All iPhone owners issued official warning over costly mistake – everyone must check their Apple phones

APPLE users have been warned to avoid a costly mistake when selling or giving away their iPhones.

If you are upgrading to a newer iPhone model, you need to make sure you prepare your old device the right way.

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That is, if you’re planning to trade in, sell, or give away your phone, you need to make sure you clear all of your data first.

WHY DO I NEED TO DO THIS?

It’s important that you remove your personal information from your phone because you don’t want it to fall into the wrong hands.

Bad actors can do a lot with your personal data, including accessing your iCloud account – and maybe even your Apple Pay information.

Apple recommends that users first transfer information to their new device, then, if applicable, remove their personal information from their old device.

“You shouldn’t manually delete your contacts, calendars, reminders, documents, photos, or any other iCloud information while you’re signed in to iCloud with your Apple ID,” Apple noted.

“This would delete your content from the iCloud servers and any of your devices signed in to iCloud,” the tech giant added.

Users can back up their data onto iCloud or their desktops by heading into their settings.

HOW TO CLEAR YOUR DATA

Now that your data is secure, you can clear your iPhone of all your sensitive information.

Head into your device’s Settings > click on General > scroll to the bottom and tap on Transfer or Reset iPhone.

From there, locate and tap on Erase all Content and Settings.

Your phone should be in factory settings now and ready for selling or trading in.

This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk