How To Prepare An Iphone For Trade In

Who else but users of Apple products know how important it is to properly prepare an iPhone for resale. This line of smartphones has many nuances related to the personal data of the owner, so you just need to carry out a full check, transfer and cleaning of your iPhone. If you decide to sell your smartphone, but do not know where to start and how to be sure that all information about you will not be transferred to third parties, then this article will be extremely useful to you.

Many are anxiously awaiting the release of a new iPhone, but what to do with an old phone? Obviously, it needs to be sold, because leaving it gathering dust on the shelf is blasphemy. In addition, there are many who want to buy an iPhone, and some service centers are even willing to pay for a non-working gadget that will be disassembled into parts for repairing other iPhones. Time to figure out how to prepare your smartphone for sale in a few steps.

Stage 1: testing the iPhone for performance

iphone on box

Make sure your iPhone is fully functional. The main thing in selling a smartphone is to correctly set a price for it, depending on its condition, performance and possible shortcomings. If you want to avoid unpleasant moments with buyers, we recommend preparing a small text with the characteristics of the iPhone, which will indicate: how many years you have used it, the reason for the sale, which functions do not work or may work intermittently, or vice versa - what works perfectly.

Do not forget to mention what you fixed on your phone and if it got wet. It will be easier, first, for you if you specify the price for a smartphone a little lower than then receive angry calls and SMS from dissatisfied customers who have not been notified of this or that breakdown.

Stage 2: disable blocking

Before selling an iPhone, we strongly recommend that you completely clear all set passwords, faces and locks. This can be done very simply.

Touch ID: Unlock your iPhone and go to "Settings" - click on the line "Touch ID and password" - delete your fingerprints - select the function "disable password";
Face ID: Go to "Settings" - find the line "Face ID and password" - select "Reset Face ID".
iMessage: go to "Settings" - select "Message" and send / receive - click on the line of your Apple ID account and select "sign out" - the switch must be turned off. This will help avoid any misunderstandings with the future owner of your iPhone.

Such simple actions will help the new owner not to get into an awkward position. He can easily add his fingerprint, face and passwords, which will help to use the gadget without any problems.

Stage 3: disable eSIM

Quite often, users decide to connect an electronic eSIM card to their iPhone. In this case, before selling the iPhone, it must be unlocked and the card removed. To do this, you will have to contact your cellular operator. For self-withdrawal of the card, you need to go to the "Settings" section and select "Cellular". Thus, the eSIM can be checked and removed.

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Stage 4: Disconnect Apple Watch

It would seem, well, what can happen if you don't disconnect your Apple Watch from your iPhone? However, without such a simple action, the future owner will not be able to connect his Apple Watch to the purchased gadget. In addition, all your data will remain in the memory of an already sold device, which means it will not be safe even when you have deleted everything on your iPhone.

To turn off Apple Watch, you need to unlock your smartphone - go to the "Watch" application - select "My Watch" and find the "Information" line. Next, in the "Disconnect Apple Watch" tab, click "Unpair". Confirm with Apple ID. That's all, after this, your watch will become inaccessible to the iPhone. You can upload an existing backup via your Apple ID password on your new device.

apple watch on hand

Step 5: Back Up iPhone

Before you completely clean all the data and applications on the iPhone that you want to sell, you need to take care of transferring important data and passwords to a safe place. This is an easy way, thanks to which it will be possible to use information and saved passwords already on a new device.

To manually start an iCloud backup, you need to:

Unlock your smartphone and go to "Settings";
Select "Apple ID", which can be found at the top of the screen;
Select "iCloud" and activate the backup of the gadget;
Click the "Back up now" button

To start a backup with iTunes on your computer, you need:

Connect iPhone to laptop or PC using Lightning cable;
Unlock iPhone and confirm pairing;
Open iTunes on your laptop and click on the "iPhone" item from the menu;
Click on the checkbox under "Encrypt backup" and set a password;
Select "Make a backup" and confirm the actions

Stage 6: Sign Out of iCloud Account

Even if you are going to completely delete all kinds of data, passwords and applications, it is still recommended signing out of your iCloud account. So you can sleep in peace knowing that no one can access your data, photos, keys and more. To sign out of your account you need to: unlock your iPhone - go to the "Settings" menu and click "iCloud" - scroll down the list, and at the end there will be a line "Sign out".

Step 7: check the Find My iPhone setting

find iphone

Make sure Find My iPhone is disabled, or disable it. This is done so that you do not have any questions from the new owner who is tired of this function. In theory, it should be synced with your iCloud account, and when you sign out, everything is deleted. But, there are times when the data is still saved. To be sure that everything is disabled, you need to go to the iCloud website and enter your data. After that, open "All devices" and remove the unnecessary function.

Step 8: Reset iPhone settings to factory defaults

The finish line is already close, after which it will be possible to safely sell your iPhone. After completing all the above points, you need to do one thing - reset the iPhone to factory settings so that all the data that remains is definitely deleted. To do this, you must:

Unlock your smartphone and open the "Settings" menu;
Go to the "General Settings" item and look for the "Reset" item;
Select "Clear data" and confirm your actions by entering a password;
Click "Erase iPhone" again and repeat the confirmation actions;
Click the "Erase" button and wait for everything to be deleted.

Step 9: clean your iPhone thoroughly

The appearance of the phone is the first thing to notice. Therefore, it is important to present the iPhone in a presentable manner. To do this, thoroughly wipe the screen, glass, and charging port with a cotton swab or cotton pad. You can do the cleaning either yourself at home or by contacting a service center.

Stage 10: collect add-ons for the iPhone

If you want to completely get rid of unnecessary accessories, cables and cases, then they can be included in the package for the iPhone sold. Thus, you will be able to sell your smartphone more profitably, getting rid of the lying bumpers, protective glasses and so on.

Now your iPhone is completely ready for sale, so all that remains is to find buyers. If you followed all the recommendations from this article, then rest assured that you will find a buyer very soon.

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