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iPhone 15 Models Sold Outside U.S. Still Have Physical SIM Card Tray
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I was able to add AppleCare+ theft and loss with an iPhone bought in Thailand... So that works. I agree with you about the other things. Biggest thing is losing mmWave. But then I don't know how important that is either. I do agree the SOS and etc with satellite and all sucks from HK, Mainland China iPhones. However, you can buy in Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, or Singapore and it all works except mmWave. As far as I know.
I’d do the opposite. eSIM for my home carrier and a physical SIM that won’t give me those same eSIM headaches for travel
That’s the whole point. You can buy it for less than $20 and get a month or two of unlimited everything service. The eSIM, for traveling is a ripoff for sure. Even if you think it’s easier to be prepared like the poster you replied to, it’s not. It’s one more hassle of something that takes less than a minute for sometimes as low as 1/60th or 1/120th the price of paying a US carrier for the privilege. Apple sucks to do this to people without the option of just buying one with a SIM card slot while it’s available everywhere else in the world. Tim Cook may be good at maximizing shareholder value but he’s also good at making Apple seem like a monopoly in bed with the carriers at all points to ensure Apple can make extra money. Remember a few years ago Apple had an internal post about how do they get more people to buy from Apple rather than the carriers.
Most people don’t realize this but the wealth gap has gotten so great we will never recover as a country until it collapses. The amount of money Tim and the executive team makes is truly absurd considering they’re maximizing the shareholder value now with no real foresight on what’s going to happen 10-25 years into the future.
The new MacBooks may seem like what people want, but the original M1 Pro/Max only had an HDMI 2.0 port which couldn’t handle the same bandwidth as a Thunderbolt/USB4 port. SD card is for basic photography. The vast majority of “professional” photographers have CF Express now. Skate to where the puck is headed. Apple went too soon initially then the reverse course five years later was absolutely stupid.
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For what it’s worth, you can get prepaid eSIMs from the Philippines now. Costs less than $2 and they’ll deliver it via email. I believe they also offer eSIMs at the airport kiosks but they’re tied to unnecessarily expensive tourist plans (96GB with 90 days unlimited calls and texts for ~$40).
Smart Online Store: SIMs
I set up ours in preparation for our trip and loaded them with a ₱749 (~$13) promo with non-expiring 48GB data, 600 minutes and 600 SMS. I think Airalo gives you 5GB data only for 30 days at that price.
I would've been all-in on the eSIM train had they let the users themselves transfer eSIMs from device to device using 'eSIM Quick Transfer'
But nope, the carriers dictate whether a user can or cannot use the transfer function. Might not be a issue with the 3 major US carriers but definitely an issue with international carriers.
Find wireless carriers and worldwide service providers that offer eSIM service on iPhone - Apple Support
An eSIM is a digital SIM that allows you to activate a mobile data plan from your network provider without having to use a physical nano-SIM. Find out which wireless carriers in your country or region offer cellular plans on an eSIM, either activated by eSIM Carrier Activation, eSIM Quick...support.apple.com
Interestingly enough, the carrier we’ll be using in the Philippines allows prepaid eSIM transfer by rescanning the QR code. Works on both iPhone and Androids.
Caveat using this method, you need to delete the eSIM from the old phone before you can transfer it to the new phone. I’ve tried it and I was able to transfer the eSIM from an iPhone 12 to an iPhone 12 mini. I wish all carriers would support this.
Agree. My wife and I have eSIM from DTAC Thailand that allow us to do that. If they made it that easy, it would make sense. Verizon and T-Mobile are just seemingly going to refuse. And with AT&T you get a locked iPhone even from Apple. You can’t even tell them you want to use it on AT&T and have to just say other. I don’t get AT&T. Make customers hate you into wanting to pay more for worse service?
Yes, that’s pretty much their business model from what I can tell.
The eSIM debate is pointless so long as Apple make any iPhones with the physical SIM card slot, because they actually have to go out of their way to replace it with a plastic spacer, whereas the normal iPhone with physical SIM card slot doesn’t make you choose between having eSIM or not, it simply gives you the option to choose whether to use a physical or eSIM.
Choices are good.
Buying directly from Apple, AT&T is only locked if you use AT&T carrier financing to pay for the phone. If you use Apple Card Monthly Installments, Apple iPhone Upgrade Program or pay in full, then the phone is unlocked. All the installment plans do require carrier activation now though (usually with $30-35 activation fee).
We've been with AT&T for almost 2 decades. I check T-Mobile every now and then but their rates are usually on par or costs more than our grandfathered AT&T family plan (with corporate discount) plus T-Mobile's signal at my office is pretty poor. Verizon has better service than AT&T in our location but they're usually significantly more expensive as well. AT&T is that middle ground between T-Mobile and Verizon for service and pricing.
Also looked at prepaid. Prepaid plans are cheaper for low data usage and solo subscribers. Family of 4? That's when postpaid prices become comparable to prepaid.
I agree. And everywhere in the world except USA, Apple is searching for customers. In the USA, Apple cares about the carriers first and foremost. That’s why we are in this mess. There are also tradeoffs. Want mmWave need USA iPhone but it’s really rarely an issue. I have a Visible+ eSIM, T-Mobile eSIM always on in my new iPhone 15 PM, and a DTAC Thailand eSIM that I can turn on when I want roaming on the SIM-less iPhone.
I will buy a second iPhone in Thailand, Japan or South Korea in two weeks if I can. Will be in Hong Kong also, but I want the SOS feature for certain and HK, Macau, and mainland China don’t have it built into the iPhones. But they do have dual SIM slots which I had before and it was nice. I have two more work SIM cards that are on Verizon and Mint.
I plan to get the exact same iPhone 15PM just a different color. Then I can use one for personal and one for business. I have five lines in total, so usually the Thai DTAC eSIM is turned off. I have two physical SIM cards that are in my Nothing phone now but I prefer to torture myself in the “ecosystem!” So I will have to figure out how to transfer a work SIM to eSIM. Probably Mint as they don’t charge the same fees as Verizon.
I really like the Nothing phone but every client I have uses an iPhone. All from Asia, and it’s just nice to have a secure iMessage method where my work can be on the work phone instead of receiving work iMessages on my personal iPhone and calls on my Nothing phone. Real pain in the rectum.
Really wish Apple was run by someone who had vision for the future and not someone who only cares about the shareholders and his $100m annual stock grants.