How do I safely trade in my iPhone without losing AppleCare when signing out of iCloud?

Question

Level 1

8 points

How do I safely trade in my iPhone without losing AppleCare when signing out of iCloud?

Got a new phone yesterday, the first since the 14. On getting it ready for trade in I was concerned to note that iCloud sign out and phone erasure now automatically cancels AppleCare. For obvious reasons I had no intention of cancelling it until Apple confirmed safe receipt of the phone and I’m very unhappy at being forced to cancel it while I still have, it and with the best will in the world there is the potential for loss, theft or damage. What gives?!

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: iCloud Sign out and Apple Care cancellation

iPhone 17 Pro, iOS 26

Posted on Sep 20, 2025 1:42 PM

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Answer 1

Metsss

Level 1

8 points

Sep 20, 2025 2:29 PM in response to morpheme

Why Apple is insisting is Activation Lock / AppleCare / Subscriptions: If the device is tied to your Apple ID, Apple generally won’t accept it for trade-in until it’s completely removed from your account. That includes iCloud, Find My iPhone, and sometimes AppleCare+ coverage. This is for Fraud prevention...

But maybe,

Ask Apple to “flag” the trade-in

Time the cancellation

Confirm what exactly needs to be cancelled

or maybe escalate the support case, If frontline support is being rigid, ask for escalation. Trade-in and AppleCare overlap isn’t unusual, so a senior rep may give you clearer options.

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Answer 2

Metsss

Level 1

8 points

Sep 20, 2025 2:08 PM in response to morpheme

If you can't find your AppleCare plan - Apple Support

its linked to your apple account.

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Answer 3

morpheme Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 20, 2025 2:51 PM in response to Metsss

I’ll be calling them tomorrow as we no longer get routed to the US out of hours (another example of the deterioration in Apple’s customer service) but this must be a pretty recent thing as it’s the first time I’ve come across it.

Not great as I’m already narked about various things in ios26 and the new requirement to sign into Game Centre to use Arcade…

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Answer 4

morpheme Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 20, 2025 1:44 PM in response to morpheme

Should have said that the trade in is being done online so there is the potential for loss/theft in transit.

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Answer 5

morpheme Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 20, 2025 2:11 PM in response to Metsss

That’s not what I asked. Apple are insisting I cancel it prior to trade-in; I don’t want to cancel it until trade-in is complete.

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Answer 6

LD150

Level 10

101,129 points

Sep 20, 2025 3:04 PM in response to morpheme

I am not keen on turning off Find My and posting a device either, but that is the rule, so what gives, unfortunately, needs to be you.

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