Take care when trading up to the new iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro smartphones.
When Apple announces the new iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro range of smartphones during Tuesday’s Wonderlust event, Apple aficionados will likely have pre-ordering the latest iPhone uppermost in their thoughts. Trading in, or selling on, an existing iPhone will also be front and center for many people looking at reducing the cost of that new iPhone 15 series purchase. But, when trading up, it’s vital not to let excitement take precedence over circumspection, especially when price, privacy and security are involved.
Let’s get the financial stuff out of the way first. Trading in at the Apple Store (online or off) is undoubtedly one of the most straightforward ways of moving your old iPhone on, but it’s unlikely to be the most profitable option. While Apple has improved trade-in prices over recent years, a little searching online will almost always find you a better deal. I made an exception to this rule when I traded up my Galaxy Z Fold 3 for the new Z Flip 5, however, as Samsung had some incredible prices during pre-launch ordering. Apple is not known for such generosity, and although I’d gladly be proved wrong, I doubt I will this time.
OK, so that’s the money stuff out of the way, which leaves matters of trade-in privacy and security. Whether you are trading up or selling on your existing iPhone, there are several steps you need to take to ensure your data isn’t included in the transaction. Luckily, these are all straightforward enough, but they do need to be executed in the correct order, so pay attention.
Go to settings, click on your name at the top, then iCloud|iCloud Backup|Back Up Now.
Backup your iPhone before trading it in.
Open the Watch app on your iPhone and select All Watches, then tap the info button. This will allow you to unpair, which you should do now to make pairing it with your new device problem-free. The act of unpairing will create a backup that can then be automagically reinstalled when you set up your new iPhone 15.
Unpair your Apple Watch before trading in your iPhone.
From the same entry point of clicking your name in the settings, head for Find My and then toggle the Find My iPhone setting to off. This should happen automatically when you reach the final step of erasing your device. Still, I’m paranoid and like to get it done early to be absolutely sure to prevent any activation issues for the new owner.
Disable Find My or the new owner won’t be able to activate their iPhone.
To sign out of iCloud, go to settings and tap on your name. Scroll right down to the bottom of the screen and select the Sign Out option. If this is greyed out, with a message saying sign-out is not available due to restrictions, you’ll likely have Screen Time enabled. This is sometimes done as a security measure as it prevents a thief from being able to change your Apple ID password. If so, go to the Screen Time settings and turn it off.
First, a proviso: if you are trading in at an Apple Store, don’t complete the erase all content step. Instead, take the iPhone to the store, and they will walk you through what needs to be done once the trade-in for the new iPhone 15 has been completed.
For everyone else, though, including those trading in via the Apple Store online, head to Settings|General|Transfer or Reset iPhone|Erase All Content and Settings. If you are using an iPhone with an eSIM, then you’ll need to choose the option that erases your eSIM profile when asked to do so. If you are using a physical SIM card, then remember to remove it from your iPhone!
The final, and most important, step: be sure before you click.
And finally, go to any other Apple device and remove your old iPhone from the list of trusted devices.
Don’t delete your data, such as contacts, documents, photos and so on, manually while you are signed into iCloud with your Apple ID. Ask me how I know. A family member did just this and was very disappointed (understatement of the year) when I had to inform them that content was gone for good from the iCloud servers and their iPad, which was also signed in at the time.
There are plenty of third-party services that offer to securely wipe your iPhone before selling it or trading it in. In all seriousness, these really aren’t necessary as the process outlined above is perfectly secure enough and perfectly easy enough. And it’s free. The data on your iPhone is encrypted by default, and when you erase all content and settings, that includes the encryption keys, which are stored on the device itself.
There are lots of how-to guides out there that will tell you to deregister iMessage before trading your iPhone in, or you won’t be able to receive SMS or MMS messages on your new phone. This doesn’t apply if you are trading up to a new iPhone, only if you are switching to an Android phone.

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