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Apple Allegedly Preparing for iPhones Without SIM Card Slot by September 2022 [Updated]
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not for t mobile though, they only do sim prepaid and its the biggest network
Working in mobile sales I constantly swap phones (monthly, if not biweekly) to test out new phones and demo the features etc and this will be a major PIA. Switching from a SIM to an Esim will be easy and some carriers even have an app you can do this on, However, switching from an Esim back to a SIM will be a pain since you now will have to get the SIM card (which carriers do charge for) and have to call in (or go in the store) and have the number transferred back to the regular SIM.
Nearly every carrier in Germany, pre and post paid, offers eSIM.
Several service providers in Germany do offer eSim prepaid.
But:
You usually get a physical SIM card, first. You have to activate that card online. Usually you need to do some video identification process for legal reasons. Then you have to change that SIM into an eSim.
You have to call customer serive on the phone. You will be sent a QR code via snail mail.
Alternatively you can do it via an online portal, but you will get your initial password via SMS. That means you have to be able to use that physical SIM - at least temporarily - just to get that SMS.
Good luck explaining all of that to your grandma. For an international visitor who has no German post adress and who is not fluent in the German language this process will be a huge pain in the a**.
Just get off the airplane, connect to public WIFI, start some eSim app, pick a German carrier and go? It is not going to happen like that any time soon.
Greetings from Berlin.
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When I ordered my 13 Pro...from Apple, it sounded like it was going to be pre configures with the eSIM as it asked for all of my info and said it would be ready to go.....there was a $20 charge, but when I got it none of that happened. It kept saying no SIM, so I transferred my old one.
I wish, have information and knowledge just uploaded.....like Neo in the Matrix!
“Mobile industry” and “convenience” do not even belong to the same dictionary. I am afraid they will throw so many hassles to swapping an esim that this becomes a defacto carrier lock.
I wouldn’t buy it.
I want to be able to move my SIM between phones without carrier charging me. Carriers unlikely to allow that with esim without gratuitous charge.
I want to be able to move my SIM between phones without carrier charging me. Carriers unlikely to allow that with esim without gratuitous charge.
About ffing time.
I've said this many times before, sim cards should be banned, a long...LONG time ago.
I've said this many times before, sim cards should be banned, a long...LONG time ago.
The first word is the little problem here. "Nearly".
Compared to "All" carriers, who do offer physical SIM cards.
Furthermore: Swapping an esim to another phone is MUCH more difficult, than a physical one. Far to often the code you get is "one time" use. Then you have to ask your carrier to provide you another, because it is NOT possible just to activate it in a new phone. I ran into that problem. esim and a broken phone abroad. No chance to activate it, EVEN with a backup from the old phone, that showed! the esim in the new phone. "Activation not possible".
I had to show up in a shop of my carrier in person...
But: remember the resistance, when Apple introduced the Nano-SIM? Maybe Apple will kind of force all carriers to introduce some more customer friendly solutions...
People here seem to think only Apple has phones with eSIMs and that it is going to be Apple against the world to get carriers to offer them. I'm sure Apple and other handset makers together with the carriers have been working to make eSIMs the new standard. This link from the provider someone posted makes it clear that the other major handset carriers support eSIM.
www.airalo.com
Also the world outside the US is typically faster and more nimble at adapting to new technology long before we in the US are. Think chipped and NFC enabled credit cards while we're just barely getting past magnetic stripe technology. Many have posted here that carriers in their countries already support eSIMS and this airalo site even sells them for Uzbekistan for the poster who complained that more remote countries wouldn't have them. In fact they'll probably have them before every carrier in the US does.
For those complaining you can’t get a prepaid plan with eSIM, I just saw this in the App Store. (Just search eSIM in the App Store and you'll be surprised what's there).
July 2025: What devices support eSIM? - Airalo Help Center
Learn which devices are eSIM compatible. This list includes iPhones, iPads, Android phones and Windows-based laptops.
Also the world outside the US is typically faster and more nimble at adapting to new technology long before we in the US are. Think chipped and NFC enabled credit cards while we're just barely getting past magnetic stripe technology. Many have posted here that carriers in their countries already support eSIMS and this airalo site even sells them for Uzbekistan for the poster who complained that more remote countries wouldn't have them. In fact they'll probably have them before every carrier in the US does.
For those complaining you can’t get a prepaid plan with eSIM, I just saw this in the App Store. (Just search eSIM in the App Store and you'll be surprised what's there).
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Recent iPhones already let you use an eSIM alongside the physical SIM card to let you use two numbers. Unless I'm missing something, it seems to me they'd just have two eSIM "slots"?
See post 108.
My experience with an eSim has been horrible with debitel in Germany. I could not activate the esim on my new iPhone because the QR code apparently only works one time?!? Then the customer service was clueless on the phone as well as at 3 different in store locations and it literally took me a week to be online again.
Now every time I wipe my iPhone I am like please don’t wipe my esim, please don’t wipe my esim
I actually use the eSIM for my local cellular and leave the SIM slot for international travel. This will be a mild inconvenience if i ever upgrade. I guess I will just keep my iPhone 13 around as the travel phone, assuming the place I am traveling to does not support eSIM.
isn't that already here? I got my 13 delivered a month ago and tmobile activated the esim over the air rather than mail me a physical one.
Meh. Was looking at iPhone 13 Pro, mostly for the camera, but lack of SD card expansion and a headphone jack led me to buying a Moto G Stylus instead. After 4 months, I am extremely happy with the Moto G and can afford to replace it several times for the cost of the iPhone 13 I was going to buy. I'm sure Tim Cook won't miss me.
Earlier this week, a rumor from Brazilian website Blog do iPhone claimed that iPhone 15 Pro models might not have a physical SIM card slot in at least some countries and regions, but the change might happen even sooner.
Image: iFixit
An anonymous tipster informed MacRumors that Apple has advised major U.S. carriers to prepare for the launch of eSIM-only smartphones by September 2022. The tipster shared a seemingly legitimate document outlining the timeframe for this initiative, although the document does not specifically mention Apple or the iPhone.
As part of the transition, some U.S. carriers will allegedly start offering select iPhone 13 models without a nano-SIM card in the box in the second quarter of 2022. iPhone 13 models sold at Apple Stores or on Apple.com already lack a nano-SIM card in the box, with users typically able to activate a cellular plan via eSIM by turning on the iPhone, connecting to a Wi-Fi network, and following the on-screen instructions.
Given the alleged September 2022 deadline, it is possible that Apple might remove the physical SIM card slot starting with some iPhone 14 models, rather than some iPhone 15 models as originally rumored, but nothing is definitive at this point.
An eSIM is a digital SIM that allows users to activate a cellular plan without having to use a nano-SIM card. It's worth noting that eSIM service is not available in all countries, so iPhones with a SIM card slot may remain available in some markets. Adoption is expanding rapidly, though, with over 100 carriers offering eSIM service worldwide and more planning to roll out support in 2022, including Three in the UK and Vodafone in New Zealand.
iPhone 13 models already support multiple eSIM profiles, allowing users to subscribe to several cellular plans digitally and switch between them, and this functionality could pave the way for the SIM card slot's removal in select countries.
Apple's former design chief Jony Ive once envisioned the iPhone as becoming a "single slab of glass," and the SIM card slot's removal would be another step towards a seamless design and improve water resistance in the process. Taking out the slot would also free up some valuable internal space in the iPhone — every bit counts.
Article Link: Apple Allegedly Preparing for iPhones Without SIM Card Slot by September 2022
I found that in a very hard way with ATT as well. They ask for the ICCI information on the SIM card, which you can find in your iPhone for your eSim.Just don't tell them that its a eSim. They get confused and are not aware of a concept called "eSim". They will repeat "Go to the nearest store and get a blank SIM card and dont activate it at the store". And no store will sell you a blank SIM card without activating it!
Give them the IMEI and ICCI number and pretend that its a SIM card and they will activate it.