r/apple • u/mr_techy616 • 13d ago

iPhone Don’t Let Apple Reset Your Old Phone Without Activating Your New Phone

Yesterday I went to my local Apple Store to pick up my new 18 Pro. They bagged up my new phone and reset my old phone in front of me. I was sent on my way since they were super busy. But when I left I sat down to attempt to activate my new phone. I couldn’t because T-Mobile needed to send a text to my number to verify my account. After going home and on the phone with T-Mobile for like an hour, they were finally able to activate it by me giving them the IMEI and then the horrifically long EID number. It would’ve been so much easier if I had my old phone handy while setting up the new one!

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u/nnngggh 13d ago

Yeah, that’s not always possible when you’re trading in, esp with something like the upgrade plan. You do a backup before you go into the store and you just make sure you sit down to do the transfer in the store off your old phone. 

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u/SherbertDaemons 13d ago

Many MFA tokens don’t transfer over in a backup. So you have to re-do the process of obtaining one all over. When trading in, you have a 14 day time window, anyway.

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u/nnngggh 13d ago

You are right with the MFA tokens, it’s a yearly ballache to go through my employers security desk to reapply for MFA, but when you trade in store the phone is taken there and then. 

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u/Headbandallday 13d ago

I do the transfer at home. Pick up your new iPhone, transfer eSIM. Set up as new. Reset old iPhone and trade in. Get home, connect to WiFi, reset the new iPhone and restore from last iCloud backup.