iPhone 14 Pro Max European trip eSIM and SIM travel experience: 14PM, 12PM, Samsung S23

[4sallypat]

Travelled last month from Europe for 2 weeks with my 14PM, wife's 12PM, and son's Samsung S23.

We are experienced international travellers and in the past before eSIM, we purchased physical SIMs in many countries without an issue.

This time my first travelling with an eSIM iPhone.

All phones in our travel were unlocked, fully paid for and are not restricted.

Wife's 12PM had pre-purchased Orange data SIM from Amazon and the physical SIM activated instantly in Athens, Greece without an issue. Her phone had a French number.

14PM & S23 phones we visited a local Vodaphone store in Athens, Greece before we started our cruise embarkation.

We purchased 20GB data for €40 each.

Here's where it got strange:

S23 activated eSIM almost instantly after payment. QR code scan was all that was needed. Phone number assigned was a Greek number. Less than 5 minutes and my son's S23 was online with 5G service.

14PM took many attempts by the Vodaphone rep and could not activate my 14PM. After an hour with a Vodaphone tech support and manager, they were able to activate it. Strange, though the second line did not have a Greek number assigned on the secondary line but when I texted or called, a Greek number popped up on my wife's & son's phones. 5G would not work so had to switch to 4G.

Is this common with the 14PM ?

If I had a choice, I'd rather go back to a physical SIM which I had been using for many years prior to eSIM.

Or my son who made fun by saying I should get an S23....

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Appreciate the real world info and glad everything eventually worked out. However, definitely frustrating you can’t just pick up a pSIM from somewhere and pop it in then have to wait an hour on vacation just for a phone.

I don’t travel overseas frequently anymore but I do use both eSIM/pSIM on my phone and I’ve more or less boycotted the new iPhones due to this unnecessary move. The fact the US is the only market that doesn’t have the pSIM anymore is no doubt because of the carriers.

 

[nburwell]

I’m curious about this as well since I have a 14 Pro and will be traveling overseas next year. The last time my wife and I were in Europe, I had my X and 1st gen SE. I purchased a physical SIM for Orange via Amazon before we flew out. As soon as we landed in Paris, I popped in the SIM on my SE and the phone connected immediately. Data speeds were so slow on my X (T-Mobile) that we just ended up using my SE for the entirety of the trip while we were out. While we’d use our TMO locked iPhones when we were connected to Wi-Fi back at the hotel.

 

[4sallypat]

I’m curious about this as well since I have a 14 Pro and will be traveling overseas next year. The last time my wife and I were in Europe, I had my X and 1st gen SE. I purchased a physical SIM for Orange via Amazon before we flew out. As soon as we landed in Paris, I popped in the SIM on my SE and the phone connected immediately. Data speeds were so slow on my X (T-Mobile) that we just ended up using my SE for the entirety of the trip while we were out. While we’d use our TMO locked iPhones when we were connected to Wi-Fi back at the hotel.

Yes, exactly how we travelled in the past - buy a pSIM before heading out and then pop it in - worked every time.

eSIM seemed to have an issue with my 14PM and eventually worked at low 4G speeds which was an issue when navigating on foot.

Before I jumped ship from T Mobile's grandfathered international plan (unlimited), i was even easier as I didn't need to buy an international pSIM.

Now that I have Verizon and $10/day is a bit much, I'd rather have pSIM ability like the old days....

 

[4sallypat]

Appreciate the real world info and glad everything eventually worked out. However, definitely frustrating you can’t just pick up a pSIM from somewhere and pop it in then have to wait an hour on vacation just for a phone.

I don’t travel overseas frequently anymore but I do use both eSIM/pSIM on my phone and I’ve more or less boycotted the new iPhones due to this unnecessary move. The fact the US is the only market that doesn’t have the pSIM anymore is no doubt because of the carriers.

My wife said the same thing - why her 12PM took the pSIM and had instant access while my "newer" 14PM wouldn't...

She said she is keeping her 12PM until support is no longer offered....

 

[Mikeske]

When we traveled to the Philippines in Feb. with my 14 Pro and my wife's 13 mini we did not even bother getting a e-sim for mine or a physical sim for my wife's phone all we did was use the text and data and that was free from our USA carrier (T-Mobile). 3 years prior we had both got physical sims for our phones (11 Pro and SE) there and I found we never called that much because we just do a quick text with the wife's family or use data so it was a waste of time for us.

 

[Azzin]

Travelled last month from Europe for 2 weeks with my 14PM, wife's 12PM, and son's Samsung S23.

We are experienced international travellers and in the past before eSIM, we purchased physical SIMs in many countries without an issue.

This time my first travelling with an eSIM iPhone.

All phones in our travel were unlocked, fully paid for and are not restricted.

Wife's 12PM had pre-purchased Orange data SIM from Amazon and the physical SIM activated instantly in Athens, Greece without an issue. Her phone had a French number.

14PM & S23 phones we visited a local Vodaphone store in Athens, Greece before we started our cruise embarkation.

We purchased 20GB data for €40 each.

Here's where it got strange:

S23 activated eSIM almost instantly after payment. QR code scan was all that was needed. Phone number assigned was a Greek number. Less than 5 minutes and my son's S23 was online with 5G service.

14PM took many attempts by the Vodaphone rep and could not activate my 14PM. After an hour with a Vodaphone tech support and manager, they were able to activate it. Strange, though the second line did not have a Greek number assigned on the secondary line but when I texted or called, a Greek number popped up on my wife's & son's phones. 5G would not work so had to switch to 4G.

Is this common with the 14PM ?

If I had a choice, I'd rather go back to a physical SIM which I had been using for many years prior to eSIM.

Or my son who made fun by saying I should get an S23....

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FYI, my Vodafone (UK) (e)SIM drama:
Post in thread 'eSIM + Dual SIM Q&A'
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/esim-dual-sim-q-a.2150226/post-32294106

 

[Shouldibuy]

first of all welcome to greece, enjoy your stay. just a headsup our cell signls are bad everwhere so don't expect 5g speeds around. also if you plan on coming back next summer , hit me up i can let you know about the summer deals for prepaid cards, you can get like unlimited data for like 10 euros for a whole month, and since you got the card already you wont need to repurchase it. right now im also on vodafone so far they been working great for me.

 

[adrianlondon]

I went to Asia in March with my 11. I'd never used an eSIM before but scanned the QR code at Taipei airport and it worked immediately. My phone doesn't support 5G.

It took me a while to get used to having two numbers, and it was irritating to have the original number (from the physical SIM) immediately removed from iMessage and FaceTime as soon as I deactivated it (as I didn't want to pay any roaming charges!). If the physical SIM was in a different phone and just turned off, it would have worked fine.

Diverting all calls (on the original/home number) to voicemail and disabling data roaming on it seemed to have fixed that issue and stopped me incurring any roaming fees.

As an aside:

Apple still, after all these years, has an issue with trying to half-heartedly merge iMessages to SMS and FaceTime to phone calls. I'm slowly moving all my contacts over to using WhatsApp instead. Dedicated app, no confusion.

In iMessage, recipients often end up with multiple message threads when I switch iMessage phone numbers or from a number to an email etc.

 

[4sallypat]

When we traveled to the Philippines in Feb. with my 14 Pro and my wife's 13 mini we did not even bother getting a e-sim for mine or a physical sim for my wife's phone all we did was use the text and data and that was free from our USA carrier (T-Mobile). 3 years prior we had both got physical sims for our phones (11 Pro and SE) there and I found we never called that much because we just do a quick text with the wife's family or use data so it was a waste of time for us.

Yes, same here - for many years of international travels in the past we had T mobile international data & text service but speeds were slow (3G).

Now we have switched to T Mobile prepaid service to save 60% on our bill since we don't use much data at home.

 

[4sallypat]

I went to Asia in March with my 11. I'd never used an eSIM before but scanned the QR code at Taipei airport and it worked immediately. My phone doesn't support 5G.

It took me a while to get used to having two numbers, and it was irritating to have the original number (from the physical SIM) immediately removed from iMessage and FaceTime as soon as I deactivated it (as I didn't want to pay any roaming charges!). If the physical SIM was in a different phone and just turned off, it would have worked fine.

Diverting all calls (on the original/home number) to voicemail and disabling data roaming on it seemed to have fixed that issue and stopped me incurring any roaming fees.

As an aside:

Apple still, after all these years, has an issue with trying to half-heartedly merge iMessages to SMS and FaceTime to phone calls. I'm slowly moving all my contacts over to using WhatsApp instead. Dedicated app, no confusion.

In iMessage, recipients often end up with multiple message threads when I switch iMessage phone numbers or from a number to an email etc.

I turned off the primary home line when I was on holiday - kept getting confused which line was being used.

Using the eSIM secondary line, did work well in other European countries we cruised to: Mykonos, Greece; Split, Croatia; Venice, Italy; Brinidisi - Lecce, Italy.

 

[kp98077]

yes I have been hearing similar stories.. it's crazy they went to e sim only and try to say "its for your security" lol. things like this make me want to go back to Samsung. I have Verizon, shouldn't you just land and it message you and e sim option?

 

[HawkTheHusky1902]

My wife said the same thing - why her 12PM took the pSIM and had instant access while my "newer" 14PM wouldn't...

She said she is keeping her 12PM until support is no longer offered....

She should get an Android device and install a third-party OS on it (like LineageOS, Postmarket OS, Ubuntu Touch which allows you to use your phone as a desktop with an external monitor hooked up, etc.). Much more secure and you never run out of support and you dont suffer anymore from the big corporations' planned obsolesence. She can use the phone for as long as the phone is physically working.

 

[HawkTheHusky1902]

yes I have been hearing similar stories.. it's crazy they went to e sim only and try to say "its for your security" lol. things like this make me want to go back to Samsung. I have Verizon, shouldn't you just land and it message you and e sim option?

May i ask, why 5G? 4G not fast enough lol?

 

[klasma]

She should get an Android device and install a third-party OS on it (like LineageOS, Postmarket OS, Ubuntu Touch which allows you to use your phone as a desktop with an external monitor hooked up, etc.).

Banking apps and streaming apps tend to refuse to work on third-party OSes. There are workarounds, but it's a constant struggle.

 

[1rottenapple]

I’ve done esim in the last 2 years and have good experience. I like landing and automatically connecting. Needless to say I would like a physical sim for flexibility. While nomad esim are well priced someone’s it’s cheaper to buy local when staying somewhere for a long time.

 

[HawkTheHusky1902]

Banking apps and streaming apps tend to refuse to work on third-party OSes. There are workarounds, but it's a constant struggle.

Yeah, but find a more secure bank then.

 

[HawkTheHusky1902]

I’ve done esim in the last 2 years and have good experience. I like landing and automatically connecting. Needless to say I would like a physical sim for flexibility. While nomad esim are well priced someone’s it’s cheaper to buy local when staying somewhere for a long time.

Being able to just pull out a sim card out of your phone is a luxury now....

 

[adrianlondon]

I’ve done esim in the last 2 years and have good experience. I like landing and automatically connecting. Needless to say I would like a physical sim for flexibility. While nomad esim are well priced someone’s it’s cheaper to buy local when staying somewhere for a long time.

Quite a few places do eSIMs for tourists (or cheap pre-pay for anyone).

It's much easier just to stand at their booth/shop and scan a QR code than to mess around taking my phone out of its case, jamming some thin bendy piece of metal into the sim-eject hole (who carries that official little prodding thing? Well, ok, I do ...) and hoping not to lose the original tiny little bit of plastic that you've just taken out.