Is it necessary to have an internet connection when completing this process? I will be giving away my phone immediately upon arriving in a new country and would like to handle this while in the air but not before knowing my flight is leaving on schedule, etc. I'm not sure if I'll have Internet on the way, but the recipient will be waiting in the airport on the other end.
iPhone 4S, iOS 9.0.1
Hey roseNoz,
Thanks for the question. If I understand correctly, you are giving away the iPhone and you want to know if you need internet before doing that. I would recommend that you read this article, it may be able to help the issue.
What to do before selling or giving away your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
- If you paired an Apple Watch with your iPhone, unpair your Apple Watch.
- Back up your iOS device.
- Tap Settings > iCloud. Scroll down and tap Sign Out. In iOS 7 or earlier, tap Delete Account.
- Tap Sign Out again, then tap Delete from My iPhone and enter your password.
- Go back to Settings and tap General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. If you turned on Find My iPhone, you might need to enter your Apple ID and password.
- If asked for your device passcode or Restrictions passcode, enter it. Then tap Erase [device].
- Contact your carrier for help transferring service to a new owner. If you aren't using a SIM card with your device, you can contact them to get help transferring service to the new owner.
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Have a good one
Thank you, mario49! Actually, I read this article before posting my question. Also, on a related note, I intend to have the phone data backed up in iTunes prior to boarding the plane and losing internet.
But unfortunately, this doesn't answer my specific question. Clearly, by not being online...I will be at least temporarily disengaged from my iCloud account. When I click "sign-out" (at any point....online or not) is the resulting action merely local (my phone erases a cookie or something like that) or does it require an internet connection? If the results are merely local and "sign-out" does not need to transfer any data back to my iCloud account then I shouldn't need the connection, right? This assumption is what I am trying to verify.
While I could always hand over the phone and head to the nearest wi-fi spot to erase my data through iCloud, that doesn't seem ideal on many levels. Because I do trust the recipient (my mother-in-law), is this approach worthy of consideration as "Plan B?"
Thank you for using the Apple Support Community. Due to the nature of your question you may find more information by using another one of Apple's support resources - https://expresslane.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action
Is an internet connection necessary?
