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iPhone Users Report iMessage Deactivation Issue Linked to T-Mobile eSIM Accounts [Updated]

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Some iPhone users on T-Mobile's cellular service are reportedly experiencing an eSIM bug that causes iMessage and FaceTime to deactivate for their phone number, with no way to reactivate it.

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Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman brought the issue to light by tweeting about his own experience with the issue. Gurman said the only solution that worked for him was getting a physical SIM card.

There is a very nasty iPhone and @TMobile bug where iMessage and FaceTime for a device's phone number will randomly deactivate and there is no way to reactivate it. The only solution that worked for me is getting a new physical SIM card. An extremely disappointing issue.
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In a follow-up tweet, Gurman said another solution that had worked for some was to remove the eSim account from the iPhone and then set it up again. "But that's complex for most people and shouldn't need to ever be done," he added.

Gurman said the T-Mobile store representative who helped him quickly activate a physical SIM for his iPhone revealed that other customers had visited the store with the same eSIM issue after Apple had been unable to resolve it, suggesting it could be an increasingly widespread problem.

"This issue for sure has existed on iOS 15.4, iOS 15.5, and iOS 15.6 beta 1," Gurman continued in another tweet. "Potentially earlier too, but that's all I can confirm right now."

The Twitter thread has since received replies from other T-Mobile customers chiming in with similar experiences, with some reporting that Apple is aware of the issue but the company has not been able to resolve it. We'll update this post if we learn more about the eSIM issue, which appears to be limited to T-Mobile customers at this time.

Update: T-Mobile said they are working with Apple to try to resolve the issue, according to a follow-up tweet from Gurman.

Article Link: iPhone Users Report iMessage Deactivation Issue Linked to T-Mobile eSIM Accounts [Updated]
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/05/20/iphone-imessage-deactivation-issue-t-mobile/
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stringbender said:
.... FIRST !! Annnnd this is why you should stick with a physical SIM card.
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One of the reasons. I tried the e-SIM route with Verizon and it was a headache. The rep didn't even really know how to do it or what I was talking about even though it had been available for years at this point. Then when I did get one I found myself in a position where I was swapping between phones so an eSIM was absolutely worthless as I had to call customer service EVERY time I swapped devices or bought a new phone. This needs to be something you can do online, without a customer rep, in order to make things easier. I went back to a physical SIM and don't regret it.
 
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I’ve been on the eSIM since I got my iPhone 13 Pro Max, haven’t had the issue yet. If it does happen, at least I know what could be a possible fix. Unless Apple releases a patch to iOS in the near future or T-Mobile updates their carrier settings.
 
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I have the exact same problem with Vodafone in the UK using an esim on my iPhone - had tried explaining it to apple support but they insisted it was a Vodafone issue and Vodafone insist it’s an apple issue. Have kind of given up and just living with it not working but clearly this is a more widespread issue.
 
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Sheepish-Lord said:
One of the reasons. I tried the e-SIM route with Verizon and it was a headache. The rep didn't even really know how to do it or what I was talking about even though it had been available for years at this point. Then when I did get one I found myself in a position where I was swapping between phones so an eSIM was absolutely worthless as I had to call customer service EVERY time I swapped devices or bought a new phone. This needs to be something you can do online, without a customer rep, in order to make things easier. I went back to a physical SIM and don't regret it.
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Inability to swap phones at will, without dealing with CS is why I switched from Sprint to GSM/SIM only, somewhere in the early 2000s. Long before iPhone.

When Apple announced eSIM, I was like "Nope... NEVER!"
 
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Apple + SaaS = ?
Almost every week a new headline about something that Apple is involved is not working. And these were just the major stuff that went public, I don’t want to know how much more does not work decently. Their services availability status images must be static and set to always fine and running.
 
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I used to use eSIM on AT&T, but it was always a bit flaky. The most memorable bug: SMS character count always said 0/0 unless you had a physical SIM in the device as well. There is an open (and surprisingly, acknowledged) bug report with Apple. But as far as I know, it has been well over a year since I first reported it with iOS 14 and remains unfixed.

It surprised me that Apple shipped their iPhone 13 models with eSIM, given how unreliable and buggy eSIM has proven to be.
 
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I guess I was cool before it was cool.

I am on T-Mo with eSIM and had the iMessage activation issue way back in February. Had hours of calls/troubleshooting with Apple Support, even had it escalated and a case opened with Engineering, and they could never figure out why it wouldn't work.

About a month ago, I had the crazy idea to transfer my eSIM to the second number on my work phone to see if it would work there. It was actually pretty easy, since they are both on the same Apple ID and all I had to do was choose add plan on the other phone and it moved it from phone number one.

After moving the eSIM back, I have not had a singe iMessage or FaceTime activation issue.
 
There's also an issue with eSIM + Physical SIM working at the same time - when I use FaceTime audio / video sometimes I hear only every second word and my callers too... It happens in places where I have a great cellular coverage and it works fine with only one SIM or eSIM working. Issue happened when dual SIM option is on. It's been like that since iPhone 12, then I checked iPhone 12 Pro Max, next iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 13 Pro Max now (and no, I'm not downloading backup from iCloud - I start every phone like a new one and I also changed SIM/eSIM cards for new ones... This happens on T-Mobile Poland and Play.
 
neuropsychguy said:
If this is only affecting T-Mobile customers, it's unlikely to be only an Apple issue (i.e., there's something with T-Mobile's network or it's network settings playing a role). Hopefully Apple and T-Mobile engineers can figure it out.
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Hmm, my mother is on AT&T here in the States and her phone was suddenly kicked off of iMessages and FaceTime. I haven't had the time to check why, figuring she did something, but I wonder...
 
Aston441 said:
Inability to swap phones at will, without dealing with CS is why I switched from Sprint to GSM/SIM only, somewhere in the early 2000s. Long before iPhone.

When Apple announced eSIM, I was like "Nope... NEVER!"
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You don't have to deal with CS in order to switch eSIMs around between devices. The idea is that you can manage eSIM profiles on the device itself. If anything, eSIMs make switching carriers easier because you don't have to physically visit a store to get a SIM card (or wait for it to be delivered in the mail!).
 
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Reason077 said:
You don't have to deal with CS in order to switch eSIMs around between devices. If anything, eSIMs make switching carriers easier because you don't have to physically visit a store to get a SIM card (or wait for it to be delivered in the mail!).
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With AT&T you still do. But Verizon lets you do it on their website (albeit from a PC/Mac, not on mobile). I believe T-Mobile even does it from right within their app.
 
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I had this issue about 2 months ago... iPhone 13 pro max esim on t-mobile. Did software update and lost iMessage. Spent 2 days on the phone with apple who had me do every reset known to man. Apple was about to have me wipe the phone and reinstall the OS, but then I went onto the apple forums.

On the apple forums there were MANY people with the same issue and several of them had solved it by getting a physical SIM card. I posted about this in the macrumors forums too. I got a physical sim, turned off esim, and everything has been fine since then.
 
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Reason077 said:
You don't have to deal with CS in order to switch eSIMs around between devices. The idea is that you can manage eSIM profiles on the device itself. If anything, eSIMs make switching carriers easier because you don't have to physically visit a store to get a SIM card (or wait for it to be delivered in the mail!).
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Didn’t work that way in my experience and getting a physical e-sim takes about 1-2 days in the US. Then I can just swap it around phones, no internet or account BS required. As long as you aren’t changing carriers then it’s all good.
 
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xpxp2002 said:
With AT&T you still do. But Verizon lets you do it on their website (albeit from a PC/Mac, not on mobile). I believe T-Mobile even does it from right within their app.
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You can do it from the cellular tab on the settings page
2ACB097E-7044-4F7F-9932-F509B649D11C.jpeg


I did this on my iPad and it was instantaneous ?, but now I can’t use iMessage lolol
 
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I have a 13 Pro Max on TM eSim. Mine get continuously reactivated. Every morning I have several notifications about Wifi calling enabled and phone number being used issues. Some text don’t make it. It’s very unstable.
 
Apleeseed84 said:
You can do it from the cellular tab on the settings pageView attachment 2007301

I did this on my iPad and it was instantaneous ?, but now I can’t use iMessage lolol
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So, that will convert a physical SIM to eSIM. But if you want to have a new eSIM provisioned after that, you have to call.

As restrictive as AT&T's eSIM provisioning options are, oddly that "convert to eSIM" option has never been offered on any Verizon or T-Mobile SIM I've seen. I suspect only AT&T supports it. Though I do wish Apple would work with the other carriers to expand it so that going to physical SIM to eSIM was more seamless.
 
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xpxp2002 said:
So, that will convert a physical SIM to eSIM. But if you want to have a new eSIM provisioned after that, you have to call.

As restrictive as AT&T's eSIM provisioning options are, oddly that "convert to eSIM" option has never been offered on any Verizon or T-Mobile SIM I've seen. I suspect only AT&T supports it. Though I do wish Apple would work with the other carriers to expand it so that going to physical SIM to eSIM was more seamless.
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Oh for sure, I always had issues upgrading or switching out watches because of this, I always had to call them, even when I was a sales rep for AT&T, if we messed up the activation process the device is done for, we had to get a new one, they tried to have us escalate the issue through att and then they had to call apple to fix it, rarely did it work ?
 
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