Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Benz63amg

macrumors 601
Original poster
Oct 17, 2010
4,452
969
I am going to buy and pay in full for the 15 Pro directly from the Apple Store. How do I get my phone number on the new device though? I’d like some input from fellow AT&T prepaid members who gone through this process perhaps last year with the iPhone 14 Pro etc which also lacked a sim tray. In prior years when a new iPhone came out I would simply restore my full encrypted iTunes to my new device and insert my AT&T SIM card into the new phone and I was all set.

Thank you in advance
 
You can convert your current sim to an eSIM before transferring it to the new phone.
 
You can convert your current sim to an eSIM before transferring it to the new phone.
Can you please be more specific, How do you advise me to go about this entire upgrade process
 
Can you please be more specific, How do you advise me to go about this entire upgrade process
You can do it on your phone, check out this link, scroll down to the “Convert a physical SIM to an eSIM on the same iPhone” section.

You can also double check any AT&T documentation just to make sure. Full disclosure, I don’t have AT&T so haven’t done it with them.
 
You can convert your current sim to an eSIM before transferring it to the new phone.
I didn’t have to do this for my Verizon physical sim last year. When I restored from my backup while setting up my 14 Pro, iOS already converted it to an eSIM. Which I found surprising considering it is a business line which I am not an authorized user on (corporate number).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Brad7
Granted I don’t have AT&T pre-paid but I was in the same boat as you with t-mobile where I had a sim on my 13PM and was upgrading to a 14PM….. I did the phone to phone transfer thing, where you put the phones next to each other and it transfers all of your data. Somehow magically this process moved my wireless account to the E-sim…. I didn’t have to do anything. I was surprised… I was mentally preparing myself to be on the phone with t-mobile for hours lol.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Brad7
I am going to buy and pay in full for the 15 Pro directly from the Apple Store. How do I get my phone number on the new device though? I’d like some input from fellow AT&T prepaid members who gone through this process perhaps last year with the iPhone 14 Pro etc which also lacked a sim tray. In prior years when a new iPhone came out I would simply restore my full encrypted iTunes to my new device and insert my AT&T SIM card into the new phone and I was all set.

Thank you in advance

I had ATT last year. I converted to esim over the phone I think. Then follow the link above after
 
So I don’t need to physically visit the AT&T store or call AT&T to perform the upgrade to esim?
When the 14 Pro was released, AT&T Prepaid didn't support any of the fancy eSIM transfer features, so I did a text chat with AT&T Prepaid support, gave them the EID number and IMEI number, and they were able to move me from a physical SIM to an eSIM. I'm not sure if that type of conversion is handled automatically by the setup assistant now, but a few months ago, my friend was able to automatically move his eSIM to a new iPhone without having to contact AT&T Prepaid Support.
 
When the 14 Pro was released, AT&T Prepaid didn't support any of the fancy eSIM transfer features, so I did a text chat with AT&T Prepaid support, gave them the EID number and IMEI number, and they were able to move me from a physical SIM to an eSIM. I'm not sure if that type of conversion is handled automatically by the setup assistant now, but a few months ago, my friend was able to automatically move his eSIM to a new iPhone without having to contact AT&T Prepaid Support.
Is there any way you could contact him or her and ask her how she did it? Would be greatly appreciated
 
Is there any way you could contact him or her and ask her how she did it? Would be greatly appreciated
Again, I don't know about converting from physical to eSIM, but I do know that transferring an eSIM is straightforward. Assuming that you're logged into both devices with the same Apple ID, if you go to Settings > Cellular > Add eSIM, you'll see a prompt asking if you want to add your phone number from your old device.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.