Cromulent
macrumors 604
I'm on Smarty which uses the Three network but they don't offer eSIMs yet which is really annoying.
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rui no onna
Contributor
For the travelers here, how seamless is eSIM switching between your primary line and a travel eSIM?
My dad isn't very techie (and has no desire to learn). He has AT&T on his primary line and I'll be installing an Airalo eSIM just for data roaming. Can the iPhone switch automatically between the two networks depending on location/coverage with no user intervention required?
My dad isn't very techie (and has no desire to learn). He has AT&T on his primary line and I'll be installing an Airalo eSIM just for data roaming. Can the iPhone switch automatically between the two networks depending on location/coverage with no user intervention required?
iPhone 15 is Dual Standby just like the iPhone 14 and all the others. Both SIMs are monitored and can place/receive calls at the same time, but once a call is ongoing, you can't use data on the other SIM, for example. It only has 1 transceiver.
Partly true:
Since iOS 13, there are Dual-SIM simultaneous calls. You can place calls on two different lines at the same call, and call waiting works for incoming calls on another line. For this to work, You will need to turn on Allow Cellular Data Switching when you are on a call that isn't your default data line and have Wi-Fi Calling enabled.
Whatsapp and Whatsapp business two individual app, so you could use two different whatsapp by two different official apps
Yes, that's true, but it's still only 1 radio, so DSDS as a technical definition. You can place 2 calls with workarounds as you mentioned.
cousintim
macrumors 6502
I noticed the iOS 17 seems to have added some helpful features for dual eSIM. Specifically, you can now have a different default ringtone for each active line, and Messages has a symbol next to individual text messages showing which line it came from. Long overdue.
ukms
macrumors demi-god
You have to set your primary data line manually, it’s very easy to do. You can allow data switching but that is based on coverage rather than location.
ukms
macrumors demi-god
You can link more than one device and have WhatsApp on multiple devices for the same number.
Wish Apple put back physical SIM card slot on US iPhone in addition to eSIM as other country versions have. Having physical SIM card slot makes users easier to use foreign cell provider when traveling, at least from my perspective.
ukms
macrumors demi-god
I’m not in the US but I know I would find it a pain. It is puzzling why they did this. Particularly now we have seen the 15 role out globally still with the majority having a physical slot. I do wonder if it was to cut back on the grey exports from the US.
rui no onna
Contributor
I dunno. Maybe that’s the case for now but I expect that to change as eSIM gains broader acceptance.
I was able to buy, install, activate and register a $2 eSIM from a local Filipino carrier (Smart) in the comfort of my living room.
I just wanted to test it before our trip in December. The eSIM was less than $2 so no biggy if there’s an issue. I was surprised at how seamless the experience was considering it was on roaming. I just bought eSIMs for everyone in the family but will hold off on installing until the day of the flight so we don’t lose the 21GB/7 days freebie.
rui no onna
Contributor
I think it’s partly Apple trying to force eSIM adoption. All iPhones have had eSIM since 2018. However, for many carriers outside the US, even if they supported eSIMs it was often limited to postpaid customers.
In the Philippines, Smart just released prepaid eSIMs this July, a little less than a year from the eSIM-only US iPhone 14’s release. Globe, the other major telcom provider has announced they’ll make prepaid eSIMs available by the end of September. Granted, they seem to be running behind on their deployment.
kerr
macrumors 65816
As shocked as I was that Apple removed the physical SIM tray in the US last year, I was equally shocked that this did not extend to any other country this year. I like the idea of having multiple eSIMs, especially for those that may travel frequently, but there are many countries, if not most countries that have a long way to go before embracing eSIM. Even my country, Australia, outside of the 3 main providers, almost no company supports eSIM.
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Mine did. I got a travel e-sim from Orange for travel to belgium. Initially I tired to only use my travel e-sim som as not to pay the overly high int'l day pass fee for AT&T but the Ornage esim would randomly not work. Of course my primary line also randomly would not nwork. So in the end I kept them both on and the phone switched seamlessly between them depending on how it was feeling at any given moment. Kind of the worst of both worlds in terms of expense but at least the coverage was pretty complete when using both lines.
rui no onna
Contributor
Thanks for the feedback!
Yikes, that doesn't sound too good to me as I want to avoid paying expensive roaming fees. 1 day of AT&T international day pass is equivalent to 1 month service with 24GB data and unlimited calls/text in our destination.
ukms
macrumors demi-god
That’s why it’s not a good idea to allow automatic data switching which is not really intended for roaming.
rui no onna
Contributor
It could work in certain scenarios. For example, if one's on prepaid service in the US which doesn't support roaming at all in most international destinations.
I'll be on the trip with my parents for 4 weeks but they're staying another week longer than me. I can monitor roaming charges and make adjustments to settings while I'm with them. After that, I guess worst-case scenario is $105 ($10 IDP * 7 days + $5 add'l line * 7 days) which isn't too awful.
RPhoto
macrumors 65816
I travel a lot and use Airalo. Once you setup the secondary SIM for data, you either have to manually switch between primary and secondary when you want to swap data between them, or you can let it do it automatically based on coverage - but I don't use this as it would defeat the purpose if I allowed my primary to use data roaming.
I have one installed right now actually. I normally label the sim as travel, but renamed to eSim to make it easy as possible to see.
By default with both sims on, mobile data is on Primary.
But in the mobile data section, it's painless to switch it to the esim. You can see the auto switch option too.
I recommend installing the esim before you travel, as it needs wifi connection to setup initially. Then when you get on the plane, deactivate data roaming on your primary sim. Go to Mobile Data and select the esim for data (and make sure the esim as data roaming on, as this is how Airalo works).
Then when you land, take the phone out of flight mode and the esim will kick in. You can then switch between the two as per above, if needed.
Airalo is good but I've had some ups and downs. Coverage in Japan was excellent, America (Alaska) was excellent, Finland was excellent, Namibia was awful and I'm currently in Denmark and in Billund it's not even worth having. Hoping it'll be better when I get to Coppenhagen.
Hope that helps!
Yes I also turned off data for my primary line and set my secondary as default for voice and data. I think the switch to esim only for iphones was just premature, as neither my travel esim nor my primary line would work consistently, whereas local physical sim cards used to work fine--I assume because I could get physical sims from local carriers as opposed to relying on travel esims.
RPhoto
macrumors 65816
The issues for me are more the networks Airalo uses aren’t always the best ones. So it’s more I get a poor signal rather than it just not working. I have a friend with primary eSIM who uses Airalo and he has experienced similar coverage in the same countries.
ukms
macrumors demi-god
Im not doubting your poor reception experiences but I dont think there is any credible information that supports physical sims being more stable/better in use than an esim.