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Since this is opt in by networks, I look forward to EE not allowing it.

They still don’t let you transfer it through quick start. You have to either download an eSIM to your new phone or get another QR code card. And you need the old eSIM still active to get a text to activate the new one 🤔

It’s a right mess, this should be supported by default without carrier intervention
I would assume carriers would flip out and drop eSIM support if it did something they don’t allow.
 
This is good to see

eSIM being a bit of a hassle to move around is one reason I've kept everyone I know on regular SIMs with their devices.

Helps a lot when they switch or something breaks and they need a quick swap to a backup device, etc
 
The big question is: can an eSim can be transferred without fee? AT&T loves to charge for anything and everything.

I don't know about AT&T, but I've transferred eSIMs with Verizon and never been charged a fee. Although I should probably add that I buy my phones outright directly from Apple as the SIM-free versions. If you buy a phone on a purchase plan, your mileage may vary.
 
Battery life. The iPad is basically a big mobile hotspot. It will significantly outlast the iPhone's battery, especially if you have to join a phone call while using the hotspot at the same time.

VoLTE allows both voice and data to be used at the same time.
 
Even with the battery life of my iPhone 13 Pro Max, tethering will nuke my battery. I only bought the Wi-Fi version of my last iPad because of the COVID lockdowns. The worst of COVID is now over and I plan to travel more

It's not gonna work very well if you frequently travel internationally, as roaming on multiple devices will cost you a fortune. I have a dedicated LTE dual-band physical wifi hotspot for travel, which also act as a 4400 mAh power bank.
 
My iPhone Max Pros for the last three year models have Verizon on e-sim and O2 in the UK on an actual sim. I get an O2 sim for the iPad 11 Pro after getting to the UK. Verizon overseas charges are an extortion.
 
Can I use it to transfer eSIM to set up my next iPad Pro this fall when I buy it or would I have to open up a separate line from my carrier?
Yes and no. You can’t use this feature to duplicate the eSIM from your iPhone to your iPad. But many carriers let you add a tablet to an existing line.

Google Fi’s Unlimited Plus plan includes this for free. You can activate a data-only plan on your iPad or Apple Watch without opening a new line.

AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon postpaid plans charge $20/mo to add a tablet to your existing account. If you have a prepaid plan, you’ll probably have to pay more to add a tablet.
 
Yaas! I flew to the U.S. to get a iPhone in January to replace my one I had set up with SoftBank cellular in Japan, but had to wait until I returned thete to activate my eSim swap. This new feature would have been great to have!
 
The cellular iPad has it's own data package instead of sharing the iPhone data plan
If your plan does this, you need to upgrade your plan to the latest one your carrier offers. I thought i was saving money for the long run and saving data, But you can get unlimited data with your ipad if you have the newest plan and not grandfathered. What happens with new cell plans is that all your devices share the same allocation you got it than pay for different limited plans.


WIth that said though AT&T will somehow still mess transferring E-sims up lolol

10/10 times I always have to escalate this issue to a service technician to get this resolved when they reprovision my profile lololol
 
Looking forward to Australia major telco delay the release of this feature indefinitely. Telstra even today don’t support iPad Pro eSIM.
 
This is amazing! Now I don't have to carry a backup of the eSIM physical QR code in case I break phones.

Take a photo of the QR code, or ask the carrier to send you one via email. I've kept a copy handy that way.
I thought the eSIM QR codes were single use so once you'd activated an eSIM using the QR code it then couldn't be used again ( to avoid someone using your old code to do a SIM swap theft)
 
Half the time was spent explaining to CS the concept of an eSIM.
My experience is more ridiculous: my first iPad, 2018 iPad Pro, already had eSIM and I got it in my iPad a while ago. Then, iPad had some issues, which needed swap, after then, CS just keep telling me eSIM won’t work on iPad despite me running it for months without issue. End up having to use SIM card.
 
I thought the eSIM QR codes were single use so once you'd activated an eSIM using the QR code it then couldn't be used again ( to avoid someone using your old code to do a SIM swap theft)
I just got an extra QR code from AT&T "just in case". So if I ever needed to set something up again, I could do it easily without going to the store. It ended up coming in handy.

But now, you are able to activate by giving a customer service agent the IMEI for the eSIM. If they know what they are doing, it's a quick process.
 
I prefer to use normal SIM. But this is a wonderful feature and should make it very easy to transfer eSIM. Hope it becomes available everywhere and all network operators support it.
 
Looking forward to Australia major telco delay the release of this feature indefinitely. Telstra even today don’t support iPad Pro eSIM.

I'm absolutely terrified of Apple removing the physical sim card from iPhones which is likely to occur within the next few years. Australia is so far behind in this area. Optus requires you to physically visit a store during business hours with 100 points of ID to move an esim to a different phone. Broken phone roaming overseas? Too bad, no service until you return to Australia. It's genuinely amazing how much more convenient esims could be and yet Optus has made them less convenient than a 30 year old piece of plastic.

However, Optus is only partly to blame. esim should have always supported the end user moving a sim between devices without having to involve their carrier, just like physical sim cards. How did no one developing the spec consider this scenario?
 
Since this is opt in by networks, I look forward to EE not allowing it.

They still don’t let you transfer it through quick start. You have to either download an eSIM to your new phone or get another QR code card. And you need the old eSIM still active to get a text to activate the new one 🤔

It’s a right mess, this should be supported by default without carrier intervention
Completely agree in terms of it being a right mess… I had nothing but trouble last year when wanting to swap my eSIM from iPhone SE (2020) to iPhone 12.

If the future is indeed eSIM it needs to be much more seamless.
 
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