Disadvantages? Transfer from physical SIM to eSIM (T-Mobile)

[msackey]

I have an iPhone 12 Pro that is using a T-Mobile physical SIM. I have wondered about transferring from physical SIM to eSIM. Are there disadvantages of doing that? This is T-Mobile within US. I would be still using the same phone and same phone number, not planning to migrate from one phone to another phone.

The reason I have pondered over transferring to eSIM because I recently realized that if someone stole my phone, while they couldn't using the actual phone, they could pop out the physical SIM, insert it into another phone and therefore take over my number. Right? They could do that, couldn't they? If so, it seems eSIM would be more secure.

Are there any disadvantages/advantages there are to transferring to an eSIM on an existing iPhone 12 Pro? And is my scenario above about someone stealing the physical SIM and therefore use my number possible?

 

[VineRider]

Personally, I think ESIM is much more secure for the reasons you state(phone gets stolen).

ESIM prevents someone being able to take the SIM card out and put it into another device and hijack your number.

I did this a couple of years ago and have not experienced any downsides to ESIM versus sim.

If you don’t convert to ESIM then I would recommend at least putting a pin on your sim for added protection. If you do, you have to input the sim pin if you restart your phone

 

[msackey]

Personally, I think ESIM is much more secure for the reasons you state(phone gets stolen).

ESIM prevents someone being able to take the SIM card out and put it into another device and hijack your number.

I did this a couple of years ago and have not experienced any downsides to ESIM versus sim.

If you don’t convert to ESIM then I would recommend at least putting a pin on your sim for added protection. If you do, you have to input the sim pin if you restart your phone

Thanks for responding! Been waiting to hear what others have to say.

I'm considering going to a TMobile store to have them help me swap from physical SIM to eSIM, on the same phone. I'm still just a little hesitant about it as I don't know what it would look like down the line when either a) I need it transferred to a new phone or b) I go with a different career and need the same number ported either to a new phone or the same phone [but different carrier].

 

[VineRider]

Good article on ESIM

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