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Other Dual SIM support in latest iPhones

cihag

cihag

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 7, 2010
171
141
Hey everyone,

I want to buy the iPhone 12 (not sure if Pro or regular) later this year. Main point: I want to use it as my BYOD-Phone for work and simultaneously with my private SIM so that I don't have to carry around 2 phones... My current iPhone X does not support dual sim.

So I'm wondering: Who is using their iPhones with Multi-SIM? I know that only some Chinese versions actually support 2 physical Nano-SIM-cards... But is it still correct that ALL iPhones after the X support an eSIM as second SIM?

Or should I not hold my breath hoping that iPhone 12 will get Dual-SIM support?

Thanks
Cihag
 
cihag said:
Hey everyone,

I want to buy the iPhone 12 (not sure if Pro or regular) later this year. Main point: I want to use it as my BYOD-Phone for work and simultaneously with my private SIM so that I don't have to carry around 2 phones... My current iPhone X does not support dual sim.

So I'm wondering: Who is using their iPhones with Multi-SIM? I know that only some Chinese versions actually support 2 physical Nano-SIM-cards... But is it still correct that ALL iPhones after the X support an eSIM as second SIM?

Or should I not hold my breath hoping that iPhone 12 will get Dual-SIM support?

Thanks
Cihag
Click to expand...

Yes they all support physical sim + esim. I use it on my 11 pro max and it works well. I use FirstNet on esim and GCI (a local Alaska carrier) on the physical sim.
 
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Jtludwig said:
Yes they all support physical sim + esim. I use it on my 11 pro max and it works well. I use FirstNet on esim and GCI (a local Alaska carrier) on the physical sim.
Click to expand...
Thanks! Exactly the type of info I was hoping for... :)
 
Even the 2020 iPhone SE supports dual SIM (Nano + eSIM) so I'd be very surprised if they remove that feature on the next iPhones.

Since support for eSIM is still fairly limited, we use eSIM for our primary carrier (AT&T) and the physical slot for local carrier when traveling overseas.
 
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rui no onna said:
Even the 2020 iPhone SE supports dual SIM (Nano + eSIM) so I'd be very surprised if they remove that feature on the next iPhones.

Since support for eSIM is still fairly limited, we use eSIM for our primary carrier (AT&T) and the physical slot for local carrier when traveling overseas.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I won't need it for a lot of fancy stuff... Just making and receiving phone calls on the eSim, as well as sending and receiving messages... So I hope I can use my private nano and firm eSim...
 
cihag said:
Thanks. I won't need it for a lot of fancy stuff... Just making and receiving phone calls on the eSim, as well as sending and receiving messages... So I hope I can use my private nano and firm eSim...
Click to expand...
I actually would go the opposite with personal on eSIM and work on Nano. At least for me, dealing with our IT is a pain so I'd rather have the ability to easily swap a physical SIM for work between devices.

eSIM is easier on personal since I have complete control over that account.
 
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rui no onna said:
I actually would go the opposite with personal on eSIM and work on Nano. At least for me, dealing with our IT is a pain so I'd rather have the ability to easily swap a physical SIM for work between devices.

eSIM is easier on personal since I have complete control over that account.
Click to expand...

I'm doing the same, I use eSIM for personal and nano for work. My iPhone 11 works perfect with double SIM
 
hm, that’s a good point. have to talk to my carrier to see what they charge for eSIM/MultiSM...
 
I use physical and eSim too with Verizon here in the U.S. Works great and my carrier doesn't charge extra for the eSim line.

You can select which line you want to use for calls and messages and even allow automatic cellular data switching so the phone can switch to whichever plan (or carrier) has better coverage for data. What I do with we see is being able to allow apps to use a specific data plan. For example, I'd love to select my 2nd line to be the one that App Store, iCloud, etc use for updates and I can use my main line for other apps. While I have unlimited on both, my primary line allows "premium access" and I don't want to be throttled/de-prioritized after I use my 25Gb/month, which actually I go through just about every month.

long story short, I want more options on how we can use the two lines.
 
Thanks again for all your replies. Talked to my carrier and they confirmed that they only charge extra for Multi-SIM, being a second eSIM for e.g. Apple Watch. But if I just replace my nano-SIM with an eSIM, there is no extra charge...

So I guess, as soon as iPhone 12 gets out, I will get one, register it with my personal eSIM and use the firm's nano SIM for BYOD...
 
cihag said:
Thanks again for all your replies. Talked to my carrier and they confirmed that they only charge extra for Multi-SIM, being a second eSIM for e.g. Apple Watch. But if I just replace my nano-SIM with an eSIM, there is no extra charge...

So I guess, as soon as iPhone 12 gets out, I will get one, register it with my personal eSIM and use the firm's nano SIM for BYOD...
Click to expand...
Good stuff! That should work perfectly. It's a nice convenience to have- two lines on one phone.
 
Confirmed, iPhone 12 and 12 Pro support eSIM as second SIM... :)
 
Will both SIMs (in whatever configuration) support 5G+5G you think (provided both have 5G plans)? Or if one sim is only 4G, will it force the second SIM to use 4G only? Personally I hope it will be 5G+5G or 5G+4G.
 
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Oh, I have no idea... In my personal case, I don't think this will be an issue, since work and private both use the same carrier...
 
Ali Hom said:
Will both SIMs (in whatever configuration) support 5G+5G you think (provided both have 5G plans)? Or if one sim is only 4G, will it force the second SIM to use 4G only? Personally I hope it will be 5G+5G or 5G+4G.
Click to expand...

Oh, fitting front page article... Seems like (at least initially) when using dual SIM, none of the SIMs will support 5G...

www.macrumors.com

iPhone 12 Models in Dual SIM Mode May Not Run at 5G Speeds, At Least Initially [Update: Confirmed]

Using an iPhone 12 in Dual SIM mode throttles the cellular data speed to 4G LTE, according to an Apple Sales FAQ shared with retailers and carriers. ...
www.macrumors.com www.macrumors.com
 
you can buy iphone 12 pro release for china/hk, all product from this region is dual sim nano (mostly)
in indonesia, i bought from china version, so i can use dual nano sim from.
 
I modified XR to use dual physical SIM, it is easy. I wonder if I can buy mini dual sim socket and re-soldering it.
 
sahni130 said:
I use physical and eSim too with Verizon here in the U.S. Works great and my carrier doesn't charge extra for the eSim line.

You can select which line you want to use for calls and messages and even allow automatic cellular data switching so the phone can switch to whichever plan (or carrier) has better coverage for data. What I do with we see is being able to allow apps to use a specific data plan. For example, I'd love to select my 2nd line to be the one that App Store, iCloud, etc use for updates and I can use my main line for other apps. While I have unlimited on both, my primary line allows "premium access" and I don't want to be throttled/de-prioritized after I use my 25Gb/month, which actually I go through just about every month.

long story short, I want more options on how we can use the two lines.
Click to expand...
Hi @sahni130

When you say they don't charge extra for the eSIM line what does that mean? I am also a US based Verizon customer and am hoping to add a second line for work to my 12p.
I went to a non-corporate store and they told me I would have to add the line and pay for the same plan. That is, one phone, two lines, two Get More plans. She couldn't verify that and advised me to call Verizon to confirm. I don't really need a 5G unlimited plan for my work line as it will be almost exclusively talk/text.
Thank you!
 
philrock said:
Hi @sahni130

When you say they don't charge extra for the eSIM line what does that mean? I am also a US based Verizon customer and am hoping to add a second line for work to my 12p.
I went to a non-corporate store and they told me I would have to add the line and pay for the same plan. That is, one phone, two lines, two Get More plans. She couldn't verify that and advised me to call Verizon to confirm. I don't really need a 5G unlimited plan for my work line as it will be almost exclusively talk/text.
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Hi!! I think I should have worded my statement better. What I meant is there is no extra fee (like the upgrade fee) to activate the eSim. You do, still however, have to pay for two phone lines. On my phone I had the "main" line or personal line on the 5G UW line and the "work" line on Start Unlimited. For both of these, I pay $55 and $45, respectively, I believe. For all intents, its two separate phone numbers and "lines", just on one phone. When I added the work line on eSIM, Verizon did not charge me an activation fee or anything like that. I know you can mix and match unlimited plans but am not sure if you can do that with the tiered data plans. When i added the 2nd line via eSim, I just called customer service- the lady that helped me was very helpful. Corporate store or phone customer service is your best bet. As far as I am aware, the two lines do not have to be the same kind of Plan (such as Get more, Play More, etc). Like you, I also don't need the work line to have 5G or anything. In fact, by adding the work line, the other 3 lines on my unlimited plan account became cheaper because by adding the 4th line, I got $10 discount on the other 3 lines.
 
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sahni130 said:
Hi!! I think I should have worded my statement better. What I meant is there is no extra fee (like the upgrade fee) to activate the eSim. You do, still however, have to pay for two phone lines. On my phone I had the "main" line or personal line on the 5G UW line and the "work" line on Start Unlimited. For both of these, I pay $55 and $45, respectively, I believe. For all intents, its two separate phone numbers and "lines", just on one phone. When I added the work line on eSIM, Verizon did not charge me an activation fee or anything like that. I know you can mix and match unlimited plans but am not sure if you can do that with the tiered data plans. When i added the 2nd line via eSim, I just called customer service- the lady that helped me was very helpful. Corporate store or phone customer service is your best bet. As far as I am aware, the two lines do not have to be the same kind of Plan (such as Get more, Play More, etc). Like you, I also don't need the work line to have 5G or anything. In fact, by adding the work line, the other 3 lines on my unlimited plan account became cheaper because by adding the 4th line, I got $10 discount on the other 3 lines.
Click to expand...
Thank you! That sounds much better. I was hoping the eSIM would be the default/personal line as it's easy to add a physical SIM as needed for burner or work lines. It is what it is though. Thank you again. Off to my closest corp store...
 
philrock said:
Thank you! That sounds much better. I was hoping the eSIM would be the default/personal line as it's easy to add a physical SIM as needed for burner or work lines. It is what it is though. Thank you again. Off to my closest corp store...
Click to expand...
Glad to help!
They might be able to switch your main line to eSim and give you a SIM card for the work line. They may not want to since it probably requires more work but worth the ask.

But regardless, Corp store should get you squared away.
 
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