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Trying to reset a second hand iphone

I purchased a second hand iphone 6 plus from an auction. I put my sim in but notice the previous owners stuff on there. I then took my sim out and I have tried to do a factory reset. I go to settings, general, erase all content and settings, a screen comes up saying documents and data are being uploaded to iCloud. You have options of clicking on “Finish uploading then erase, tried that one, didnt work. Tried the “erase now” then I click on “erase iphone” it lets me know all data will be erased, thats what I want so I click on “erase iphone again but it then comes up with “verification Failed, there was an error connecting to the Apple ID server. What is going on, it has not asked for a password or anything. What can I do to erase this other persons stuff or am I best off taking it to someone who would know a **** of a lot more than I do. I purchased it to take it overseas rather than taking my iphone 8 plus and having something happen to it.

Hope someone can help me. I have also found out when I first turned it on and after a few minutes the screen would not work and keep having to reset it. Have found out by googling that the 6 plus has a problem and that Apple are willing to repair at a cost. Should be a ruddy recall and done for free.

thanks, Lucy

Posted on Jan 27, 2019 11:06 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 27, 2019 11:27 PM

If the previous owners stuff was still on there is a chance his Apple ID is still registered to it. If he did not remove Find My Phone from it then at some stage you will need his apple password to do anything and the phone will become a brick. It could even be stolen property.

I am not going to suggest anything that may brick the phone early but make contact with the previous owner to make sure FInd my iPhone has been turned off. Then you can register it to yourself.


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2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 27, 2019 11:27 PM in response to locall99

If the previous owners stuff was still on there is a chance his Apple ID is still registered to it. If he did not remove Find My Phone from it then at some stage you will need his apple password to do anything and the phone will become a brick. It could even be stolen property.

I am not going to suggest anything that may brick the phone early but make contact with the previous owner to make sure FInd my iPhone has been turned off. Then you can register it to yourself.


Jan 27, 2019 11:28 PM in response to locall99

Hi locall99,


Thanks for using the  Apple Support Communities.


For your first question,


To erase the iPhone, please make sure the phone has connected to WiFi or cellular data.


Then tap Settings and tap General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. 

If the previous owner turned on Find My iPhone, you might need to enter his Apple ID and password to erase the device.

If you don't know the Apple ID and password, then this phone is locked with Find My iPhone Activation Lock -a feature that's designed to prevent anyone else from using your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Watch if it's ever lost or stolen.


In that case, you need to contact orginial owner asking him to disable find my iPhone feature from icloud.com or Find iPhone app. To learn how, check turn off Find My iPhone. Otherwise this phone is not able to reset.


To learn more about Activation Lock feature, check Find My iPhone Activation Lock.


For your second question,

There is no any recall program for iPhone 6 plus, Apple does provide a discounted repair program for the multi touch issue, please note this is not a defect issue, it caused by device being dropped multiple times on a hard surface and then incurring further stress on the device. To learn more about this program, please check https://www.apple.com/support/iphone6plus-multitouch/


Best Regards,


Juitse


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Resource for this issue

Find My iPhone Activation Lock

Multi-Touch Repair Program for iPhone 6 Plus - Apple Support

What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone


Trying to reset a second hand iphone

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