iPhone acquired through the family - what to do?

RainbowsInTheSpray

My other half has been given a fairly recent model iPhone by d-i-l who has upgraded.

With his current ancient iPhone 5, he has been having all kinds of trouble with Apple by way of continuous demands that he should 'log in to his Apple ID'. Forgotten passwords, lost email addresses, you name it. It seems that no amount of calls with Apple support has been able to fix matters. As a further problem, he is on a contract with O2 which is overpriced and unsatisfactory.

What we want to know is this: is it possible to port his current phone number both to the new phone and a new network? More than this, can he do so and NOT find himself back in problemland with Apple on account of them recognising the number? I.e. to free himself completely from his old situation, would he have to acquire a new phone number? As general media supplier, we are with Sky at the moment... I don't know if this could have any bearing.

TadleyBaggie

Just take the SIM card out of the old phone and put it in the new one, it's as simple as that. (Unless the new phone is locked to a different network, if it is then the network provider would need to unlock it).

Apple doesn't care what network the phone is on.

DE_612183

the phone number belongs to the sim card - not the phone - you don't need to port.

may be worthwhile backing up his current phone and then using the back-up to start off the new one - but that will involve logging into his iCloud account

RainbowsInTheSpray

Thanks. Can you tell me what all this nonsense with 'Apple ID verification' has been about, then? I've been on the periphery of this but at times it has seemed to me that, having sold this phone to him, Apple have wanted somehow to retain possession!!

jon81uk

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

Thanks. Can you tell me what all this nonsense with 'Apple ID verification' has been about, then? I've been on the periphery of this but at times it has seemed to me that, having sold this phone to him, Apple have wanted somehow to retain possession!!

The Apple ID has nothing to do with the phone number, that issue is completely irrelevant with you passing the phone to them.

If you are getting rid of the phone then make sure you go into settings and erase everything and reset it.
Sell or give away your iPhone – Apple Support (UK)
What to do before you sell, give away or trade in your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch – Apple Support (UK)

Then the new user puts their SIM card in (that contains their phone number) and sets up the phone as if its new.

If they have forgotton the email address used to set up their AppleID, it might be simpler for them to create a new one. They will lose anything purchased on iTunes and associated with the ID and anything stored in iCloud, but if those don't apply a new ID with a different email might be simplist.
The issue of not being able to sign into their Apple ID is unrelated to the new phone and the phone numbe.r

If they still want to try and get access this might help, but I'm guessing they tried it.
If you've forgotten your Apple ID email address or phone number – Apple Support (UK)