[jkrishnakj]

And I thought I was the only one who could not get a seamless move to eSIM

Couple of months back, I received an SMS from airtel to changeover to eSIM. Winding down in the bed, I clicked the link and got the eSIM. Issue - it s was only showing 2g network and not the 4g. Since I depend heavily on my phone for my office emails and calls, and for which I need 4g connections, I decided to uninstall the eSIM to continue with my existing physical Sim. Little did I know that a physical sim once deactivated is forever deactivated. Trying to re-install the eSIM didn't work because you need the OTP and for which you need a working sim. So, there I was, about to sleep when I got myself into an unconnected world.

I had to travel to Hyd the following morning. As usual, jumped into the cab and headed out to the airport. Since this was just going to a one night trip, I changed my laptop bag. Reaching the airport, I realised that my wallet was in my other laptop bag. So, here I was, 7.30 am on a Monday morning, stranded at the airport without a wallet and without a network. The cabbie somehow trusted me to pay him later and he has left his mobile number with me.

The first thing I did after reaching Hyd was to find the Airtel store to buy a new physical SIM. Thankfully, the activation process was very smooth and quick. It helped that I had my Aadhar in my photo gallery.

Well, I can't express how happy I was when my gPay started working.

[Axe77]

I never thought of this issue but this seems like a genuine issue that can really screw one over.

I just purchased an iPhone 15 pro from the US and that involved migrating to e-sim. I usually travel overseas only with an iPad (wifi enabled, without sim) and my phone - also for shorter domestic trips. But I’m always plugged into work and god forbid if something happens to my iPhone it would be quite crippling.

Can’t beat the good old convenience of physical sim where you can at least buy a cheap / alternate phone and switch the sim to the new phone if something happens to your primary phone. Being stranded on OTP linked transactions is also a real issue.

E sims seem to be the future though so it looks like it’s one of those modern day “advancements” that we will have to learn to live with.

[RunGaDa]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Are you sure iPhone doesn’t support physical SIM?

iPhone models 14 onwards sold in the USA do not come with physical SIM cards. Only eSims.

[ohaak]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

My story on the new anxiety in town, eSIM!

My normal SIM has failed twice on me. It just stops working after a few years. I am now happy with eSIM. Do you drop stuff into water more frequently than a few years?

When the normal SIM failed, I had no indication that it was a SIM fault. I had to take to the Airtel Store for them to tell me it is a SIM fault and then give me a new one. The usual SMS restrictions applied.

[SR-71]

I had moved to e-sim a couple of months back and when it was time to reset my iPhone, I had the exact same conundrum. When I called airtel they gave me two options

• Option 1: Migrate eSim to a new eSim compatible phone and then migrate back to the iPhone
• Option 2: Move to a physical sim and then back to eSim

While I don't mind moving to the physical sim and back nor the 24-hour window when SMSs are blocked (I strongly believe this is a really helpful feature from security perspective) am warry of giving any type of documents to any outlet these days.

In the UK, Lycaa provides very easy way to enable eSim. They send you a QR code via email which you can scan in your iPhone and enable the eSim settings. I understand government regulations prevent you from doing it for new connections due to KYC constraints. However, I don't understand why the service providers cannot send a QR code for existing connections with a registered email id.

[MyLife_MyCar]

Originally Posted by SR-71

when it was time to reset my iPhone, I had the exact same conundrum.

There’s an easy option. When one has to reset the iPhone, it gives you an option to retain eSIM settings

I don't understand why the service providers cannot send a QR code for existing connections with a registered email id.

That would make life so easy. If one wants the eSIM for the same number, it shouldn’t even require a KYC.

[ex-innova-guy]

Originally Posted by SR-71

In the UK, Lycaa provides very easy way to enable eSim. They send you a QR code via email which you can scan in your iPhone and enable the eSim settings. I understand government regulations prevent you from doing it for new connections due to KYC constraints. However, I don't understand why the service providers cannot send a QR code for existing connections with an registered email id.

Vi follows the above-mentioned procedure; I converted my Vi SIM to eSIM this April. It was a seamless conversion that took hardly 10 mins. SMS service was blocked for 24 hrs but no other conditions as such.

[ach1lles]

Originally Posted by androdev

I have an Apple Watch (cellular) sharing the same eSIM number - will the watch receive calls and SMS if the phone goes into coma?

The cellular watch certainly works when the phone is switched off or away, so it should likely work if the phone goes into limbo, though I wouldn’t be sure as:

The other day we were out and in a situation with one phone less. My phone has two lines operational, WayneTech & BatLine, with BatLine on a physical sim, and WayneTech which works with the watch. So I switched WayneTech off and tried to check if the phone being on BatLine only could call the watch with WayneTech.
It didn’t. The watch showed “No Sim”. Which means, even with the phone off or away, there’s some sort of piggybacking going on to keep the watch connected.

edit: tried after disabling bt & wi-fi and...it worked. I didn’t try to move significantly away from the phone at that time before we tried the calls.

So, to sum up, the cellular Apple Watch will work regardless of the status of the paired phone. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[Rocketscience]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

My story on the new anxiety in town, eSIM!

While e-sim does seem senseless to me for certain situations but your ordeal does not sound that horrible to me frankly, first of all Airtel didn't bother you at all and the process seems similar to had you lost an actual sim and wanted a duplicate one, secondly who said iphones require a USB C cable to connect to laptops?
A USB A to Lightning for iphones before 15 and USB A to USB C for 15 and above work perfectly for connecting with cars, laptops or for charging.

Lastly the esim only limitation applies to iPhones purchased from USA but I still feel all iPhones going forward should have physical sim plus esim options like they have always been. Physical sim is much easier to switch and there is no denying that.

[SR-71]

Originally Posted by MyLife_MyCar

There’s an easy option. When one has to reset the iPhone, it gives you an option to retain eSIM settings

I believe that will only work when you do a soft reset not when you do a hard factory restore via iTunes. The latter approach is something I do once a year when a major iOS release is out (please dont ask why )

[Cresterk]

On the contrary, I quite like e-sims and I have been using them since the time of the iphone XS. I can have multiple E-sims from different countries or operators and you can just toggle them on or off from the settings menu instead of having to carry them around and having to screw around with a little pin to open the sim slot and put them in and out. You can only have 2 of them active at the same time but you can store as many of them in your phone as you want.

Also since many services in India have defaulted to using sms OTPs for security verification or resetting passwords (Though it is not that secure), I don't have to worry about someone stealing my phone and removing my sim or just stealing my sim from my phone, cloning it and putting it back without me being the wiser. Putting that sim card in another phone that can receive SMS means they can pretty much drain my bank account. All that without having to screw around with default SIM card pins etc.

Also since you can't physically remove the e-sim, if I lose my phone, someone charging or powering on the phone will automatically connect to network and let me track it unless they are using some tin-foil radiowave blocker.

[Comrade]

The only challenge I see with esim is if I am out of country and my device fails. I am not sure if Jio or Airtel will provide me a new esim via QR without physically being present.

If I am within the country, I don’t mind dropping into the store and getting a new esim. As someone said, physical Airtel sims have failed on me thrice before (device was alright) and I had to drop-in to a store to get replacements. It’s a 10 min job and 24 hr SMS freeze but it’s not hassle really.

[pandabear]

trust me this has nothing to do with the eSim. The problem is because a chip inside your phone has got fried due to incorrect charging voltage or short circuit due to some humidity. Unfortunately, your Apple iphone was just a lemon and has nothing to do with the eSIM shift.

[MT_Hyderabad]

Originally Posted by Rocketscience

While e-sim does seem senseless to me for certain situations but your ordeal does not sound that horrible to me frankly, first of all Airtel didn't bother you at all and the process seems similar to had you lost an actual sim and wanted a duplicate one, secondly who said iphones require a USB C cable to connect to laptops?
A USB A to Lightning for iphones before 15 and USB A to USB C for 15 and above work perfectly for connecting with cars, laptops or for charging.

Yes, I don't have any problem with Airtel, but I do believe that going to an airtel store for returning to physical sim is not efficient. Conversion to eSIM was done remotely/online.

There are other things to consider too. For example, my parents use the phone number which I bought with my name. If they were using an eSIM and the phone got damaged, I would have to visit the store, and ship the sim to them.

In this case, I was with my wife when this happened, the number was with my name and I could provide my details. If she would have been alone, maybe Airtel would need a FIR copy to issue a sim to her.

Regarding cables, it depends which original cable came with your phone. I have only got a type c to lightening cable with the phone.

Originally Posted by ohaak

My normal SIM has failed twice on me. It just stops working after a few years. I am now happy with eSIM. Do you drop stuff into water more frequently than a few years?

Gain experience with eSIM for a few years and then you can decide which one is better. I have shared my experience and my opinion, looking forward to stories from others. There are already some horror stories of eSIM shared on this thread.

I have shared a number of ways my phones got damaged, please don't get fixated on water damage.

[samitjain]

I am using eSIM and normal sim as well. You
Can add multiple eSIM in your phones 5-6 maybe more, but only one will be activated at one point of time besides one normal sim. You can deactivate and activate between eSIMs.

Phones bought in USA get only eSIMs. There is no physical sim.

If you have Apple Watch with eSIM. It will work even if iphone gets damaged. I have experienced this with normal sim. I took out physical sim and Apple Watch with eSIM continued to work. But not sure it about eSIM.

But you have to call Airtel to deactivate eSIM over phone as new iphone will not pair with Apple Watch with eSIM. Set new iphone and pair with Apple Watch with eSIM again