iPhone 14 Pro Questions before pulling trigger on 14 Pro

[jab234]

Planning to upgrade from XS, which is 4 years old. Hoping you could help answer these questions to decide if it's worth it

- eSIM question: If something happens to my 14 pro (breaks/stops working/end up retuning it).. I am keeping my XS as a backup. How do I get my XS back up and working instantly with service, without any hiccups given I will be on eSIM on 14 pro? Do I leave my physical SIM in XS.. will it have any purpose?

- Is battery drain issue better with the latest iOS? When I upgrade, restore from backup or setup as new phone? I heard there were some potential battery drain issues that could have been attributed to using backup

Good case recommendations that account for protruding camera - I heard many cases are allowing the camera to come in contact with surfaces :O. Usually go with Speck, specifically Presidio Pro - the rubber ish one (https://speckproducts.com/collections/iphone-xs/products/ipx18-pr-pro)

Car play issue resolved? I heard there was some issue with this

Thanks!

 

[Shadowbech]

Planning to upgrade from XS, which is 4 years old. Hoping you could help answer these questions to decide if it's worth it

- eSIM question: If something happens to my 14 pro (breaks/stops working/end up retuning it).. I am keeping my XS as a backup. How do I get my XS back up and working instantly with service, without any hiccups given I will be on eSIM on 14 pro? Do I leave my physical SIM in XS.. will it have any purpose?

- Is battery drain issue better with the latest iOS? When I upgrade, restore from backup or setup as new phone? I heard there were some potential battery drain issues that could have been attributed to using backup

Good case recommendations that account for protruding camera - I heard many cases are allowing the camera to come in contact with surfaces :O. Usually go with Speck, specifically Presidio - the rubber ish one (https://speckproducts.com/collections/iphone-xs/products/ipx18-pr-pro)

Car play issue resolved? I heard there was some issue with this

Thanks!

For the physical sim, you will need to get a new physical sim once you move that phone number to esim. That old sim will no longer work. I believe XS should have esim capable so, you should be able to transfer services that way, unless you really need to have it on the physical sim card.

16.1 is supposed to be better on the pro models at least. I don't do beta on my main device (which is the 14 pro max), but a friend of mine has the same exact phone and he is experience much better battery life on 16.1 compared to mine, which I am on 16.0.3. Edit: But then you are looking for Pro so I can't really speak how battery life is for the pro.

I never had car play mic issue on my iphone 14 pro max when it's connected to my wireless car play car.

 

[Black Magic]

Planning to upgrade from XS, which is 4 years old. Hoping you could help answer these questions to decide if it's worth it

- eSIM question: If something happens to my 14 pro (breaks/stops working/end up retuning it).. I am keeping my XS as a backup. How do I get my XS back up and working instantly with service, without any hiccups given I will be on eSIM on 14 pro? Do I leave my physical SIM in XS.. will it have any purpose?

- Is battery drain issue better with the latest iOS? When I upgrade, restore from backup or setup as new phone? I heard there were some potential battery drain issues that could have been attributed to using backup

Good case recommendations that account for protruding camera - I heard many cases are allowing the camera to come in contact with surfaces :O. Usually go with Speck, specifically Presidio Pro - the rubber ish one (https://speckproducts.com/collections/iphone-xs/products/ipx18-pr-pro)

Car play issue resolved? I heard there was some issue with this

Thanks!

CarPlay issue resolved.

 

[jab234]

For the physical sim, you will need to get a new physical sim once you move that phone number to esim. That old sim will no longer work. I believe XS should have esim capable so, you should be able to transfer services that way, unless you really need to have it on the physical sim card.

Any idea how to do this? Would I somehow need to active esim on iphone xs before I upgrade so that if my 14 pro gets lost/broken, I can revert back? eSim is one of the biggest things that's prevented me from upgrading. I've damaged phones multiple times, and all I've had to do was switch sim to an older phone while newer one got repaired.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

I haven’t had issues with eSIM or battery drainage — seems to be the same as my 13PM. As for a case, you should check out the Moshi iGlaze — it has aluminum buttons and camera lens cover — very sleek.

 

[chabig]

Any idea how to do this? Would I somehow need to active esim on iphone xs before I upgrade so that if my 14 pro gets lost/broken, I can revert back?

If you want to switch back to a previous phone, you would just contact your carrier and move service to the other phone.

 

[golfnut1982]

If its AT&T drop by the store and pick up a 5g card with the QR code. This is the code you need if your esim gets wiped and your phone asks you for a cellular plan. You old sim is toast. Caudabe Sheath is a great case. Turn of AOD if you don't need it.

 

[JM]

Planning to upgrade from XS, which is 4 years old. Hoping you could help answer these questions to decide if it's worth it

- eSIM question: If something happens to my 14 pro (breaks/stops working/end up retuning it).. I am keeping my XS as a backup. How do I get my XS back up and working instantly with service, without any hiccups given I will be on eSIM on 14 pro? Do I leave my physical SIM in XS.. will it have any purpose?

- Is battery drain issue better with the latest iOS? When I upgrade, restore from backup or setup as new phone? I heard there were some potential battery drain issues that could have been attributed to using backup

Good case recommendations that account for protruding camera - I heard many cases are allowing the camera to come in contact with surfaces :O. Usually go with Speck, specifically Presidio Pro - the rubber ish one (https://speckproducts.com/collections/iphone-xs/products/ipx18-pr-pro)

Car play issue resolved? I heard there was some issue with this

Thanks!

I activated esim on my 14pro with Verizon, while I had a SIM card in my old 13mini.

When 14pro activated (I used the automated bot helper on Verizon phonecall with no issues) it immediately made the 13mini go cell-less. When I booted the 14pro up, it was working fine.

I've talked with the Verizon rep a few weeks ago, and she said that moving back to the 13mini is no problem with online or phone-in activation and would NOT require a $35 fee, since the activation fee is a one and done on any phone on Verizon.

Though, I have read in another thread that if I wanted to move back to the 13mini, I would have to go the ESIM route on that phone. Also, not sure to the truth of that... but at least I know moving between the two should not be an issue through phone-in or online activations.

 

[Shadowbech]

Though, I have read in another thread that if I wanted to move back to the 13mini, I would have to go the ESIM route on that phone. Also, not sure to the truth of that... but at least I know moving between the two should not be an issue through phone-in or online activations.

You can do it through the phone. Just hit Add esim and you should get the option to transfer from another phone. I've done it seemlessly going back and forth without having to contact verizon each time I need to make the switch.

 

[jab234]

Yeah I have ATT. My understand is they can give me a new SIM for my old XS incase something happens to 14 Pro?

 

[Fat_Guy]

Otterbox Commuter, you will be slamming the phone camera lenses down on surfaces of all kinds including kitchen counters.

 

[jab234]

Two scenarios (I have ATT)

1) XS has esim capabilities but has physical SIM. 14 pro esim only. Let's say I buy a 14pro, rendering my XS physical sim obsolete. Let's say I want to do the phone to phone transfer and switch from 14pro to XS... will this be easy even though I never had esim activated on XS? Or should I convert XS to esim before buying a 14 pro?

2) I buy a 14 pro and put my XS with its obsolete physical sim away. 3 months later my 14 pro breaks or needs repair/screen doesn't work. I can't transfer esim to XS bc my 14 pro doesn't work. How do I get a working phone and use the XS instantly? I can't even make a phone call to ATT without a working phone (are they even 24/7 if this happens after hours?). This seems a little ridiculous unless I'm missing something obvious here. This is really what's preventing my from getting the 14 pro.

 

[Shadowbech]

Two scenarios (I have ATT)

1) XS has esim capabilities but has physical SIM. 14 pro esim only. Let's say I buy a 14pro, rendering my XS physical sim obsolete. Let's say I want to do the phone to phone transfer and switch from 14pro to XS... will this be easy even though I never had esim activated on XS? Or should I convert XS to esim before buying a 14 pro?

2) I buy a 14 pro and put my XS with its obsolete physical sim away. 3 months later my 14 pro breaks or needs repair/screen doesn't work. I can't transfer esim to XS bc my 14 pro doesn't work. How do I get a working phone and use the XS instantly? I can't even make a phone call to ATT without a working phone (are they even 24/7 if this happens after hours?). This seems a little ridiculous unless I'm missing something obvious here. This is really what's preventing my from getting the 14 pro.

1. Theoretically if the XS is on iOS 16, you should be able to transfer it phone to phone. I can't speak for XS as I currently don't have one so I won't be able to test it.

2. I know that Verizon, you can simply log in to your account and order a sim card and have it mailed to you. I would think AT&T would be the same where you can have the AT&T ship you a sim card (and you can possibly order it online), it comes pre-activated so you just have to insert the phsyical sim and follow the instruction from the packaging. Or you can simply drive to your nearest AT&T store and get one.

 

[MisterSavage]

- Is battery drain issue better with the latest iOS? When I upgrade, restore from backup or setup as new phone? I heard there were some potential battery drain issues that could have been attributed to using backup

I'd need to see some concrete sources to believe that. I upgrade every year and always transfer my old phone's info to a new phone with no issue.

 

[jab234]

Thx for replies. When I do international travel I usually activate a $5-10 a day type thing on AT&T. I don't change SIMs. Will I be unaffected by esim then with international travel?

 

[Shadowbech]

Thx for replies. When I do international travel I usually activate a $5-10 a day type thing on AT&T. I don't change SIMs. Will I be unaffected by esim then with international travel?

correct. you should be fine and should be unaffected.

 

[jab234]

I suppose as long as I can drive to the nearest AT&T store and pick up a SIM card for a backup phone if my 14 pro breaks, it's not the end of the world.

 

[BR313]

I suppose as long as I can drive to the nearest AT&T store and pick up a SIM card for a backup phone if my 14 pro breaks, it's not the end of the world.

With eSIM capable iPhones on AT&T, the process can be done entirely online as long as the backup is connected to Wi-Fi.

 

[1BadManVan]

Planning to upgrade from XS, which is 4 years old. Hoping you could help answer these questions to decide if it's worth it

- eSIM question: If something happens to my 14 pro (breaks/stops working/end up retuning it).. I am keeping my XS as a backup. How do I get my XS back up and working instantly with service, without any hiccups given I will be on eSIM on 14 pro? Do I leave my physical SIM in XS.. will it have any purpose?

- Is battery drain issue better with the latest iOS? When I upgrade, restore from backup or setup as new phone? I heard there were some potential battery drain issues that could have been attributed to using backup

Good case recommendations that account for protruding camera - I heard many cases are allowing the camera to come in contact with surfaces :O. Usually go with Speck, specifically Presidio Pro - the rubber ish one (https://speckproducts.com/collections/iphone-xs/products/ipx18-pr-pro)

Car play issue resolved? I heard there was some issue with this

Thanks!

For the case, I use UAG, never broken a phone in these cases and they protrude enough to protect the camera lense

This year I went with the monarch pro series and it’s a beast of a case but I love it

 

[edhchoe]

once you do SIM to eSIM transfer, the SIM card becomes a piece of plastic garbage.

 

[jab234]

With eSIM capable iPhones on AT&T, the process can be done entirely online as long as the backup is connected to Wi-Fi.

What if the new phone 14 pro is broken/doesn't turn on/permanently damaged. Can I get the backup XS (Esim capable) up and running anytime through this online process (and how would I go about it?). Or will it require me to go to a store or have something mailed in?

 

[jab234]

Spoke to AT&T rep. Told me I can get a new backup/inactive physical SIM for my backup phone for $5. If 14 pro is out of service, can just call and activate the physical SIM. No store visit needed.