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jpn

Cancelled
Original poster
Feb 9, 2003
1,854
1,988
i will be interested what, if any, progress is made in making apple's eSIM more broadly available.

apple watch:
- currently needs pairing with an iPhone contract
- can only pair it with iPhones that have contracts with a limited list of authorized carriers

right now, apple watch cant be used internationally for LTE roaming
right now, no MVNO plan can be paired with an apple watch

i went with an MVNO a few years back and it has saved me a lot of money.
i really would like to buy the apple watch Series 4.
but cant see myself going back to dealing with a huge and costly contract through one of the big carriers in order to do it

it is going to be a long wait i think before an apple watch has direct plans being offered by low cost carriers.

but key to the process of going in that direction is what steps apple is taking on its own servers to provision eSIMs directly over the air. thats what i am hoping i see some change in this year.
 

bruinsrme

macrumors 604
Oct 26, 2008
7,197
3,063
Sounds like the low budget carriers aren’t supporting the Apple Watch more so than Apple.
 

pika2000

Suspended
Jun 22, 2007
5,587
4,903
eSIM is bad news. Just look at how AT&T can lock your eSIM. Imagine if Apple decided to forego the SIM slot on iPhones. That pretty much screwed you as a customer, having a provider-locked iPhone for good. Until provider locking is completely outlawed worldwide (especially in US and Japan), I'll take a physical SIM slot anytime, no matter what.
 

bruinsrme

macrumors 604
Oct 26, 2008
7,197
3,063
But here in Canada, Bell and Telus support the Apple Watch. The other big carrier (Rogers) here does not support the Apple Watch cell version.

So it depends on the carrier too..,
Rogers baffles me.
Who made that call, idiots.
 

Lyn2012

macrumors 6502a
Dec 26, 2007
693
272
eSIMs are definitely a no for me, at least until all carriers worldwide (and subsidiaries) are on board.
 
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