Apple Promotes Benefits of Using iPhone 14 With eSIM While Traveling Abroad

[turbineseaplane]

Is the cost competitive with the kiosks?

Nope -- not from anything I've ever seen

eSIM only is a path back towards dark days of carriers having way too much control over devices and pricing. If we ever get to a place where everything is eSIM only, the carriers will be waiting to institute eSIM swap/activation fees.

Those types of companies froth at the mouth for rent seeking and extractive income for doing "nothing"

 

[ct2k7]

T-Mobile Prepaid in the US doesn't support an easy transfer for eSIMs - it's horrible: you have to call them and hope they haven't run out of QR codes for the day.

Great experience /s

 

[turbineseaplane]

What is interesting and a bit hypocritical is that Apple promotes the “roamabiity” of eSIM in their US stores (where the iphone 14 are eSIM only) and yet internationally, they continue to sell phones with a physical SIM slot (and eSIM capability). Doesn’t that NEGATE what they are saying about roamability if OUTSIDE the USA they sell a physical SIM capability phone?

Bingo!

The truth is that the better device is one that can do both eSIM and Physical SIMs

The iPhone 14's in the USA are not "better" because they are less flexible

It's total nonsense from Apple on this point.

 

[alee]

The bottom line is travelers need the physical SIM card option.

I don't.

 

[Key Caps]

I have a T-Mobile prepaid physical SIM on a legacy plan in an iPhone 13 Pro. What are the exact steps I would have to take in the U.S. to switch it to an iPhone 14? Is it possible?

 

[turbineseaplane]

I have a T-Mobile prepaid physical SIM on a legacy plan in an iPhone 13 Pro. What are the exact steps I would have to take in the U.S. to switch it to an iPhone 14? Is it possible?

See a few posts up:

T-Mobile Prepaid in the US doesn't support an easy transfer for eSIMs - it's horrible: you have to call them and hope they haven't run out of QR codes for the day.

Great experience /s

 

[rubaxter]

Yep.

The people at Apple who made the decision to remove the SIM slot are making 7 figures. When they travel, they just pay their carrier for an outrageously priced data roaming plan. They don’t think about it. They’ve never had to travel on a budget.

OR, they have their PA make all the arrangements and have it charged to Apple, too.

You should be able to do the same?

 

[M.Rizk]

This is a great information, thank you so much for that. I wish Apple would tell this to the customers too if they are so much about privacy. I’m always sceptical to everything Apple says especially about privacy and this is a bit fishy.

No. This is really meaningless. I haven’t been on a carrier that doesn’t collect phone IMEI in years. Some even collect it just to know what device you have.

When it comes to phone lines, there is no privacy when it comes to dealing with a cell tower.

 

[M.Rizk]

Thanks, I will buying direct and unlocked next time. The carrier deals look good until you run into issues like this.

Only AT&T enforces these rules. You can enjoy carrier financing on T-Mobile and Verizon and also get an unlocked phone IF bought from Apple (not them directly).

 

[rubaxter]

This changes with iOS 16. Apple has been in talks with carriers over the past year to make the process easier which is why iOS 16 brought new features like being able to transfer eSIM from an iPhone to another via an AirDrop like feature.

Apple also teamed with many carriers to make it possible to go from physical to eSIM on your iPhone without needing to call anyone or visit a branch. Literally a single click.

Apple is doing its best to make it as convenient as possible and I believe in them. My home country was so against eSIM till last week. Carriers there didn’t even support the Apple Watch but then Apple launches an eSIM only phone just in the US and carriers panic and start testing eSIM with the regulatory body working hand in hand with them to get it done asap.

You use 'relative' terms thorugh out your description.

Easier is NOT Easy. Many is not Enough. Convenient As Possible is not Convient As Necessary.

I am reminded of Butterfly Keyboards and Antennas Blocked by Hand on this, not Customer is Always Right.

There are people requesting USB C yet Apple ignores them and stonewalls, but when it is convenient for them to ditch the SIM card, and then tell people as an afterthought, it is apologized for by too many.

 

[Skyscraperfan]

The point of eSIM is that you no longer need multiple phones. I use to carry 2 phones local and US number. Now I use eSIM for the US number and the physical sim for my local Caribbean number.

It is not about needing several phones, but some tech freaks collect phones and buy every new phone on the market. Some rich people collect cars and people who are not rich enough for collecting cars, can collect phones.

 

[M.Rizk]

You use 'relative' terms thorugh out your description.

Easier is NOT Easy. Many is not Enough. Convenient As Possible is not Convient As Necessary.

I am reminded of Butterfly Keyboards and Antennas Blocked by Hand on this, not Customer is Always Right.

There are people requesting USB C yet Apple ignores them and stonewalls, but when it is convenient for them to ditch the SIM card, and then tell people as an afterthought, it is apologized for by too many.

Are we really surprised Apple does what Apple wants? I also expect no USB C next year. Get ready for a port-less iPhone with maybe improved MagSafe for 20W and on-device recovery like Mac. And everyone will complain about it.

 

[M.Rizk]

I have a T-Mobile prepaid physical SIM on a legacy plan in an iPhone 13 Pro. What are the exact steps I would have to take in the U.S. to switch it to an iPhone 14? Is it possible?

T-Mobile should be supporting physical to eSIM on device. Go to Settings > Cellular > Select your T-Mobile SIM > scroll down and you should find an option to transfer to eSIM.

 

[monstermash]

What do they say about when you break your phone and want to put your SIM in your backup phone?

Oh yeah - can't do that. Jerks.

p.s.: Not a made up example - this is the exact situation I am in right now. Thank god I have a physical SIM card to work with.

 

[bradl]

What do they say about when you break your phone and want to put your SIM in your backup phone?

Oh yeah - can't do that. Jerks.

p.s.: Not a made up example - this is the exact situation I am in right now. Thank god I have a physical SIM card to work with.

I think the bigger issue here would be the care of the phone rather than the loss of the SIM.

BL.

 

[M.Rizk]

What do they say about when you break your phone and want to put your SIM in your backup phone?

Oh yeah - can't do that. Jerks.

p.s.: Not a made up example - this is the exact situation I am in right now. Thank god I have a physical SIM card to work with.

“Get your mom an iPhone” - Tim Cook, 2022.

If your backup is XR/XS or newer then it isn’t an issue. Older? No longer usable. Android? YMMV.

 

[Babygotfont]

Let’s go esim

 

[lJoSquaredl]

We all know the benefits to eSIM, the issue is not there. The issue is that many carriers outside (and even inside) the US still doesn't support it to this day.

My hope is that things will change much faster now that Apple has done away with physical SIM, so within 6-12 months the landscape will be very different for people both domestic and international. If EU for example wants to force Apple to go USB-C then they should just as equally switch to eSIM along with the rest of the world as fast as possible to progress tech and create an equal baseline. Apple sometimes holds companies accountable on progression and innovation just as people do to them.

 

[MrAperture]

Of course you would say this, youre from SF, CA. Have you left the US mainland? Do you even travel internationally at all? Try getting an eSIM when traveling internationally for a pay as you go or pre paid plan, because that's the only plan you are eligible being NOT A NATIONAL of the country you're visiting and come back tell me how it easy it is.

Yes I have left the US Mainland. I don’t have to worry about international coverage because it’s included in my T-Mobile plan. Anyways, when I’m saying it’s easy to change from physical Sim to eSim I only have been referring to T-Mobile and T-Mobile only.

 

[cthompson94]

I think we forget here how the majority of people on this forums is kind of like the exception for most applications. The argument I see most here is the eSim only=bad (for the most part). The U.S. market for Apple was really the best way to test the waters with eSim and basically let companies know in other countries and in the U.S. to possibly be prepared. People did the same thing with the removal of the headphone jack (many still complain to this day), but yet iPhone sales where still up and Airpod sales were through the roof..

I personally think Carriers will only try to milk money from activations in the beginning, because all it will take is one bigger one to do some promotion or something with no activation cost for new lines or something along those lines much like when we went from unlimited plans to data cap plans back to unlimited plans and even now I have seen posts of people talking to their carrier and getting the "new" esim activation fee removed.

Back to what I was going to get at...an insane amount of people in the U.S. don't even leave their hometowns, an even bigger number don't even leave their state let alone do trips say coast-to-coast then to throw international travel out there. Source This study from only last year estimated that only about a third of the U.S. adults even have a valid passport and those are good for 10 years then that number is even smaller for those that have a valid passport and travel internationally. So from an Apple standpoint the number of complaints on this (in the U.S.) isn't going to be that large compared to the units sold. Look at the delay times now for the pro models.. towards late October. eSim will get figured out an adapt just like we all did with the headphone jack.

 

[Dionte]

There is no way having to figure out how to get an esim in foreign countries is easier than just buying a sim and popping it in. I have like 5 sims from African countries I visit. Luckily they didn’t update the 13 mini so I’ll just keep that one and use the new 14 pro max.

 

[M.Rizk]

There is no way having to figure out how to get an esim in foreign countries is easier than just buying a sim and popping it in. I have like 5 sims from African countries I visit. Luckily they didn’t update the 13 mini so I’ll just keep that one and use the new 14 pro max.

“There is no way buying a physical SIM from an airport is easier than using a landline pay phone kiosk” someone in the 90s.

Times change. Carriers will adapt. Sure it will be inconvenient at first which is why iPhone 13 exists, and Android. Thankfully Apple never forced anyone to upgrade, not even those on iPhone Upgrade Plan.

 

[ct2k7]

“There is no way buying an physical SIM from an airport is easier than using a landline pay phone kiosk” someone in the 90s.

Times change. Carriers will adapt. Sure it will be inconvenient at first which is why iPhone 13 exists, and Android. Thankfully Apple never forced anyone to upgrade, not even those on iPhone Upgrade Plan.

Looks like stuff that happened in the 90s, still happens today.

 

[monstermash]

“Get your mom an iPhone” - Tim Cook, 2022.

If your backup is XR/XS or newer then it isn’t an issue. Older? No longer usable. Android? YMMV.

My backup phone is an iPhone 6. I'm using it right now.

As for Android...if i wanted to use Android, I wouldn't have bought an iPhone.

 

[Key Caps]

T-Mobile should be supporting physical to eSIM on device. Go to Settings > Cellular > Select your T-Mobile SIM > scroll down and you should find an option to transfer to eSIM.

This is what I see under Settings > Cellular, and Cellular Plans and Carrier Services. I don't see an option to transfer to eSIM when scrolling down on any of these screens. "More Plans from T-Mobile" and "T-Mobile My Account" open web pages. "Add Cellular Plan" opens a QR code reader.