Question regarding an old device that was gifted

Hello, I recently bought a new iphone. I kept my old iphone and a new number was added to it. I gifted the phone to my nephew. He is also added to my Apple family plan. I notice that my old iphone is still listed in my device info. Can I remove it from my account without causing any disruption to his phone? Also, I created the child apple account for him as well, so I don't know if that will make things more complicated. Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks so much!

iPhone 13 Pro Max, iOS 18

Posted on Sep 29, 2025 10:44 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 29, 2025 12:09 PM

Did you not sign out of your Apple Account on the iPhone before you gifted it to your nephew?

If its still listed ion your devices, then its still linked to your account. Which should not have happened.


If you did not, he'd still need to ease it and set it up again, before he can use it as his own.


The child Apple account should not affect it.


click here ➜ What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support


6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 29, 2025 12:09 PM in response to heatherina83

Did you not sign out of your Apple Account on the iPhone before you gifted it to your nephew?

If its still listed ion your devices, then its still linked to your account. Which should not have happened.


If you did not, he'd still need to ease it and set it up again, before he can use it as his own.


The child Apple account should not affect it.


click here ➜ What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support


Sep 29, 2025 5:04 PM in response to heatherina83

If there is enough iCloud storage, have him back it up to iCloud first and then erase it.


Archive or make copies of the information you store in iCloud - Apple Support


Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support


I would hope that restoring from an iCloud backup would not just put your name on the device again.


You don't say what kind of preparation you did for a new owner. While I think that entirely resetting as the earlier cited article describes is good advice in normal situations, in this particular situation you may be able to get away with simply removing the device from your Find My so he can enter his account in that feature. You can remove it either on your former device yourself, or remotely.


Turn off Find My on your devices and items - Apple Support


What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

If you no longer have your iPhone or iPad

If you're using iCloud and Find My [device] on the device, sign in to https://icloud.com/find or the Find My app on another device, select the device, and click Erase. After the device has been erased, click Remove from Account


For him: How to turn on Find My on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac - Apple Support


Note that if you do not remove it from your list of devices there isn't any real harm other than it will never be 100% his. There could be situations where leaving a different person signed in might have advantages if the new owner is a very young child and you want to have ultimate control over the device.





Sep 30, 2025 8:42 AM in response to heatherina83

The phone line has nothing to doing with that.


If it was using a SIM card, you should have removed it. If it was using an eSim it should have been deleted when you reset the phone.


If steps were correctly followed, then it should not appear there at all. I think you missed a step somewhere.


If you go into the Find My app, can it still pin-point its location?


Sep 30, 2025 8:12 AM in response to Limnos

Hi, thank you for your response. I reset my old phone before I gave it to him. So no ID was signed in when I gave it to him. The only connection at that point is that phone line is under my cell phone plan. I did invite his line to be apart of the family apple subscription. He did not have an Apple ID at that time, so I created a child account on my phone and gave him the info and after that he was able to join the plan. I just noticed that my old iphone is showing up on my devices. If I remove it from my devices, will it erase his account or disrupt it in anyway?


[Edited by Moderator]

Sep 30, 2025 9:06 AM in response to Phil0124

I think you're right about missing a step! I thought I followed it correctly, but clearly I did something wrong..ugh! I just checked find my iphone and it pops up as Josh (my nephew)'s device, not my name. It only shows up in my settings under the devices. So maybe I can delete and nothing will happen? I will wait until I get home and give them a heads up before I do anything. Thank you for your help!

Question regarding an old device that was gifted

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