Over the next few months, millions of iPhone users are going to be upgrading to the iPhone 14. And as part of that upgrade, they will be wiping their previous iPhones ready for resale or passing on to a family member.

If you're going to be one of those people, read on.

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You don't want to mess up this transfer, because not only could you lose data, but the next person could end up being unable to use the iPhone you sold or gave them. Follow these steps for a successful result for both of you.

1. Update

Before you even think about wiping your old iPhone, there are some things that you should do. I'm going to assume that you're selling an iPhone that's still being supported and is capable of running iOS 15.

These are the iPhones that can run iOS 15:

• iPhone 13 / 13 Mini / 13 Pro / 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 12 / 12 Mini / 12 Pro / 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 11 / 11 Pro / 11 Pro Max
• iPhone XS / XS Max
• iPhone XR
• iPhone X
• iPhone 8 / 8 Plus
• iPhone 7 / 7 Plus
• iPhone 6s / 6s Plus
• iPhone SE (1st generation)
• iPhone SE (2nd generation)

If your iPhone is one of these and is not running the latest version of iOS 15, then I recommend upgrading to the latest release to get the best experience.

2. Look out for apps that need additional handholding during a transfer

Next, some apps -- specifically banking apps in my experience -- prefer it if you deactivate or deauthorize them on the old iPhone before moving to a new handset. 

read this

Want a new iPhone or Android smartphone?

Here's how and where to sell or trade your current model.

It's not that you can't still get the service to work, but you may have to jump through more hoops to make that happen.

I'd definitely check any banking and financial apps for any special process involved in moving them to a new handset and take care of that up front.

Also: The 5 best payment apps (Venmo isn't your only option)

3. Protect your data

Next up, I want you to think about your data. How upset would you be if you lost your notes, photos, texts or other data that's on your iPhone?

Think about that for a moment. Because it's very easy to be blas