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iPhone 13 Pro Max Verizon eSim Activation Problem

My old phone is an X and I'll be keeping it for a backup. I was just going to move the simm to the 13 but was told that it would not support 5G. So last week I picked a 5G simm and installed it in the X and it worked fine. The plan is to use the 5G simm in the X when I'm out boating or off road biking. If my Pro Max ever shows up, I'll report how it went with the change out.
 
Finally had verizon social media support fix the issue. My problem was that when I went into settings, there was no esim even showing (now that its activated it is showing). This confused the reps because they also want an ICCID, which wasn't showing.

I'm guessing the 611 solution fixes one of the problems, but not sure it would have fixed this because it seemed like the phone didn't even know to try connecting to Verizon.

I asked him to explain what he did:
- Of course! All I did was enter the IMEI2 in the correct place in our system and boom it was done. I won't lie to you I had originally forgotten that the new iPhone did not need a SIM I apologize about that! The right place is a very obvious place for any rep that can open the account, it is literally where the IMEI is supposed to go
- Me: Ok, so just tell them, no ICCID or whatever is needed because this is an ESIM. Just enter IMEI2 where the IMEI is supposed to go and save?
-Yes! Exactly, you got it spot on!
 
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I gave up and since my old phone was staying active, I just took the sim card out of that, put it in the 13 pro max and it works. Which in a way is better for me since I use the sim card in my iPad at times.
 
I can't get a hold to anyone at verizon on the phone or chat. Are they closed? I can't get my new iPhone 13 Pro Max activated with esim :(
 
I struggled with this after entering IMEI. However after using the IMEI2 instead I was able to get it to work on my own, thru the site / without customer care support. Did the successfully with both my and my wife’s phone, both of which have no sim as we are upgrading from X’s.

EDIT: after reading thru previous replies I see others already came to this conclusion. I’ll just add that going thru the automated phone system that sends a text and asks for IMEI and ICCID didn’t work, since I didn’t have an ICCID. I did the above successfully just by adding/replacing a device thru the site which only prompts for an IMEI(2)
 
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tcador said:
I struggled with this after entering IMEI. However after using the IMEI2 instead I was able to get it to work on my own, thru the site / without customer care support. Did the successfully with both my and my wife’s phone, both of which have no sim as we are upgrading from X’s.

EDIT: after reading thru previous replies I see others already came to this conclusion. I’ll just add that going thru the automated phone system that sends a text and asks for IMEI and ICCID didn’t work, since I didn’t have an ICCID. I did the above successfully just by adding/replacing a device thru the site which only prompts for an IMEI(2)
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Can you please detail the steps you did? I'm struggling with this and my old phone doesn't work now so I have no working phone..thanks.
 
StoneCold X said:
Is anyone else having issues with getting the eSim activated on Verizon with the new iPhones? After almost 2 hours, the eSim never activated and I had to call Verizon for help. They said I shouldn't use the eSim as my main Sim and that I need a physical sim. Is this true?

I popped my previous sim in and everything is fine, but I was under the impression that I no longer needed the physical sim and the new phone would automatically activate once I turned it on on the eSim.
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Once both of our phones were done setting up and rebooting, we both had service on our eSIMs.
 
This might not be exact as I can’t follow thru all steps now.

From the website (not app):
- go to Account -> My Devices -> Add or switch device -> activate on an existing line
- choose the line that matches old phone
- choose No, this is not a device previously activated on account
- next screen asks for Enter Device Id (IMEI)

This is the important part. the first time I did this I entered my IMEI and then the next question was asking if there was a 5G supported sim in the phone, which I didn’t know how to answer since it was an eSIM. I answered no and ultimately failed to activate.

i gave up and started over and instead at this step entered my IMEI2 number. It didn’t prompt for that 5G SIM question and started to try and activate on my phone. The next screen (on the website) provided some details and a prompt that had to be accepted. It took a few minutes and required an update to cell settings to be accepted on my phone but worked.

sorry on details best of my recollection after doing it earlier.
 
tcador said:
This might not be exact as I can’t follow thru all steps now.

From the website (not app):
- go to Account -> My Devices -> Add or switch device -> activate on an existing line
- choose the line that matches old phone
- choose No, this is not a device previously activated on account
- next screen asks for Enter Device Id (IMEI)

This is the important part. the first time I did this I entered my IMEI and then the next question was asking if there was a 5G supported sim in the phone, which I didn’t know how to answer since it was an eSIM. I answered no and ultimately failed to activate.

i gave up and started over and instead at this step entered my IMEI2 number. It didn’t prompt for that 5G SIM question and started to try and activate on my phone. The next screen (on the website) provided some details and a prompt that had to be accepted. It took a few minutes and required an update to cell settings to be accepted on my phone but worked.

sorry on details best of my recollection after doing it earlier.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the details. I really appreciate it. I tried the IMEI and had the same issue you did. I then tried the IMEI2 number and I get this error:

We are experiencing problem while processing your request online, please contact us at 800-922-0204 for assistance.​


I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow. I think its because maybe I bought a carrier-free unlocked iPhone and not a Verizon one from Apple.
 
Hmm, that’s what I bought as well (unlocked from Apple and option to activate on your own).
 
Yeah that error doesn’t look good. I’m sure a customer rep can work thru it but when I was on hold it was a 30 minute wait and luckily happened to work while i was waiting. Best of luck I know how frustrating this can be!
 
Anybody have no 5G even though the Coverage map shows red all over for my address? Using eSim 13 pro max. Don't have a 5G physical sim came from 11 Pro Max
 
BreakingKayfabe said:
No. IMEI 2 is reserved for the eSIM. However with the 13 series able to have dual-esims I’m not sure if IMEI 1 is also eligible for the eSIM.
Click to expand...

I doubt IMEI 1 is eligible right now. I struggled with that a lot before I realized only IMEI 2 would score me a successful eSIM activation if the iPhone hadn't already been associated with a Verizon account during Apple's preorder checkout process. If it had, a call to *611 and telling the automated CSR I wanted to activate a phone got the job done.
 
Heelpir8 said:
I doubt IMEI 1 is eligible right now. I struggled with that a lot before I realized only IMEI 2 would score me a successful eSIM activation if the iPhone hadn't already been associated with a Verizon account during Apple's preorder checkout process. If it had, a call to *611 and telling the automated CSR I wanted to activate a phone got the job done.
Click to expand...
I’m curious about this. My phone was associated with my Verizon account when I ordered. In my settings, I have IMEI under the eSIM section and IMEI2 under “Available SIM.” Does this mean I’m using IMEI and have the other available for use?

My activation worked but I couldn’t receive calls. When I tried to make a call, I got a message that said “Last line no longer available, do you want to use the remaining one?” Which is super weird, but once I said yes, everything is working.
 
IMEI2 seems to be shared with the physical SIM in the 13 lineup. I had activation issues and ended up shoving my 12 Pro's SIM into my new 13 Pro and it's using IMEI2.
 
Op: I had the same issue when activating my iPhone 13 pro max, I purchased it outright unlocked with no provider attached and upon trying to activate it at home on Verizon's site ran into issues. At one point neither did my previous phone or the new phone worked.

The way I was able to resolve the issue was by providing Verizon chat support my ECCID number and they were able to get it to work. However, upon activating it took 10-15min for it to trigger service to the phone… spent a total of 5 hours trying to resolve.
 
Omen87 said:
IMEI2 seems to be shared with the physical SIM in the 13 lineup. I had activation issues and ended up shoving my 12 Pro's SIM into my new 13 Pro and it's using IMEI2.
Click to expand...
I tried this method as well, for some reason the data portion was not working. It kept going to LTE and my 5G was acting finicky.
 
Is there a possibility of having both the eSim profile and a physical SIM with the same number to be ultimately prepared for all possibilities?
 
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