts and as a therapist, she had hundreds of them. The Apple store had already shipped her traded-in device so it was game over for recovering any more data.

I've always made local backups of my mobile phone every 1-2 months and before installing major updates.

I don't use an iPhone anymore but when I did (and for my wife's iPhone) this is the procedure that has worked flawlessly:

Obtain new device and arrange delayed trade-in for a few days.

Backup old device locally to a Mac.

Upgrade old device to latest iOS.

Back up old device again locally to a Mac.

Power up new device and upgrade to latest iOS (if not already running it). Transfer esim if applicable.

Either restore on new device from Mac backup or directly connected to old device.

Verify all is well with the restored data before wiping and trading in old device.

 

[mikethebigo]

IIRC you can do a trade-in deal and still keep your old phone to transfer data. Then bring or mail your old phone in for the trade credit later.

This is true for normal trade ins, but as far as I can tell it is not true for iPhone Upgrade Program. All research I've done online (and personal experience) shows that iUP requires you to do the trade in at time of pick up of the new phone.

 

[joeshmo2010]

Sigh… keep getting conflicting info on this. I guess I’ll just bring my work laptop with me on Friday and be prepared to sit there all day just in case. Last year I did iPhone to iPhone transfer via usb c cable and it took about 5 hours. What’s frustrating is the only reason I chose store pickup this time is because of the 9/25 glitch when the app went live.

 

[s2mike]

What’s frustrating is the only reason I chose store pickup this time is because of the 9/25 glitch when the app went live.

Same.

I’ve been with the iUP for many years now, and I always pick up in-store because the Apple Store is right down the street and I don’t want to risk missing the delivery.

Unfortunately, every year they demand that I wipe and return my old phone before I can leave with my new one… and, because of the eSIM thing, I have to come home and set up everything but the cellular plan. I always end up having to go to T-Mobile to set up my cell service because the confirmation texts go to the old phone, which has been wiped and in Apple’s possession.

This was the first year I was gonna do delivery for the sole purpose of not having to make an extra trip to T-Mobile, but the shipping date glitch on launch day caused me to arrange for yet another in-store pickup. Guess I’ll be hitting T-Mobile on Friday, as well. Frustrating.