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yes until you happen to travel to international destinations

I (used to) travel a lot until the pandemic and found that most countries don't have eSIM ability for foreign phones.

All the countries I have visited I would purchase that country's SIM chip for data services.
Exactly. Flexibility is super important.
 
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If most countries embraced esim support for both pre and post paid, and made it as easy to get as a physical sim I would have moved to pure esim long ago. Sadly that is not the case.
 
No thanks. I like being able to pop a new SIM in and get going within a few seconds.

Please elaborate on why you think ease of use & practicality should be eliminated.

If esim were just as easily accessible as physical sim, it would be much easier. All you'd need is a QR code and your new sim is up and running. No having to deal with removing cases or figuring out where to store your existing sim or any of the current minor hassles.
 
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The sim card tray takes in an impressive amount of space inside phones compared to other components and really is something you thought would be gone by now. Too bad the adoption by carriers is so slow, especially in Europe
 
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If esim were just as easily accessible as physical sim, it would be much easier. All you'd need is a QR code and your new sim is up and running. No having to deal with removing cases or figuring out where to store your existing sim or any of the current minor hassles.

Yes, but it isn't as accessible is it? Many countries & many, many carriers don't even support eSIM.
 
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Yes, but it isn't as accessible is it? Many countries & many, many carriers don't even support eSIM.

I was responding to your post that discussed practicality not availability. Please see my other comments that touch on availability.
 
Bad for privacy reasons.

Physical SIMs means you can purchase prepaid SIMs with cash or swap out SIMs whenever you want. Unlike eSIM, carriers don’t need to pay Apple for use of physical SIMs.

There is a reason why some countries don’t allow eSIM.
 
Two sims preferred. Maybe setup so eSIM an option if physical sim not inserted. Ie. 0-2 esims. 2 total.
 
eSIM always seemed like step backwards.

Going from phone to phone was always a huge pain in the ass with CDMA carriers like Verizon and Sprint (and all their MVNOs). Any time I'd upgrade or switch devices I'd have to call a 1-800 number, wait on hold, and deal with someone transferring the account from one device to another.

This was a headache that sometimes took hours to fully complete (voice mail would usually lag).

With GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile (and all their MVNOs), switching devices was as simple as pulling a SIM card and popping it in the new device.

This was a simple process that could take just a matter of seconds to do.


If you have multiple devices, wanted to switch back and forth between Android and iOS, traveled, or whatever reason you had, having a physical SIM made things simple and easy.

With eSIM, someone basically said "remember all the headache people had when their account was tied to hardware? LET'S GO BACK TO THAT!"

eSIM, so simple Apple had to publish multiple document to try and help people figure it out:


What to move your account from one phone to another?

* the phone must be operative
* the phone must be up to date
* the phone must be connected
* the old phone must be physically near the new phone

If any of these conditions aren't met (the phone is broke, you lost/sold it, etc), you're back to the "call your carrier's 1-800 number and be prepared to sit on hold" like the old days.

I'm sure there are multiple benefits to eSIM, but *I* personally have not seen anything that would make me want to switch to it or give up the freedom of my old SIM card.
 
I think you've had too much coffee this morning.
I am also curious why you think two e-sims would be more reasonable than having physical sims you can easily swap out for travel or changing carriers. I don't drink coffee.
 
With eSIM, someone basically said "remember all the headache people had when their account was tied to hardware? LET'S GO BACK TO THAT!"

From Apple's perspective, it was "How do we insert ourselves into the process and get a commission from carriers?"
 
I am also curious why you think two e-sims would be more reasonable than having physical sims you can easily swap out for travel or changing carriers. I don't drink coffee.
The space for a physical device would be reclaimed and eSIM would automatically be future proof in iPhones; physical SIMs could change over time, one SIM may not be suitable in the next iPhone. Try some Kona coffee; it's the best.
 
I prefer two physical sims. I currently use e-sim for my cellular service and a physical for my international one.
 
The space for a physical device would be reclaimed and eSIM would automatically be future proof in iPhones; physical SIMs could change over time, one SIM may not be suitable in the next iPhone. Try some Kona coffee; it's the best.

SIMs did change over time. iPhone 4 was the first ever phone to force us into micro-SIM. Then only two years later Apple once again has forced us to move onto nano-SIM with iPhone 5.
 
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