There’s a lot of value in your old iPhone. Here’s how to get it ready for someone else to use, and the best ways to sell it.
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new iPhone coming at Apple’s “California Streaming” event and that means two things: You want one and you need to sell your old one. If you buy your iPhone outright every year or two, you can usually recoup a good amount of the new cost by selling your old model every time you upgrade to a new one. Even if you’re in the iPhone Upgrade Program, you might have an older iPhone languishing in a drawer somewhere unused. Here’s what you need to know about selling or trading in your old iPhone for top dollar. PROMOTION Sell your phone, iPad, MacBook & more with Decluttr! Get an instant valuation, ship your items for FREE and Decluttr will pay you the day after your items arrive. Decluttr pays up to 33% more than carriers and will lock in your valuation for 28 days, giving you time to upgrade! Apple has a list of things to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your old iPhone. It’s a good list and you should check it out, but here’s our own advice for making sure you get the most value for a used iPhone: This probably goes without saying, but your iPhone’s condition plays a huge part in its value. So keep it in a case, use a screen protector, and generally try to keep it in great shape. If your phone shows some wear and tear, you’ll still be able to sell it, you’ll just get a little less. Also, holding onto the original box and including the charger (if it came with one) and cable also helps squeeze a little more value out of your sale. Before you get rid of your old iPhone, make sure all the data is backed up and ready to transfer to your new one. A backup to iCloud or iTunes is the most convenient way to sync all the data to your new iPhone. But because an iPhone backup is pretty self-contained, you may also want to separately make sure your photos are synced to Google Photos, iCloud Photos, or another cloud storage solution. Michael Simon/IDG If you have an Apple Watch, you should make sure it’s backed up so you can unpair it from your old iPhone and sync it with your new one. You can do this in the Watch app on the phone. IDG Sign out of your iCloud and iTunes accounts, too. This is a crucial step: If you erase your phone without signing out first, it will still have Activation Lock enabled and the buyer won’t be able to set it up! You should be prompted when you erase it (see below) but in case you’re not, here’s how to sign out: Head to the top of the Settings app. Just tap your Apple ID, then scroll to the bottom of the next screen and tap Sign Out. You’ll probably be asked to confirm your Apple ID and password. IDG Once you’re sure your iPhone is all backed up and ready to be fully erased, head to the Settings app and tap General > Reset (in iOS 15 and later the option says Transfer or Reset iPhone). The nuclear option here is Erase All Content and Settings; if you’re selling or giving away your phone, this is what you want to do. You may be prompted to turn off Find My iPhone and sign out of iCloud if you haven’t already—otherwise iOS’s Activation Lock will prevent the phone’s next owner from activating it.
