Carrier switch for AW3 Cellular

[370zulu]

Has anyone switched carriers from AT&T to Verizon with the AW3 cellular version? My wife and I are considering switching to Verizon from AT&T. We have IP8+, iPad Pro 12.9g2/10.5 and AW3 LTE's. I am pretty sure that the IP8+'s are SIM swaps. Not sure on iPad Pro's (AT&T purchased so I am pretty sure they have the eSIM burnt to AT&T only). But, we are definitely not sure how the AW3 switch will work since they use eSIM as well.

Has anyone already done this with the AW3?

 

[dave006]

First on your iPad Pro's if they are the 9.7 and later. The embedded Apple SIM is locked to AT&T. You can use a nano-SIM card from another carrier in the nano-SIM tray. Contact AT&T for details of their Carrier Reveal program to enable Apple SIM for other carriers.

These iPad models have an embedded Apple SIM that's built into the iPad:

• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular model
• iPad Pro 10.5-inch Wi-Fi + Cellular model
• iPad Pro (9.7-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular model

The watch is not supposed to be locked since you can actually have multiple plans on a single watch and switch between them. There have been no reports of AT&T or any carrier locking the Apple eSIM for the watch since there is not a secondary SIM slot available!

Dave

 

[370zulu]

First on your iPad Pro's if they are the 9.7 and later. The embedded Apple SIM is locked to AT&T. You can use a nano-SIM card from another carrier in the nano-SIM tray. Contact AT&T for details of their Carrier Reveal program to enable Apple SIM for other carriers.

These iPad models have an embedded Apple SIM that's built into the iPad:

• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular model
• iPad Pro 10.5-inch Wi-Fi + Cellular model
• iPad Pro (9.7-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular model

The watch is not supposed to be locked since you can actually have multiple plans on a single watch and switch between them. There have been no reports of AT&T or any carrier locking the Apple eSIM for the watch since there is not a secondary SIM slot available!

Dave

Thank you for the information. Very helpful!

Do you know once the the unlock has happened on the iPads (12.9 gen2 and 10.5) will the embedded sim once again be available for use by another carrier or is this permanent regardless of the unlocked status of these iPads? Seems like maybe the technology is similar between the eSIM of the Watches and the iPad Pros?
[doublepost=1511047515][/doublepost]I saw the carrier reveal site and have this bookmarked. But it appears to be a device unlock page.

 

[dave006]

Did you purchase your iPad's from Apple or AT&T?

Yes it makes a difference. If you purchased from AT&T then the eSIM is locked to AT&T and remain that way even if you use the AT&T site to unlock the Apple nano-SIM for multiple carrier support (short term plans while traveling) or allow for other carrier's nano-SIM cards to be used. Just like you might need to unlock an AT&T iPhone, you might need to unlock the iPads using the AT&T unlock web site.

You are able to use a nano-SIM card (Apple nano-SIM* or Carrier nano-SIM) in the side SIM tray if the iPad is unlocked by AT&T. In your example: I would just verify the iPads are unlocked and use a Verizon nano-SIM data plan and not worry about using an Apple nano-SIM*.

The Apple nano-SIM card that you might already have allows you to use Cellular service from multiple Carriers. A Carrier specific nano-SIM card will only work with one carrier and may not be reused depending on the Carrier's policy.

*Note: You can buy an Apple nano-SIM kit to use in countries and regions that support Apple nano-SIM. These kits are available at Apple Retail Stores in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey.

On the watch, the eSIM should not be locked by any Carrier. The reason for the difference is that there is not an option to use a nano-SIM card as an alternative to the eSIM.

Dave

 

[370zulu]

Yep, both iPad Pro's are AT&T purchases. As long as I can use them with other carriers, I'm ok with it. Sounds like that once they are unlocked I will be able to.

Fantastic information! Thank you Dave. You've been extremely helpful!