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iPhone X XS and XS Max Sim free at launch
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There seems to be a bit of confusion on this thread, and having followed the eSIM stuff on the iPad side for awhile, I thought I'd jump in.
- iPhone Xs and Xr have nano-SIM slots like most prior iPhones. If your carrier doesn't support eSIM or you want to avoid any activation fees, buying one and popping your physical SIM in should work. The "SIM free" model is just sold with this slot empty, despite some people thinking it means that the phone won't take any physical SIMs.
- Verizon hasn't seem interested in eSIMs with iPads and it's unused, instead having a Verizon physical SIM in the tray. I wouldn't be surprised if they do this at launch for the iPhones, too. I haven't seen if removing the Verizon SIM on the iPads that have an internal eSIM allows it to kick in and give the choice of AT&T/Sprint/T-Mobile/GigSky/etc.)
- AT&T are jerks about eSIMs - using it with AT&T permanently makes the eSIM an AT&T SIM. This has always been the case on the iPads, both with the removable Apple SIM (iPad Air 2, iPad 9.7", original iPad Pro 12.9") and the internal version (iPad Pro 9.7", iPad Pro 10.5", current iPad Pro 12.9"). My solution has always been to keep a separate AT&T physical SIM and use that and then use the eSIM for other carriers (i.e. you could use it on Sprint and then move over to T-Mobile and back). For those who care about this stuff, I'd probably find a way to not use the eSIM on AT&T and use an AT&T nano SIM on these phones.
Basically, regarding physical SIMs, these should work like all past iPhones, but when it comes to eSIMs (especially on AT&T), I'd be a little careful when activating if you ever want to use the eSIM with someone else.
- iPhone Xs and Xr have nano-SIM slots like most prior iPhones. If your carrier doesn't support eSIM or you want to avoid any activation fees, buying one and popping your physical SIM in should work. The "SIM free" model is just sold with this slot empty, despite some people thinking it means that the phone won't take any physical SIMs.
- Verizon hasn't seem interested in eSIMs with iPads and it's unused, instead having a Verizon physical SIM in the tray. I wouldn't be surprised if they do this at launch for the iPhones, too. I haven't seen if removing the Verizon SIM on the iPads that have an internal eSIM allows it to kick in and give the choice of AT&T/Sprint/T-Mobile/GigSky/etc.)
- AT&T are jerks about eSIMs - using it with AT&T permanently makes the eSIM an AT&T SIM. This has always been the case on the iPads, both with the removable Apple SIM (iPad Air 2, iPad 9.7", original iPad Pro 12.9") and the internal version (iPad Pro 9.7", iPad Pro 10.5", current iPad Pro 12.9"). My solution has always been to keep a separate AT&T physical SIM and use that and then use the eSIM for other carriers (i.e. you could use it on Sprint and then move over to T-Mobile and back). For those who care about this stuff, I'd probably find a way to not use the eSIM on AT&T and use an AT&T nano SIM on these phones.
Basically, regarding physical SIMs, these should work like all past iPhones, but when it comes to eSIMs (especially on AT&T), I'd be a little careful when activating if you ever want to use the eSIM with someone else.
I don't know what anyone is doing for the iPhone launch, as it's entirely new and I don't think much has been said, but they do support it and quite well on the iPads.
Supposedly the other caveat is that the new iPhones have to be unlocked to use two different carriers, otherwise both services have to come from the same carrier (not surprising).