Carrier eSIM activates once I turn on new AT&T iPhone 13, but don’t want to use eSIM, want to use physical SIM . . .

[Luba]

If I move physical SIM from old iPhone 12 to new iPhone 13 before turning on iPhone 13 will it activate AT&T service on the physical SIM and skip activating the eSIM?

If yes, I then delete eSIM by going to Settings —> Cellular —> Manage Plans —> delete plan?

 

[EastHillWill]

I’m on TMo so I’m not sure if this helps: Mine was supposed to activate automatically with the eSIM but wasn’t working. I deleted all cellular plans (also reset network settings as I had been futzing around trying to get it to work) and restarted the phone with my old physical SIM. Worked great! Your SIM is probably 5G-friendly since it’s from a 12, so you’ll probably be good 👍

 

[TeamMojo]

Interesting that this year, for the first time, the iPhone 13 does not include a SIM but instead activates on the eSIM. My carrier is AT&T. Handy if traveling to a country where you want to buy a cheap pay-as-you-go plan.

 

[ma62346234]

I’m on AT&T, and went to the local AT&T store after getting my iPhone 13, and they were able to get a physical sim for me no problem. Now the esim is disabled and the number is tied to the physical sim like normal.

 

[Luba]

I’m on AT&T, and went to the local AT&T store after getting my iPhone 13, and they were able to get a physical sim for me no problem. Now the esim is disabled and the number is tied to the physical sim like normal.

Did they charge you for setting up the physical SIM?

 

[ma62346234]

No they didn’t. Which makes sense because I didn’t ask to get an esim. I did tell them I might be returning the iPhone 13, so needed to be able to use my old phone.