Yup, that was my experience with South Africa, Namibia, and Zim for business travel. Not sure how Apple thinks I'm going to get an e-Sim in a country with literal rolling electricity blackouts for hours a day. The infrastructure is obviously not there.
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iPhone 15 Models Sold Outside U.S. Still Have Physical SIM Card Tray
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E-Sim is an inconvenient, always more expansive option than physical.
Taking away the Sim card slot and replacing it with a plastic square to force the industry to the standard through which customers suffer ..is despicable.
Sure, most of you americans don't even get a passport throughout all your life and only travel to "Mexico" which is Cabo for you haaaahaha, L
Taking away the Sim card slot and replacing it with a plastic square to force the industry to the standard through which customers suffer ..is despicable.
Sure, most of you americans don't even get a passport throughout all your life and only travel to "Mexico" which is Cabo for you haaaahaha, L
There are still way too many countries where eSIMs are either inconvenient, more expensive or both.
Deutsche Telekom for example insisted on sending me the QR code via mail and not simply show it on the web login or send it to my email. I had to wait 3 days for it to show up...
In Egypt there were online eSIM options I could've bought before traveling, but pricing was much higher than just buying a physical SIM at the airport. Similar type of plan, 8€ at the airport vs. 49€ as an online eSIM?
Deutsche Telekom for example insisted on sending me the QR code via mail and not simply show it on the web login or send it to my email. I had to wait 3 days for it to show up...
In Egypt there were online eSIM options I could've bought before traveling, but pricing was much higher than just buying a physical SIM at the airport. Similar type of plan, 8€ at the airport vs. 49€ as an online eSIM?
Happy to see that physical SIM models are still available in international markets
This entire debate could be easily mitigated by reintroducing the sim tray post iPhone 14 experiment in the US market. There are obviously other reasons than saving $0.10 to strip the ga-ga untraveled US market from this practical provision.
I don’t know why Apple is going through this pain.
Forcing US people to use solely ESim, while rest of the world continues to enjoy a Sim Tray which has lead to confusion and online forums to be people arguing over the whole thing.
Why can’t they just put the tray back and let people decide which to use? It wouldn’t even surprise me if they quietly restore the thing in the next year or 2 and not even mention it.
Forcing US people to use solely ESim, while rest of the world continues to enjoy a Sim Tray which has lead to confusion and online forums to be people arguing over the whole thing.
Why can’t they just put the tray back and let people decide which to use? It wouldn’t even surprise me if they quietly restore the thing in the next year or 2 and not even mention it.
I guess in Europe, there’s too many holdouts for them to move to non physical sim on those markets.
I expect that in the USA, with most operators now on the e-SIM wagon, with many iPhone users not ever leaving the USA borders, so this is less of a problem.
(Meaning no disrespect to those in the USA - it’s a huge country with so much variety).
I expect that in the USA, with most operators now on the e-SIM wagon, with many iPhone users not ever leaving the USA borders, so this is less of a problem.
(Meaning no disrespect to those in the USA - it’s a huge country with so much variety).
1. You normally don’t get local number for phone call.
2. Esim plan are far more expensive than physical SIM card.
3. In some country- like Singapore for example- you can’t get prepaid esim at airport. Need to go to certain store.
Pre-paid esim has gotten slightly better but still much more worse than physical SIM card.
We'll just have to hope it gets better over the next year, since the rumors are that the 16 series will be esim only in all markets.
How would you know that you’ve never encountered a mmWave signal if your phone can’t even detect a mmWave signal?
Weird that Apple doesn’t sell an unlocked “global” version with physical sim in the US.
Supposedly, the only reason Apple still has physical SIM on global versions is that they have international partners who have not upgraded their processes to support provisioning eSIM. The iPhone 15 exists alongside a 1 year extension, and the 16 is being designed to not have a spot for a physical SIM slot.
This doesn't mean that carriers will get off their butts and support eSIM; it does mean that partners who haven't done so either will have to do a more expensive manual process (such as provisioning at a retail location) or will be unable to sell the 16. Likewise, non-partners who still havent' supported any eSIM provisioning/activation just won't have a way to support the 16.
This is pretty similar to the situation we've had with Apple Watch, although the phone and the watch have different sets of options for provisioning/activating an eSIM.
How do you know that it’s going to be mandatory worldwide? Good luck mandating some e-sims or anything else in 195 countries.
Just as I was ready to buy the 14pro a year ago, I was able (via extensive pain) to secure a NOS 13pro for the purpose of having that simple, but ingenious sim tray. For people who (really) travel, the e-sim is nothing short of imbecile. Furthermore, if you like e-sims, great for you, and the presence of the tray should have zero relevance to you. I think it’s as simple as yet another profit center for Apple and their carriers. The American general public is more concerned about bragging right of having the newest gadget and the color of their phones. Also, I would be more than happy to pay an additional fee to Apple to have a tray version. Tim screwed up.
Currently the iPhone 15 pro max 1TB in Poland using the current exchange rate as of today, assuming you are a US or outside of EU resident, you purchase the phone where (certain large chains) you will receive a full VAT back and can come back within 3 months to get your refund, it will cost at the end $1,794, which is less than the US unless you purchase a phone in example in Oregon.
Get it in Hong Kong. No sales tax, and you get dual physical SIM. You lose the satellite SOS, though.
eSIM only 16 globally doesn't sound realistic considering there are markets where eSIM isn't even allowed, never mind very rare.
Countries like India make using an eSIM extremely inconvenient. There’s no easy way to transfer esims directly between phones (Need to send a lot of messages, answer calls), and only works when you are in the provider’s coverage area.
There is Hermès iWatch, now there is an opportunity for Apple to bring in the US the limited, exclusive “Travel Edition” iPhone.