They were very clear about geographic limitations so spare me the false advertising ********.
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eSIM Functionality Available in iOS 12.1, But Carrier Support is Required
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This is somewhat incorrect. I have 2 phones signed into the same iCloud account. I can receive iMessages and text messages on both phone sent to either of the numbers. I was actually going to sell my 2 phones and get 1 as it would be very convenient for me, however there are some limitation that would piss me off.
I live in Canada and US and fly back and forth every few weeks, so i have a Canadian and US lines. When I am in US i simply call forward my number to my US line and leave it at home connected to wifi in airplane mode and it's using WiFi calling, so when someone texts the Canadian number i get it on my US line even when im nowhere near my Canadian phone due to text forwarding through iCloud, if someone calls it my US line rings because its call forwarded..
When I am in Canada ATT doesn't allow call forwarding to international numbers but its fine I have north American roaming. So dual sim phone would only help me in Canada, but if the reports are true that iMessage number on the secondary line gets deactivated then this is totally useless. It would be awesome if you can have one line piggy back of the other data connection to have WiFI calling enabled.
Yes! My employer wants to install a root cert on my personal iPhone. I said heck no but as a result, I'm not always up-to-date with work items.
In fact it was fully incorrect. Those who have more experience than me with this made that point and I have provided links in the thread to validate their experiences. This is one of the times where we as a community had concerns about how we could do something that was important to many of us and Apple has already provided the answer that we all wanted.
With respect to your situation, If I understand correctly, you will not have any problems with the iMessage or Facetime portions of your situation. The Apple provided parts will work the way the way that you want. It's the carrier parts that might be an issue. Apple does provide a solution to receive calls on other devices such as your Mac or your iPad that are not natively able to get and make calls. One would hope that they can do something here as well. Their support document would lead me to believe that if you are in one country and receive a call on one of the lines, then that line will ring on your phone. The only problem would be if you are using the other line. Then that call goes to voicemail. But other than caller ID , (and they have not explained if there is any indications if you are getting a call on the other line while you are on that first call, or if it goes straight to VM without you knowing) that's how one line works as well. So these really are carrier issues. And carrier policies about cross border use. I am hoping that working together answers can be found.
I think it's important to remember that most of the questions that we have asked here in this thread relate to how the software will work, not how the hardware will work. Apple can change any of that at will. If it's not how people need and want at launch time , it can be changed. That gives me hope that at some point they can make this do most all of what people would like.
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The Chinese models will be selling like hot cakes
There is _one_ eSim slot and _one_ normal SIM slot. So you can't use two eSims. You need _one_ phone provider supporting eSim. Assuming that everyone continues to support SIM cards, you would try to put the provider that you use most of the time onto the eSim, so then you are free to use any other provider using the SIM, or switch between them (say you buy a SIM card on a holiday, use it for two weeks, throw it away).
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I don't think it works like that. It's more like you have two phones in your pocket, and you choose which one to use. Except the two phones are in one package, and you use a switch in "Settings" and maybe they put it on the lock screen as well.
I think lots of people will use this to have their works phone and their private phone in one phone. So at work, you choose the works SIM because you want the company to pay, even if the signal is less good. And if it's private, you use your private phone SIM unless you want to cheat your company, no matter what signal is better.
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Remember that you will have two plans and pay for two plans. You don't pay twice just to get a better signal sometimes.
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It would be good if you could split your phone completely into "work" and "private". Like someone said his company wanted to install a root certificate on his work/private phone and he didn't like it - they would have a root certificate on one half of the phone but not on the other.
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If ATT supports it, then you can use the eSim for ATT as the primary line. If they don't, and having two SIMs is important to you, then you might look for another provider. Which would "encourage" ATT to support it as well.
it was very clear from the beginning that eSIM requires carrier support, and will be a nightmare to use, find, setup, especially for roaming abroad.
It does actually. I have 3 phone numbers in my iPhones and messages are coming to all phones.
Considering carriers are still locking their phones today, the day eSIM will be universal won’t happen within our lifetime. Take note of it.I said IF, didn't I.
There will be a time sims are redundant, take note of it.
Thats is not a fact. It is opinion. I have to say that I prefer physical SIM card. Im having tons of these from 4 or 5 countries and Im switching them constantly. As they are prepaid I just slide it in and done. In case of eSIm it much more complicated. Not to mention that I use SIM card to log in to all of the administration offices in Norway (tax, county, health etc). With eSIM I will be limited to the single phone and will have to go through the confirmation process every single time. Not fun. Therefore I asked friend to get me phone from China. I looked at the supported bands and it will work in Europe without any issues.
SIM (and even "e-SIM") are still here only because "it has always been this way"...
With Smartphones, there's no logic to need a physical card, like we needed when phones were dumb.
Carriers provide a service via their radio-masts, and we should log in to that service on-screen with our username/password, like we log in to everything else! Then the phone would get all information it need to communicate, a certificate if you like, over the air.
Locked mindsets are the only thing still keeping SIM here.
In the near future, phones will likely be able to have tens of "accounts" (phonenumbers) active and running simultanously. And possibly hundreds in your "Carrier-list".
Activating and disabling these for use in various countrys, and choosing which to call from at any given time, will be easy.
With Smartphones, there's no logic to need a physical card, like we needed when phones were dumb.
Carriers provide a service via their radio-masts, and we should log in to that service on-screen with our username/password, like we log in to everything else! Then the phone would get all information it need to communicate, a certificate if you like, over the air.
Locked mindsets are the only thing still keeping SIM here.
In the near future, phones will likely be able to have tens of "accounts" (phonenumbers) active and running simultanously. And possibly hundreds in your "Carrier-list".
Activating and disabling these for use in various countrys, and choosing which to call from at any given time, will be easy.
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You mean the Hong Kong ones (and you should be after the HK version).
Never get the Chinese version. Ever.
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It's not unusable. If you live in Thailand, yes you won't be able to use your main SIM as your eSIM.
However, you can still use the international service providers such as Gigsky and when you travel to an eSIM country, you can leave your Thailand sim in your phone and use another carrier on your eSIM.
And eventually a Thailand carrier in a few years time will support eSIM.
I don't think Apple would be okay with this... or the Justice Department for that matter.
What is easier than what I said, register mobile phone, travel to country, as soon as you have reception it is connected, that's not an opinion.
Look at the article here yesterday, open Settings/add cellular plan-data plan, here (Europe) it asked me for a QR code, if that's on your screen on your computer, scan it, you're done.
Do that with those 5 countries you visit often, travel to all of them and you don't need to exchange any Sim cards, seems to me you don't see it or just don't want to except it's easier/more convenient.
Or, are you a criminal which don't want to register, hahaha, just kidding.
SIM locks should be illegal everywhere, there are countries where it actually is illegal.
Singapore, China and Isreal.
I second that on multiple accounts.
Having 1 eSIM + 1 physical SIM or 2 physical SIMs doesn't really matter. What really matters is whether there is 'dual apps' function like the one on Xiaomi or Samsung phone. If possible, on top of 'dual apps', multiple users (aka 'User Profiles' on Android 5.0 on phone) should also be added (presumably in the use case of iPad in family).
In the case of Hong Kong, most Android phones here do have 2 physical SIM slots. What are they for? Well people here nowadays make very few phone calls. One of the prominent reasons is to use the 1st SIM as the main phone number + data plan, and the 2nd SIM card can be a pre-paid SIM card with higher data cap so if the 1st SIM is running out of data allowance, the 2nd SIM card can be the backup.
Another use case would be the 1st SIM is always in use for everything (phone call, data, SMS), and the 2nd SIM is just for receiving SMS for some phone number-specific applications like WhatsApp. For example, with dual apps on an Android phone, people can have one WhatsApp for personal use (with the 1st SIM number) and another WhatsApp for joining company / organisation WhatsApp groups for work-related purposes (with the 2nd SIM number). Even iPhone now comes with 'dual SIM' support, one cannot have 2 WhatsApp apps on an iPhone, thus having the need to carry a 2nd phone.
iPhone XS / XS Max / XR is crippled in this respect IMHO. It all comes down to iOS. So 2 things: dual apps and multiple users (especially in the use case of iPad).
The white verizon iPhone 4 I had was one of those. That was a great phone. Sold it on eBay and the guy demanded a refund because it didn't have a SIM card slot. It was clearly stated in the purchase what is was and no SIM was needed. For once eBay got it right and supported me as a seller.
Couldn't agree more.
Provider locking is completely consumer hostile and anti-competitive. There is really no logical reason for it other than anti-competitive business practice from the carrier side.
Whilst I agree eventually some form of global esim will be more convenient but simply we are not there yet
Apple already note that even if your carrier unlocks your iPhone there is no guarantee that they will similarly unlock the esim, so using your esim may be a one time deal with some carriers
As you are a frequent flyer you should know it's very easy to get a physical sim both inside and directly after customs at Bangkok airport
Additionally many good air carriers sell global physical sims onboard so you can still be ready before touchdown
As others have noted there are many scenarios where its far easier to swap a physical sim just for 5 mins than de-reg and re-reg an esim
I also see no reason why Apple cannot similarly adopt Samsung's ability to have multiple apps and even multiple apps in secure area to completely separate work from home for example. I'm sure they will catch up once the popularity grows in the US
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