So I've never bought a used apple device before, excuse me if this is a silly question.
The person that Is selling me the iPad will master reset the iPad in front of me and I will be able to connect it to iTunes, now the question is can he still track that device? He obviously will still have the serial number and I don't want him to report it stolen after I purchase it? Or how does that work? Any one have ides or has anyone gone through this process?
See if this helps
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201351
He should not be able to track it. Once he removes it from his iCloud it's gone. In doing that he tells APple 'yeah, not mine'
Not anymore. Apple used to have a webpage where you could track Activation Lock status based on the serial no., but it was so abused that it has been taken down. Once it has been signed off iCloud and hence the Find My iPad link broken, only way the original owner could do it is by re-signing on, on the device itself. Also, on another of his devices he should get into the master AppleID section on top of Settings, select the iPad in question and do a Remove from Account too. And as a last step before you start using, you should do a Settings / General / Reset / Erase All Contents and Settings. That will remove any tracking apps which do belong to his AppleID anyway.
A correctly restored iPad will be at the HELLO screen, waiting to be setup as it if were just taken out of the box after being bought from Apple.
Best thing to do, is if the iPad is not at the Hello screen ready to be setup by you, is to have him go into Settings->General->Reset->Erase All Content and Settings.
This will prompt for the Apple ID if one is still signed in to the device before erasing. It will remove the Apple ID and proceed to erase the device.
If it is at the Hello screen, run through the setup. After selecting a Wifi network it should ask you to sign in to an Apple ID, or request a specific one be entered.
If it requests a specific Apple ID, then the seller needs to enter his.
Otherwise you can sign in with yours normally and finish the setup.
More reading here:
What to do when buying second hand ipad - BehindtheWeb Blog
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.
He should sign out before, but when the Erase all Content and settings is activated, it will request the Apple ID and Password used for iCloud to sign him out (if still signed in) before the erase can proceed.
Without signing out the "Erase all contents and Settings" cannot start.
Hi
When you sell an iphone / ipad you need to go to iCloud turn off find my ipad
Then go to settings down to reset Restore ipad back to factory settings.
Then ipad is ready for new user.
Cheers
Brian 🇬-1F1E7;
Yes, he will erase and unlock it before I purchase it. Just don't want him to be able to see where I live or report it stolen later?
If he removes it from his iCloud he can't track it anymore. To track you need to have it linked to an iCloud account.
As to reporting it stolen, make him write you out a receipt.
Oh okay, I'm just paranoid. I know for a fact he is going to remove the iCloud. I know you can search for the serial number online, just thought you could also track it that way.
I know he has a couple of other devices with the same iCloud, at least that makes me feel better. I'll make sure he signs out and erases all content. Thanks for all the support on this silly topic.
I agree with all the answers here. If you've never owned an Apple product before, this may help with getting you started.
Does he sign out of iCloud before the master reset? Or does the reset automatically sign him out?
Best the seller signs out of iCloud BEFORE the final erase and reset.
Buying a used iPad
