Carrier Transfer eSim to new phone

[slyronit]

I have an eSim from a different country on my iPhone 12 Pro. I would like to buy the iPhone 13 Pro, but I need this eSim. Is there a seamless way to transfer the eSim from my old phone to the new phone without the operator's intervention?

This article says I should be able to do so, but when I did a trial using another phone, I don't see the option to transfer the eSim during setup or later.

About eSIM on iPhone - Apple Support

Learn what an eSIM is, how to set up an eSIM on your iPhone, and how to transfer a physical SIM to an eSIM.

support.apple.com

Is this method specific to some operators?

My carrier is Jio, India

 

[DeepIn2U]

hi,

eSIM is a physical implementation in hardware, you cannot transfer it. I think what you want to transfer is the phone number or account or service providers services to an iPhone 13 Pro, if I understand you correctly (?)

You may need to contact your carrier first and ask them options for transferring your mobile phone service(s) from one device to another mentioned the model phones you have/want and if their first supported. At the end of the day, it has to be done with them. Also your type of phone service account may block you from doing this, vs the technology available on the phones - like pay-as-you-go accounts typically here in North America limit very much what you can do.

Hope you get what you want to do.

Cheers.

 

[slyronit]

hi,

eSIM is a physical implementation in hardware, you cannot transfer it. I think what you want to transfer is the phone number or account or service providers services to an iPhone 13 Pro, if I understand you correctly (?)

You may need to contact your carrier first and ask them options for transferring your mobile phone service(s) from one device to another mentioned the model phones you have/want and if their first supported. At the end of the day, it has to be done with them. Also your type of phone service account may block you from doing this, vs the technology available on the phones - like pay-as-you-go accounts typically here in North America limit very much what you can do.

Hope you get what you want to do.

Cheers.

Thanks. I contacted my carrier and they do have a process to transfer my number from one handset to another, unfortunately it cannot be done when on International Roaming.

The Apple article I mentioned in my first post is misleading, it should mention that this is only supported with some (US) carriers.

 

[slyronit]

Looks like my SIMs don’t support transfers from one phone to another. Well, so much for flexibility.

 

[teeshot44]

The article very clearly says

"With iOS 13.1 and later, some carriers support transferring your eSIM during Quick Start. Contact your carrier to see if they support this transfer process."

 

[catean]

Thanks. I contacted my carrier and they do have a process to transfer my number from one handset to another, unfortunately it cannot be done when on International Roaming.

Why ? They just need to send you a new QR code. I've done it in UK for a Romanian SIM while upgrading to iPhone 13 Pro (horrible upgrade due to very bad camera).

 

[slyronit]

Why ? They just need to send you a new QR code. I've done it in UK for a Romanian SIM while upgrading to iPhone 13 Pro (horrible upgrade due to very bad camera).

For my operator, the process is automated and can only be done by sending a certain message. The message cannot be sent when roaming.

 

[catean]

Why, you don't have the old SIM card?

 

[Vegas33139]

Transferring your esim is a very simple and quick process in the UK on the Vodafone network. Literally seconds!

 

[BigMcGuire]

My wife just had her phone replaced by Apple for a cracked screen. Come to find out, she didn't have a SIM card in it. It was an esim. Of course, this was the first time I've dealt with this. So I had to go in to Verizon, type in the imei2, initiate the transfer, then scan a QR code that I found on Verizon's site for esim activation (that didn't work) to try to initiate the activation. Eventually (5+ minutes later (reboot didn't do it)) settings was asking me to activate Verizon - which we did, then set the secondary as primary, and bam. Good to go. But wow that was confusing.

Sorry, not directly related but esim related. :/.

Edit: corrected terminology

 

[Shadowbech]

My wife just had her phone replaced by Apple for a cracked screen. Come to find out, she didn't have a SIM card in it. It was an esim. Of course, this was the first time I've dealt with this. So I had to go in to Verizon, type in the imei2, initiate the transfer, then scan a QR code that Verizon gave me (that didn't work) to try to initiate the activation. Eventually (5+ minutes later (reboot didn't do it)) settings was asking me to activate Verizon - which we did, then set the secondary as primary, and bam. Good to go. But wow that was confusing.

Sorry, not directly related but esim related. :/.

Interesting that they send you the qr code. I have verizon as well and when i do it through their website entering my imei i just get notification in the settings front page and i just activate it that way.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Interesting that they send you the qr code. I have verizon as well and when i do it through their website entering my imei i just get notification in the settings front page and i just activate it that way.

My bad I should have clarified, I found the QR code when searching why I couldn't activate the esim. https://www.verizon.com/support/esim-activation-instructions/ (didn't work to use the QR code) - it showed up in settings about 5 mins later to activate. (I corrected terminology in the previous post just now).

 

[Shadowbech]

My bad I should have clarified, I found the QR code when searching why I couldn't activate the esim. https://www.verizon.com/support/esim-activation-instructions/ (didn't work to use the QR code) - it showed up in settings about 5 mins later to activate. (I corrected terminology in the previous post just now).

Thanks for clarifying. For those looking to transfer sim to esim it's not that hard. Yea I usually log into my Verizon, then go to Account > My Devices > Activate or Switch Devices and then Activate on an existing line. Enter imei2 and then follow instructions, then appears one the settings. I guess this is much easier. Yes I've seen that QR code that that was confusing.