Old phone still works after activating new phone

[rckraus1]

I upgraded my existing iPhone 11 to a new iPhone 16 Pro. I went through the Quick Start process, which took several tries (turning off phones and restarting the transfer). Everything seemed to go fine - the new phone makes and receives calls and texts, my photos and texts transferred, my apps transferred and work, etc.

The issue is that my old phone still works. When someone calls, it comes in on both phones. The same with texts - I get the text on both the old and new phone.

I need to return the old phone for a trade-in, which involves erasing data, etc. I'm concerned that 

[vzw_customer_support · Accepted solution]

A factory data reset on the old phone will not effect the new phone. 

-Natasha

[rckraus1]

I was kicked out of the system before finishing the question.

I

[rckraus1]

Kicked out again --

My concern is that going through the process of erasing data, system reset, etc. and steps to prepare the return may affect the new phone since it's still active on the same line.

Am I OK to do the steps needed to get the old phone ready to send back as a trade-in?

Thanks

Sorry for needing to ask my question in several messages.

[vzw_customer_support]

Hey there, rckraus1, glad to hear you were able to get your new phone activated and you'll be able to trade-in your previous phone for credits! When you sign in to your my Verizon account, does it show the new 16 Pro is the phone associated with your number?

-Lauren

[rckraus1]

Yes. The account page shows the new 16 Pro as the phone associated with the right phone number.

I just want to make sure that doing the factory reset before sending the 11 Pro back for trade-in won't cause problems since the two phones are somehow connected to each other.

[vzw_customer_support]

Great question, rckraus1. Once you activate your new phone, you should turn off the previous device. Yes, you can and should complete a factory data reset on the previous device you have to send in for your trade in promotion and more importantly, if you have Find My iPhone turned on in your previous phone, turn it off as this will cause issues with you receiving your promotion if it is left on. 

-Natasha

[rckraus1]

My question is different. I understand what needs to be done to prepare the old phone for trade-in. Since the old iPhone is still receiving calls and texts - and the new iPhone is also receiving them - I want to make sure that a factory reset on the old phone won't affect the new phone.

[vzw_customer_support · Accepted solution]

A factory data reset on the old phone will not effect the new phone. 

-Natasha

[rckraus1 · Accepted solution]

Great. Thanks for confirming that there won't be any problems.

[SynthpopAddict]

Does your iPhone 11 have an actual SIM card?  If so, I'm wondering if that's why both phones are still working, because the iPhone 16 is eSIM only and if you copied the physical SIM card to an eSIM for the new phone, then it's like the old-school thing of having one landline number but several phones in the house; if someone calls, all the phones ring.

If this is the case, I'd remove the SIM card from the iPhone 11 and then factory reset it, and that should take care of the "both phones working".

[rckraus1]

Thanks for the reply.

The 11 Pro does have a physical SIM card. I don't know for sure if the physical card was copied to the 16 Pro's SIM but my guess is that it was since the new phone works on the same phone number.

[vzw_customer_support]

Hi rckraus1. Thank you for being persistent and continuing to reach out to us. Where did you leave off? I found a question about preparing your trade-in phone to be sent back as well as you were able to confirm your new is working. What else can we assist with?

-Deb