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Other The world isn’t ready for eSIM only phones…

Going to have to give up the headphone jack soon on my phone when I replace my 6S (though giving it up on the iPad will be a bigger change for me when I replace that). No charger brick is very cheap and Apple looking to make more money selling accessories separately.

I think I’ll get the 14/14 Pro as I travel and get prepaid Physical SIMs when I do. If physical SIMs remain on the 15 I’ll probably upgrade to that and if not hold onto the 14 for some years though maybe not as long as I’ve kept the 6S as my main phone.
 
I was wondering if there would be issues getting an 'esim' iPhone. I'd much rather have the 'old style' as it seems to be far more flexible.

I imagine there is no way to get an iPhone with a sim slot without going on ebay or worse. Hmm...
 
NM08SRT8 said:
World wasn’t ready for no headphone jack, no charger brick.. but guess what? People adapt and adjust. It’ll be fine, just breathe..
Click to expand...
The lack of a headphone jack or charging brick doesn’t prevent you from accessing services that require two factor authentication. For example, if your phone’s touchscreen is unresponsive or your battery fails (let’s not act like this is a “rare” case) how will you access online banking services? You will be without a phone number until you get another eSIM enabled phone and then contact your carrier for an eSIM or find a physical sim phone and then head over to your carrier for a physical sim. Either way you’re out of a phone number until then. I’m sure Apple has thought of this scenario and may already have a solution in the works (i.e. iCloud eSIM 🤷🏻‍♂️).
 
I'm not hot about the eSim, but I'm going to get a 14 Pro regardless. Re the eSim, I'll just pack one of my backup iPhones for int'l travel and go "local boy".
 
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I chose to move to an eSIM with my UK provider EE. It couldn't have been simpler. Click a button in their app while on WiFi, press a button which installed the eSIM, simultaneously the SIM card died and could be removed, then carry on with life.
 
hsnsky said:
The lack of a headphone jack or charging brick doesn’t prevent you from accessing services that require two factor authentication. For example, if your phone’s touchscreen is unresponsive or your battery fails (let’s not act like this is a “rare” case) how will you access online banking services? You will be without a phone number until you get another eSIM enabled phone and then contact your carrier for an eSIM or find a physical sim phone and then head over to your carrier for a physical sim. Either way you’re out of a phone number until then. I’m sure Apple has thought of this scenario and may already have a solution in the works (i.e. iCloud eSIM 🤷🏻‍♂️).
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Just fyi, you can have both eSIM and regular sim tied to your one phone number, just need to get online and activate one or the other.
 
NM08SRT8 said:
Just fyi, you can have both eSIM and regular sim tied to your one phone number, just need to get online and activate one or the other.
Click to expand...
True. Thats an additional service called multi-sim and comes with a monthly fee. That solves the issue in this case. But I’m not sure if all carriers provide multi-sim. Also having an extra physical SIM card hanging around that is tied to your primary number is definitely a potential security risk.
 
PinkyMacGodess said:
I was wondering if there would be issues getting an 'esim' iPhone. I'd much rather have the 'old style' as it seems to be far more flexible.

I imagine there is no way to get an iPhone with a sim slot without going on ebay or worse. Hmm...
Click to expand...

The iPhone 13 has a SIM slot so you can certainly still get iPhones with a physical tray. It's still a great phone. You don't have to get a 14 if it doesn't suit your needs. How often do you travel outside of the US and where? On your current iPhone, how often have you had to move the physical SIM?
 
valkyrie917 said:
eSIM.net provides PAYG eSIM in the UK. Runs on O2. But works through the whole of the EU under the roaming agreement.
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That works as long as you don’t need to call premium numbers.
generally, I found their service ok, but EE matched and gave me a cheaper tariff.

——
The following are not permitted:

  1. International calls and SMS’s
  2. Calls to Premium numbers
  3. Calls to UK 08 non-geographic numbers
  4. SMS’s to Premium or short numbers.
 
ct2k7 said:
That works as long as you don’t need to call premium numbers.
generally, I found their service ok, but EE matched and gave me a cheaper tariff.

——
The following are not permitted:

  1. International calls and SMS’s
  2. Calls to Premium numbers
  3. Calls to UK 08 non-geographic numbers
  4. SMS’s to Premium or short numbers.
Click to expand...

That's great for you. I'm providing this as a solution for US travelers who really don't need those things. We can still use our main lines if absolutely necessary. And international calling is available.
 
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valkyrie917 said:
That's great for you. I'm providing this as a solution for travelers who really don't need those things.
Click to expand...
IMO it’s probably not the best for a traveller unless you’re already in the country. So,e have reported success with activating abroad, but it’s not fully supported.

moreover it’s not a replacement for PAYG
 
ct2k7 said:
IMO it’s probably not the best for a traveller unless you’re already in the country. So,e have reported success with activating abroad, but it’s not fully supported.
Click to expand...

I mean, it's the same as a physical SIM. You have to activate in the UK first. It's a good solution for US tourists & travelers who can only get PAYG eSIM on our new iPhones. It's not a great solution for citizens but you have other options. So I don't get why you're all so negative about this? It's a solution to a problem. It's not a perfect solution but the problem is also new. Please just check yourself for a minute.
 
ct2k7 said:
people probably will, or just have another phone handy.

one of my own destinations is to a country in which no carrier supports eSIMs. Maybe that’ll change, maybe it won’t.
Click to expand...
Until the cellular kinks get worked out, it would be a good idea to get a cheap used OG SE or some other cheap, older iPhone for travel to said places. Granted, it isn't the best scenario but, there is always complaining when tech moves in a new direction.
 
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ct2k7 said:
granted.

it’s not a substitute for PAYG though.

the plan starts when you purchase it, not when it’s activated.
Click to expand...

Are all Brits as negative as you? Like I said, this is a solution for tourists who do need a PAYG eSIM for a period of time. It is still a PAYG system even if it isn't the one that works FOR YOU.
 
valkyrie917 said:
Are all Brits as negative as you? Like I said, this is a solution for tourists who do need a PAYG eSIM for a period of time. It is still a PAYG system even if it isn't the one that works FOR YOU.
Click to expand...

no, I’m being practical.

It’s just an expensive stop gap, for physical sims which offer the same at half the price. Generally with PAYG, you buy the SIM and credit separately so you can activate at a later time. that can‘t be done with this site, plus rollover is required to maintain the number: you can’t choose elements of when the service becomes dormant.

I’m just saying that it‘s not the best solution out there at a practical price point, that there are other better ways of costing this.
 
Apple_Robert said:
Until the cellular kinks get worked out, it would be a good idea to get a cheap used OG SE or some other cheap, older iPhone for travel to said places. Granted, it isn't the best scenario but, there is always complaining when tech moves in a new direction.
Click to expand...

This decision doesn’t matter to me yet, my phone will still come with a SIM slot, but I can appreciate pains when forcing the standard down.
 
ct2k7 said:
no, I’m being practical.

It’s just an expensive stop gap, for physical sims which offer the same at half the price. Generally with PAYG, you buy the SIM and credit separately so you can activate at a later time. that can‘t be done with this site, plus rollover is required to maintain the number: you can’t choose elements of when the service becomes dormant.

I’m just saying that it‘s not the best solution out there at a practical price point, that there are other better ways of costing this.
Click to expand...

Why would a tourist who is only there for a week or even a month need to roll over? You keep missing the plot, mate. Perhaps you missed the part where US iPhone 14s no longer have a physical SIM slot. So eSIM is the only way. Since none of the other UK carriers offer eSIM for PAYG, this is one of the few solutions that you get a number. Otherwise it's other data only brokers like Airalo or Ubigi (which are just fine if you don't need a number) but still cost more than eSIM.net.

So, if you are looking for something for PAYG for people who LIVE in the UK, then no, this is not the option FOR YOU.
 
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valkyrie917 said:
Why would a tourist who is only there for a week or even a month need to roll over? You keep missing the plot, mate.
Click to expand...

there are other people than casual tourists who visit the country. All I’m saying is that it’s not a PAYG replacement; so far you have failed to understand that.
 
ct2k7 said:
there are other people than casual tourists who visit the country. All I’m saying is that it’s not a PAYG replacement; so far you have failed to understand that.
Click to expand...

Read the rest of my post. This thread is literally about eSIM and eSIM only phones, which are US iPhone 14. Not regular PAYG with a physical SIM and not iPhone 14's sold in other countries. But please feel free to tell us about better eSIM PAYG deals. I'll wait.

EDIT: Still waiting @ct2k7
 
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JulianL said:
Out of interest what does the scene look like in the US re MVNOs supporting eSIMS? Here in the UK that is a big black hole because we have a very active MVNO market offering very good value for money but as far as I have been able to see there isn't a single one offering eSIM in the UK at the moment.
Click to expand...

Many MVNOs in the us support Esim as they often are using a no physical storefront business model. This means they can get customers onboard faster without having to ship sims around. During my experimentation I used the following Esim mvnos:

-mint mobile
-Google fi
-visible
-los mobile
-us mobile
-AT&T prepaid (no mvno but works like one more or less)

Of course all three main carriers support Esim.
 
valkyrie917 said:
Read the rest of my post. This thread is literally about eSIM and eSIM only phones, which are US iPhone 14. Not regular PAYG with a physical SIM and not iPhone 14's sold in other countries. But please feel free to tell us about better eSIM PAYG deals. I'll wait.

EDIT: Still waiting @ct2k7
Click to expand...
Can I add, if you reeally need a local number, why not get VOIP? You would use data to make calls but it’s not too crazy. The only thing that won’t nominally work is 2G phone calls since it’s not enough bandwidth, you need 3G and better.
 
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