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iPhone 12 Pro AT&T: transferring back to physical SIM from eSIM, physical SIM the default?

Luba

Luba

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 22, 2009
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I have eSIM activated on my old iPhone, but thinking of going to back to having my number on the physical SIM and leaving the eSIM empty so that I can use it when needed? also, it was a hassle setting up eSIM. Or perhaps I have my number on eSIM, add temporary eSIMs when needed and the physical SIM slot can stay empty without confusing AT&T and iPhone?

Will new iPhone 12 arrived defaulted to having the physical SIM be activated when you turn it on and set it up?
 
The main disadvantage of the eSIM to me is if you have more than one phone it is more difficult to temporarily move the SIM to another phone.
 
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Luba said:
I have eSIM activated on my old iPhone, but thinking of going to back to having my number on the physical SIM and leaving the eSIM empty so that I can use it when needed? also, it was a hassle setting up eSIM. Or perhaps I have my number on eSIM, add temporary eSIMs when needed and the physical SIM slot can stay empty without confusing AT&T and iPhone?

Will new iPhone 12 arrived defaulted to having the physical SIM be activated when you turn it on and set it up?
Click to expand...
Once you turn on your new iPhone 12, it will try to activate with the AT&T network, using the physical SIM that the device shipped with. This is because there will be a pending activation request on AT&T's systems, looking for that ICCID, which they've already associated with your mobile phone number.

If you really want to use eSIM on your new iPhone, you should let the physical SIM complete activation, after which you can request an eSIM from AT&T.
 
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brianld said:
Once you turn on your new iPhone 12, it will try to activate with the AT&T network, using the physical SIM that the device shipped with. This is because there will be a pending activation request on AT&T's systems, looking for that ICCID, which they've already associated with your mobile phone number.

If you really want to use eSIM on your new iPhone, you should let the physical SIM complete activation, after which you can request an eSIM from AT&T.
Click to expand...

What if he ordered the sim free phone?
 
brianld said:
If SIM free (unlikely if he ordered through AT&T), AT&T has a process for activating eSIM directly:

https://www.att.com/support/article/wireless/KM1008711/Apple/iPhone11ProMax
Click to expand...
It's an AT&T iPhone. The above support article makes it sound easy, but setting it up last year was a pain. I was told I needed a QR code card and recently was told by an AT&T Store that I'll need a new QR code card to setup eSIM on the new phone, but the support article says I can set up eSIM on the phone directly no mention needing a QR??

What do you think is more flexible and easier for international travel, having the physical SIM slot empty to purchase a SIM card internationally, or keep my number in the physical SIM and purchase an eSIM plan abroad?
 
Last edited:
Luba said:
It's an AT&T iPhone. The above support article makes sound easy, but setting it up last year was a pain. I was told I needed a QR code card and was told by an AT&T Store that I'll need another QR code card, but the support article says I can set up eSIM on the phone directly??

What do you think is more flexible and easier for international travel, having the physical SIM slot empty to purchase a SIM card internationally, or keep my number in the physical SIM and purchase an eSIM plan abroad?
Click to expand...
Much easier to set up and use a physical SIM when traveling internationally IMO. Pick up a pre-paid SIM in any corner convenience store, pop it in your phone, and you're good to go. Of course you'll need to ensure the device is unlocked before you do that. Then you can choose to disable your eSIM (if you want) to avoid costly international roaming charges.
 
kevink2 said:
The main disadvantage of the eSIM to me is if you have more than one phone it is more difficult to temporarily move the SIM to another phone.
Click to expand...
Right, what if iPhone with eSIM needs to be repaired. With physical SIM I could take it out use it on an old phone for a day or so while the broken iPhone is being repaired.
 
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brianld said:
Once you turn on your new iPhone 12, it will try to activate with the AT&T network, using the physical SIM that the device shipped with. This is because there will be a pending activation request on AT&T's systems, looking for that ICCID, which they've already associated with your mobile phone number.

If you really want to use eSIM on your new iPhone, you should let the physical SIM complete activation, after which you can request an eSIM from AT&T.
Click to expand...
I have my post paid AT&T on eSIM on the 11 Pro, performed the iPhone-to-iPhone transfer, but according to an Apple Support doc it would ask if I wanted to go from my old eSIM to eSIM. Since it didn't ask I assume my phone number got transferred to the physical SIM, but how can I find out in Settings --> Cellular?

Weird . . . when I first looked at Setting --> Cellular last night, there was a section called "eSIM" which is the label I gave to eSIM on my old 11 Pro and another called "digital SIM" so I couldn't really tell if it transferred to physical SIM. Now, the next day under Cellular perhaps because AT&T's system has been updated, it's just "AT&T" and "eSIM" is gone so I think my number has been activated on physical SIM. Out of curiosity, when I went to "Add Cellular Plan" under Cellular there's now an option to transfer my number to eSIM from the info on my old iPhone possibly without needing a QR code and going into a AT&T store. I'm wary of doing this as it sounds like it could screw things up as my physical SIM is already active and working well. One reason for moving my number to the eSIM was to prevent somebody from hijacking my phone number and text messages if they stole my phone with a physical SIM. If I put in a SIM PIN for my physical SIM is that good security to prevent my number from being hijacked?
 
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