Erasing your old device before letting it go
A Mac or iPhone leaving for resale, as a gift or for recycling takes your mail, your saved passwords and your photos with it — unless the erasure is done properly. It does not take long, but there is an order.
What is actually going on
Emptying the trash and deleting folders is not enough. The device must be unlinked from your Apple ID, location turned off, and only then erased of content and settings. On recent Macs the disk is encrypted, so erasure genuinely makes the data unreadable.
The step everyone forgets is unlinking the account. A device sold while still tied to your Apple ID is useless to the buyer — and you will get their call.
What we do
- Back up firstNothing is erased before everything has been recovered and checked on your new machine.
- Unlink the Apple accountLocation off, device removed from your list, activation lock lifted.
- Erase securelyContent and settings reset, the system reinstalled cleanly for the next owner.
- Take the device back if you preferWe take back working hardware; it leaves again checked and erased, among our second-hand machines.
Before we arrive
What helps
- Gather the accessories and the charger if the device is going for resale.
- Check that your data really is on the new device before erasing the old one.
What is better avoided
- Giving away a Mac “after just deleting the folders” — everything remains recoverable.
- Erasing before unlinking the account: the device locks itself and becomes unsellable.
Your questions
Do you take back old devices?
Yes, when they still work. They are checked, erased by us, then offered among our second-hand machines — a second life rather than a drawer.
Is the erasure genuinely permanent?
On recent Macs and iPhones, yes: the disk is encrypted and erasure destroys the key. The data becomes unreadable, including to a laboratory.
This topic is part of I have a new device to set up. The main page gathers the neighbouring cases and the full process.
See the main pageWe call you back
Leave your number. We call back within the hour during opening hours — otherwise, as soon as we reopen.