iPhone XR Is anyone else furious about the lack of eSIM support?

[GFLPraxis]

I'm currently on T-Mobile, switched towards the end of last year. T-Mobile promised eSIM support by end of year.

They rolled out- in the end of December- support for eSIM for pay-as-you-go accounts only. I'm a T-Mobile One postpaid customer (like most users) and I can't use eSIM.

eSIM was a huge draw for me for the new generation of iPhones. I travel a lot, and I want to be able to pop a local SIM card in and get data. The new T-Mobile One plans allow you to get EDGE data speeds and keep using your US number while abroad- combining this plan with a local SIM card for data would allow me to still get my texts/calls on my US number while using LTE data locally when travelling.


It's now February. I'm planning my first trip out of the country since getting my iPhone XR. And still no eSIM option. I'll have to remove my T-Mobile SIM card when I get in another country, thus blocking me from getting any regular text messages/calls (just iMessages).

And there's still no ETA. Does anyone else find this infuriating? Apple advertised this feature as a dual SIM and the carrier's slow rollout of support makes it unusable.

 

[JPack]

eSIM is a feature that was pushed onto carriers but didn't offer much benefit from their POV. It allows carriers to reach out and capture low-loyalty customers (pre-paid), but why offer it to post-paid? In addition, eSIM allows Apple to negotiate a revenue cut from the carriers.

Should you be furious? Probably not, if you set your expectations correctly. Look at the landscape - major carriers aren't motivated to adopt this.

 

[Ebok]

Furious over technology? No. Never in my life.

 

[andiwm2003]

I texted with t-mobile yesterday. They said they support switching my simply prepaid $40 plan over to the eSIM via the eSIM t-mobile app. However the rep warned me that it’s too unreliable (lost calls) right now and he recommended to stay on the physical sim for now.

 

[0970373]

I'm currently on T-Mobile, switched towards the end of last year. T-Mobile promised eSIM support by end of year.

They rolled out- in the end of December- support for eSIM for pay-as-you-go accounts only. I'm a T-Mobile One postpaid customer (like most users) and I can't use eSIM.

eSIM was a huge draw for me for the new generation of iPhones. I travel a lot, and I want to be able to pop a local SIM card in and get data. The new T-Mobile One plans allow you to get EDGE data speeds and keep using your US number while abroad- combining this plan with a local SIM card for data would allow me to still get my texts/calls on my US number while using LTE data locally when travelling.


It's now February. I'm planning my first trip out of the country since getting my iPhone XR. And still no eSIM option. I'll have to remove my T-Mobile SIM card when I get in another country, thus blocking me from getting any regular text messages/calls (just iMessages).

And there's still no ETA. Does anyone else find this infuriating? Apple advertised this feature as a dual SIM and the carrier's slow rollout of support makes it unusable.

I travel overseas often also and TMO's response (or lack thereof) is why I left for Verizon. But TMO does have eSim for pre-paid. The app works well, which is why I can't think of a reason why they wouldn't allow this on postpaid. It makes no sense at all.

I've batted the idea of going back to TMO as prepaid but then I couldn't use the Apple iPhone Upgrade Program. But you can use the pre-paid service on eSIM since you use local SIMs anyway (as I do). You can still get calls & texts. I am on the 5gb VZW plan now for $55 + tax. I don't think I've ever used more than 3gb and it has roll over. It isn't the best value but I also don't need unlimited so I'm saving a few $ in the end.

I'll go back to TMO when they officially support eSIM for post paid. the work arounds that some folks have used are a joke and honestly, not worth the trouble. If there's a problem, there is no official help they can provide.


[doublepost=1549398871][/doublepost]

I texted with t-mobile yesterday. They said they support switching my simply prepaid $40 plan over to the eSIM via the eSIM t-mobile app. However the rep warned me that it’s too unreliable (lost calls) right now and he recommended to stay on the physical sim for now.

I asked them about this as well and TMO told me that going from pre-paid to post paid would require a switch to the physical SIM. I call BS but even more reason I can't trust them on this. Why would it be unreliable on post-paid but ok on pre-paid?

 

[Banglazed]

I was able to activate eSIM on T-Mobile by using the unofficial method outlined here earlier last year. I am also a postpaid customer. I was able to do it through the T-Mobile app via their chat. You can even go into the store to get it done but the rep needs to be knowledgeable about what eSIM is though.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/esim-dual-sim-q-a.2150226/page-14#post-26888879

 

[CTHarrryH]

NO - couldn't care less about item 1,000,000 in my wish ist

 

[Trash Can]

It's now February. I'm planning my first trip out of the country since getting my iPhone XR. And still no eSIM option. I'll have to remove my T-Mobile SIM card when I get in another country, thus blocking me from getting any regular text messages/calls (just iMessages).

First world problems.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I am a T-Mobile post-paid user. I have T-Mobile in the physical slot and Verizon in the eSIM.

If I were in your shoes, OP, I wouldn't be furious. Not everything comes to the iPhone on time, whether it be Apple or the individual carriers.

While it may not be the best route, there are other avenues available to you for the time being.

In the future, don't take what the carrier says (re: new feature coming) as gospel, until the new feature is active and available on your plan.

No reason to be furious.

 

[pika2000]

There’s a reason Hong Kong versions of 2018 iPhones carry about an extra premium in the open market. I hope Apple realize that the market wants dual physical SIM, not an eSIM where customers ended up at the mercy of the carrier.

 

[mikehalloran]

Furious? Uhhh yea, no...

The inside info I have that eSIM is not quite ready for prime time – yet. It will get there, no doubt.

I switched from T-Mobile years ago to get the iPhone. Every now and then, I consider switching back but haven’t found a good reason to do so for now. Neither eSIM nor the inclusion of AppleCare with the insurance is compelling enough. Maybe that will change.

 

[OBirder]

eSIM was a huge draw for me for the new generation of iPhones. I travel a lot, and I want to be able to pop a local SIM card in and get data. The new T-Mobile One plans allow you to get EDGE data speeds and keep using your US number while abroad- combining this plan with a local SIM card for data would allow me to still get my texts/calls on my US number while using LTE data locally when travelling.

Sorry to say, that you may look at this from the wrong side.

The way Apple probably intended was, that you keep your main plan on the physical SIM and all your prepaid plans (locally when you travel) as eSIM. That way when you travel you never have to change a SIM card and have the risk of losing it. All you do is activating the local eSIM.

From this perspective T-Mobile might be the only carrier worldwide that is doing it right. For someone that travels to the US, they just keep their main SIM and activate via the App a prepaid T-Mobile eSIM. Traveler plan 21 days 2 GB for $30 or 30 days, unlimited talk and text, 10 GB of data for $40. You can activate it with an email address, zip code and credit card.
Imagine if all large carrier worldwide would offer this kind of prepaid. You can load several eSIM’s. If you travel frequently to many countries that would be the solution to look forward to.

So the main question is how many carriers worldwide do offer prepaid on eSIM?

I know personally:
- T-Mobile (USA)
- AT&T (USA)
- Telekom (Germany) - but you have to get a physical SIM first and then convert it to eSIM

I currently have these plans on my phone (T-Mobile on SIM and the others on eSIM). When I travel the end of this month to Germany all I have to do at the airport is to turn the Telekom eSIM line on and it will automatically turn the AT&T line off.
No more removing case, open SIM slot and fiddle with SIM card).

By the way with the EU liberation of roaming in 2017, I can use the Telekom eSIM in the other EU countries without roaming fees.

In addition I have as you mentioned the basic text and data from T-Mobile.

Lastly, I changed my iMessage and Facetime setup to “start conversations from” from an email, rather than my phone number. That way it doesn’t matter which phone number and data plan is active and hopefully will not mess with my Messages and keep everything in one conversation.

So start pushing all carriers to offer easy prepaid as T-Mobile does.

However I do understand that for now due the lack of prepaid eSIM carriers, you may still have to wait for T-Mobile postpaid eSIM.

 

[Reno Raines]

I still do not see why the esim is better or a better option than a physical sim. I like the dual sim option but with physical sims. To me it is a step backwards as it is easier to just swap out a SIM card if one wants to change phones.

 

[ImAnAgent]

I still do not see why the esim is better or a better option than a physical sim. I like the dual sim option but with physical sims. To me it is a step backwards as it is easier to just swap out a SIM card if one wants to change phones.

This exactly. I opened a prepaid T-Mobile account on my eSim and a day later, called T-Mobile to change the account to a physical sim so I could use it in other phones. One of the reasons I have so many different phones is because I like swiping sims between phones sometimes every day, sometimes weekly. eSims make that hard to do.

 

[andiwm2003]

......................................

So the main question is how many carriers worldwide do offer prepaid on eSIM?

I know personally:
- T-Mobile (USA)
- AT&T (USA)
- Telekom (Germany) - but you have to get a physical SIM first and then convert it to eSIM

I currently have these plans on my phone (T-Mobile on SIM and the others on eSIM). When I travel the end of this month to Germany all I have to do at the airport is to turn the Telekom eSIM line on and it will automatically turn the AT&T line off.
................................

I'm in the exactly same situation as you. However when I asked in the ATT shop to transfer my ATT Prepaid to the eSIM they told me that ATT does NOT offer eSIM for Prepaid plans. How did you get your ATT prepaid onto ythe eSIM?

 

[OBirder]

I still do not see why the esim is better or a better option than a physical sim. I like the dual sim option but with physical sims. To me it is a step backwards as it is easier to just swap out a SIM card if one wants to change phones.

AT&T eSIM implementation:
- Old Phone: remove cellular plan
- New Phone: add cellular plan, scan QR code

To me that's easier than physically changing a SIM, especially since I have the phone in a case. That will be the future. In a few years we will only have eSIM phones.
[doublepost=1549459741][/doublepost]

I'm in the exactly same situation as you. However when I asked in the ATT shop to transfer my ATT Prepaid to the eSIM they told me that ATT does NOT offer eSIM for Prepaid plans. How did you get your ATT prepaid onto ythe eSIM?

My Corporate store was willing to do it. However I told them I will do it myself. I just bought 2 blue eSIM cards for $5 each for me and my wife.

One I activated via chat and the other via 611 Customer Service call from the phone.

I didn't mention the word eSIM. I asked them to update my SIM on the account. I gave them the ICCID of the eSIM card. Once they confirmed I added Cellular Plan, scanned QR code and rebooted phone.

So far works without a problem.

 

[bigjnyc]

I'm currently on T-Mobile, switched towards the end of last year. T-Mobile promised eSIM support by end of year.

They rolled out- in the end of December- support for eSIM for pay-as-you-go accounts only. I'm a T-Mobile One postpaid customer (like most users) and I can't use eSIM.

eSIM was a huge draw for me for the new generation of iPhones. I travel a lot, and I want to be able to pop a local SIM card in and get data. The new T-Mobile One plans allow you to get EDGE data speeds and keep using your US number while abroad- combining this plan with a local SIM card for data would allow me to still get my texts/calls on my US number while using LTE data locally when travelling.


It's now February. I'm planning my first trip out of the country since getting my iPhone XR. And still no eSIM option. I'll have to remove my T-Mobile SIM card when I get in another country, thus blocking me from getting any regular text messages/calls (just iMessages).

And there's still no ETA. Does anyone else find this infuriating? Apple advertised this feature as a dual SIM and the carrier's slow rollout of support makes it unusable.

I'm a T-mobile post paid customer on the ONE plan and I am using E-sim with no issues. I chatted with a rep over imessage and it took like 5 minutes and I was on E-sim... Been using it for a month with no problems at all..... I use the physical sim slot with a pre-paid verizon plan for data since T-mobile does not work in my office building, so I use the verizon for data during the day.

There was no crazy work-around I simply asked for a sim swap, gave the rep the Esim number... got a text message that sim was changed... went to settings > Cellular scanned a QR code, chose primary for the T-MO cell plan.... rebooted my phone and done. Everything has been working as it was before.

 

[AppleHaterLover]

I’m furious with the IRS. I’m furious at the wars in the world. Also, traffic kinda sucked today because it rained. Honestly I was livid.

eSIM sucks. Having your phone linked to your account and depending on your carrier to un-link it is something I’d never do. This something we had to do back in the olden days of TDMA.

 

[JPack]

Sorry to say, that you may look at this from the wrong side.

The way Apple probably intended was, that you keep your main plan on the physical SIM and all your prepaid plans (locally when you travel) as eSIM. That way when you travel you never have to change a SIM card and have the risk of losing it. All you do is activating the local eSIM.

From this perspective T-Mobile might be the only carrier worldwide that is doing it right. For someone that travels to the US, they just keep their main SIM and activate via the App a prepaid T-Mobile eSIM. Traveler plan 21 days 2 GB for $30 or 30 days, unlimited talk and text, 10 GB of data for $40. You can activate it with an email address, zip code and credit card.
Imagine if all large carrier worldwide would offer this kind of prepaid. You can load several eSIM’s. If you travel frequently to many countries that would be the solution to look forward to.

The T-Mobile eSIM app doesn't allow users to enter a non-U.S. billing address or anything other than a ZIP code. It clearly wasn't intended for travelers to the U.S.

"T-Mobile is rolling this app out to its staff for training tomorrow and aims to launch it by the end of the year, according to sources close to the development and rollout. For now, it will only support adding prepaid plans to eSIMs; the thinking seems to be that it will be used for inbound roaming and secondary lines, with customers still going into stores and getting physical SIMs activated for primary lines and family plans."

https://uk.pcmag.com/news/118727/exclusive-heres-the-first-view-of-t-mobiles-esim-app-for-iph

 

[bigjnyc]

I’m furious with the IRS. I’m furious at the wars in the world. Also, traffic kinda sucked today because it rained. Honestly I was livid.

eSIM sucks. Having your phone linked to your account and depending on your carrier to un-link it is something I’d never do. This something we had to do back in the olden days of TDMA.

Correct me if I am wrong but having your phone linked and unlinked just requires a quick call or chat with the provider no? Isn't that more convenient than going to a store to get a physical sim card, or waiting for one in the mail?

*edit* I guess you can say that moving the sim card from your old phone to the new phone is more convenient... In the cases where you don't need a new one.

 

[lenard]

This exactly. I opened a prepaid T-Mobile account on my eSim and a day later, called T-Mobile to change the account to a physical sim so I could use it in other phones. One of the reasons I have so many different phones is because I like swiping sims between phones sometimes every day, sometimes weekly. eSims make that hard to do.

If prepaid was on an app like gigsky esim is easy. Also you have full control to add and remove the plan yourself without have to go a store or losing a tiny SIM card that be your primary account. Hoping that the MVON’s get into esim via app for postpaid and or prepaid.

 

[OBirder]

The T-Mobile eSIM app doesn't allow users to enter a non-U.S. billing address or anything other than a ZIP code. It clearly wasn't intended for travelers to the U.S.

It clearly is, even according to their own FAQ:

—————————————
Why are you choosing to support eSIM with an app?

T-Mobile is making it simple to light up eSIM. Just download the app and select a prepaid plan that works for you. No trekking to a store or juggling two different physical SIM cards – adding a line is done from the convenience of the app, wherever you are. The eSIM app was built for travelers coming to the U.S., existing T-Mobile customers who want a secondary pre-paid line and anyone who wants to take the Un-carrier out for a test drive to try out America’s fastest 4G LTE network.
—————————————-

In most EU countries you need nowadays to provide a passport and a full local address.

All you need for t-mobile eSIM is the ZIP code you want to use the phone in (not the billing zip code).

Here an example for Disney Orlando which has with 6.5% one of the lowest taxes:

1) First the Zip Code

2) Select the plan e.g. Tourist

3) In the details they even describe the 911 emergency situation if your main number is not a North American number

So as summary it’s very easy and clearly tailored for tourists and visitors. If all countries would have providers like this for prepaid eSIM, we wouldn’t have the discussion.

 

[Steve121178]

The inside info I have that eSIM is not quite ready for prime time – yet. It will get there, no doubt.

eSIM tech isn't new just because Apple said it is. It's been around for a while and millions of people around the globe are using eSIM.

My Apple Watch was so easy to add to my Vodafone account thanks to its eSIM.

 

[janeauburn]

I’m not. My phone does not support esim. It pays to use phones a few generations behind the current models.

 

[andiwm2003]

I just switched my XR phone to eSim T-Mobile and physical Sim ATT.

What made me furious is that the T-Mobile rep on the chat was was utterly incompetent. He had no idea what number he needed to do the sim swap from my existing "simply prepaid" plan to the eSim. I had to google it during the chat and tell him what to do. He also never sent the QR code. I googled that too and used one that some guy (thanks !!!) had put on the web. The rep had no idea what's needed for the swap yet he kept writing that he took care of everything and pretended he fixed and set up everything to my satisfaction. Dunning-Kruger effect at its best.

However in the end everything seems to work right now without a problem. I just can't stand it when incompetent people do a job. You're supposed to be an expert at the job you do or don't do it. Especially in the service business. We expect our physicians and engineers to do a good job, so being proficient on a phone hotline can't be that hard.

First world problems.

I guess you're right. Calming down now