Other After three years, I won't buy an iPhone 14 due to the SIM tray...

[NLLV]

Perhaps someone can talk me off the cliff here

I am not just posting this to be that person that says "THAT'S IT, I RAGE QUIT" so somehow virtue signal against what is popular.

I have family in the Philippines and when I travel, I immediately remove my SIM and put in one of the carriers there.

HECK, pre-covid they used to give you a sim ON THE PLANE for this purpose. Smart marketing for Globe (the carrier) for sure.

I pay about $50 US and get 40 gigs of data, then remove the card when I get back to the usa.

This is incredibly convenient because I can walk up to any vendor in the airport, shopping mall or street corner shop, immediately get service and then pop my own network sim back in when I am taxiing back on the runway in the USA.

Middle of nowhere and travel? Good freaking luck in getting a fancy eSIM in a developing nation.

I want the "dynamic island" and I want to have that new camera, but I also want to have the phone connecting without having to go through unnecessary steps.

Am I wrong in this?

edit - APPLE HAS A PAGE... Dedicated to carriers that use esim.
In my country case, both esim providers are POSTPAID.

Contract based. That sucks, and again will disqualify someone like me.

 

[joshwithachance]

I genuinely cannot make the switch to eSim as I’m on AT&T prepaid (until next July at least) and the process to convert is a NIGHTMARE.

 

[NLLV]

I genuinely cannot make the switch to eSim as I’m on AT&T prepaid (until next July at least) and the process to convert is a NIGHTMARE.

I really cannot understand this at all. Do they really not think these things through when they consider their market?

High end users who travel globally, now being locked out of phones unless they are going somewhere with a carrier that does prepaid esim.

In my case, I looked up the two carriers that apple says do esim in the Philippines. both of them are POST PAID PLANS.

Suffice it to say, I am not going to be going that route and signing a contract for using my phone when I am there for 3-4 weeks.

 

[jedivulcan]

There's a level of interoperability physical SIM provides that eSIM doesn't.

eSIM isn't convenient if you frequently switch between iOS and Android. I had to re-order either a physical SIM or a QR eSIM from AT&T when I got "locked" into a particular OS eSIM setup.

 

[JPack]

I really cannot understand this at all. Do they really not think these things through when they consider their market?

High end users who travel globally, now being locked out of phones unless they are going somewhere with a carrier that does prepaid esim.

In my case, I looked up the two carriers that apple says do esim in the Philippines. both of them are POST PAID PLANS.

Suffice it to say, I am not going to be going that route and signing a contract for using my phone when I am there for 3-4 weeks.

Apple understands it, but they also likely collect a cut from eSIM carriers, so it's an easy choice for Apple.

 

[geraldem]

There's a level of interoperability physical SIM provides that eSIM doesn't.

eSIM isn't convenient if you frequently switch between iOS and Android. I had to re-order either a physical SIM or a QR eSIM from AT&T when I got "locked" into a particular OS eSIM setup.

Yeah, that is exactly what I am wondering and worried about. I frequently switch my physical SIM between an Android and Iphone. I assume, I won't be able to easily switch between devices any longer with the same phone#?

 

[Kierkegaarden]

I genuinely cannot make the switch to eSim as I’m on AT&T prepaid (until next July at least) and the process to convert is a NIGHTMARE.

I’m on their prepaid plan too. Why can’t this be offered in eSim? Maybe they will offer it now that this is probably the direction companies will go?

EDIT: my AT&T prepaid plan does allow eSIM use.

 

[NLLV]

I also wonder...

Is this an agreement apple signed with the carriers to drive folks away from MVNO's? They do not have eSim, and likely wont, but this is a way to force iPhone customers to a network that supports eSim.

Personally, I am currently using a verizon physical SIM and a mobile eSim, so I am not against big carriers since I need fast unlimited data, but this creates a pretty big rift between the have's and have nots.

In a way, this seems quite anti-competetive.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

I genuinely cannot make the switch to eSim as I’m on AT&T prepaid (until next July at least) and the process to convert is a NIGHTMARE.

Good news — I just called AT&T and they told me that my prepaid plan will work with eSim. Sounds like you have to be on wifi, contact them and give them some info from settings to activate the eSim.

 

[AJ44]

Was thinking crap, I have Xfinity Mobile and they don't have esim but googled it and found an article from yesterday that they now do.

 

[menist]

I'm on a MVNO that doesn't support eSim yet so I won't be getting this years model. 13PM with iOS 16 will be fine!

 

[ssledoux]

Just gonna piggyback here instead of starting a new thread, but does anyone know how this will work if I upgrade on a different line/number than I plan to use with my phone?

 

[welles13]

Have fun never buying another iPhone then

 

[r.d]

Perhaps someone can talk me off the cliff here

I am not just posting this to be that person that says "THAT'S IT, I RAGE QUIT" so somehow virtue signal against what is popular.

I have family in the Philippines and when I travel, I immediately remove my SIM and put in one of the carriers there.

HECK, pre-covid they used to give you a sim ON THE PLANE for this purpose. Smart marketing for Globe (the carrier) for sure.

I pay about $50 US and get 40 gigs of data, then remove the card when I get back to the usa.

This is incredibly convenient because I can walk up to any vendor in the airport, shopping mall or street corner shop, immediately get service and then pop my own network sim back in when I am taxiing back on the runway in the USA.

Middle of nowhere and travel? Good freaking luck in getting a fancy eSIM in a developing nation.

I want the "dynamic island" and I want to have that new camera, but I also want to have the phone connecting without having to go through unnecessary steps.

Am I wrong in this?

edit - APPLE HAS A PAGE... Dedicated to carriers that use esim.
In my country case, both esim providers are POSTPAID.

Contract based. That sucks, and again will disqualify someone like me.

Just a thought... you could drive up here to Canada and purchase an iPhone 14 from Apple. All phones sold in Canada are unlocked, and still have a SIM tray.

 

[arian71]

Is crazy Apple gets away again like the did with the charger, corrupted eu/uk

 

[Gsxr750]

I genuinely cannot make the switch to eSim as I’m on AT&T prepaid (until next July at least) and the process to convert is a NIGHTMARE.

What changed? I made the switch a few years back and it wasn't that bad? Just had to tell them what I wanted to do and pick a plan.

 

[Feek]

Is crazy Apple gets away again like the did with the charger, corrupted eu/uk

Why even bring the EU/UK into this? Their iPhones will still have a sim tray.

 

[noteple]

The US iPhone Pros are models A2650 and A2651 max
These are eSIM only

You want model A2890 or A2894 which still have
SIM Card support

• Dual SIM (nano-SIM and eSIM)11
• Dual eSIM support11

For a US person ordering from Canada is probably closest

What ever you do, don’t get it in the Philippines
iPhone 14 Pro6.1-inch display¹From ₱70,990

Three years ago I struggled to get a eSIM conversion because I needed two lines

Now more and more carriers are letting you convert by App (qr scan) or by call from a sim to eSIM
I would pop out one of those sims you bought overseas and do some online research.

 

[AlphaGuitarist]

Perhaps someone can talk me off the cliff here

I am not just posting this to be that person that says "THAT'S IT, I RAGE QUIT" so somehow virtue signal against what is popular.

I have family in the Philippines and when I travel, I immediately remove my SIM and put in one of the carriers there.

HECK, pre-covid they used to give you a sim ON THE PLANE for this purpose. Smart marketing for Globe (the carrier) for sure.

I pay about $50 US and get 40 gigs of data, then remove the card when I get back to the usa.

This is incredibly convenient because I can walk up to any vendor in the airport, shopping mall or street corner shop, immediately get service and then pop my own network sim back in when I am taxiing back on the runway in the USA.

Middle of nowhere and travel? Good freaking luck in getting a fancy eSIM in a developing nation.

I want the "dynamic island" and I want to have that new camera, but I also want to have the phone connecting without having to go through unnecessary steps.

Am I wrong in this?

edit - APPLE HAS A PAGE... Dedicated to carriers that use esim.
In my country case, both esim providers are POSTPAID.

Contract based. That sucks, and again will disqualify someone like me.

I’m also concerned about this. When I travel overseas, I always buy a prepaid SIM card to use during my trip. I’m very curious about how this will work with the iPhone 14. If I can’t get local prepaid service outside of the US, the lack of a SIM tray is a dealbreaker.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

My work phone is physical sim so instead of carrying two phones I just use my personal one esim/sim. As a yearly upgrader I’m literally squeezed out of iPhones for the foreseeable future and even if my company does go esim I’ll never have the account info to swap it over to my personal phone so I’ll be stuck with two phones.

Stinks of some BS Apple and the cell companies wanted in order to control more things. Why else would they provide additional incentives this year when trading in with a carrier.

 

[KPOM]

My work phone is physical sim so instead of carrying two phones I just use my personal one esim/sim. As a yearly upgrader I’m literally squeezed out of iPhones for the foreseeable future and even if my company does go esim I’ll never have the account info to swap it over to my personal phone so I’ll be stuck with two phones.

Stinks of some BS Apple and the cell companies wanted in order to control more things. Why else would they provide additional incentives this year when trading in with a carrier.

It's more likely that Apple is pushing this to get more carriers to support eSIM. Apple previously pushed nano-SIM, ostensibly to save room. eSIM is a logical progression. It's a bit silly in 2022 that it isn't universal.

 

[HackMacDaddy]

Buy an iPhone outside the us and you will have a SIM tray. Sucks, but its a solution.

 

[Azathoth123]

There are some things that aren’t clear to me, not having recently traveled and dealt with the issues.

1. If I have an eSIM only (a US version), and I own the phone outright, what’s the issue with a post-paid foreign plan? I can cancel it at any time since the phone isn’t financed with rhem, right? And if I stop paying they’ll cancel it for me, lol.

2. If I have a SIM tray and an eSIM, like my current 12 and 13s, I can select which number to use, but if I select line A, then calls and messages to line B will not be received, right? So is there an advantage to using two phones, disregarding the cost?

3. For the models A2890 or A2894 referenced in post #18 above have the same or compatible band frequencies for US use? I would assume so, but better to ask.

TIA

 

[akbadwolf]

Just a thought... you could drive up here to Canada and purchase an iPhone 14 from Apple. All phones sold in Canada are unlocked, and still have a SIM tray.

I just saw a thread saying Canada hardware is the same as Yankee hardware

 

[nospleen]

Good news — I just called AT&T and they told me that my prepaid plan will work with eSim. Sounds like you have to be on wifi, contact them and give them some info from settings to activate the eSim.

I worry the carriers will charge an activation fee. I switch back and forth between iOS and Android every few weeks, so this is a concern for me as well.