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iphone convert to eSIM

dabigm

ULTIMATE Member
so i've just joined the cool kids and got an iPhone.
something interesting in there, it says that it can convert my physical SIM (1pmobile) to eSIM.
I had wanted an eSIM but 1pmob doesn't do it.

Quick question, does this make the SIM card useless afterwards? can I go back to a physical SIM if I do this.

Also on a technical note, how does the iPhone do this? Why doesn't android do it?
never heard of this option of the phone itself converting a physical sim into eSIM before until now.
 
oh well, I tried it and it didn't work. It took me to an EE page and said it can't convert it. I assume this is just EE only then. Or at least, networks who support it. The iPhone must think it's an EE sim because 1p uses EE?
 
Also on a technical note, how does the iPhone do this? Why doesn't android do it?
No idea if it's implemented now but in some development builds of Android 14 on Pixel devices, there was an option to convert a SIM to eSIM but it didn't work iirc
 
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oh well, I tried it and it didn't work. It took me to an EE page and said it can't convert it. I assume this is just EE only then. Or at least, networks who support it. The iPhone must think it's an EE sim because 1p uses EE?
It would only be EE sims that can do it, but yes because it uses the EE network it can’t differentiate fully.
 
My understanding is with the iPhone 1 SIM is physical, can add a second or dual SIM by adding an eSIM.

iPhone 14 onwards in US they removed the physcial SIM. Elsewhere, still had 1 physical SIM, and up to 2 eSIMs. Good for travelling.
 
Quick question, does this make the SIM card useless afterwards? can I go back to a physical SIM if I do this.
Yes, SIM becomes useless. This could be both a blessing or a curse depending on how you see it.

[curse] If you are travelling and you loose your phone you got no chance of getting your line back if it is a SIM. [blessing] However if it is an eSim then if should be possible provided your network is willing to do it over the phone (another phone obviously).

[blessing] On the other side if your phone breaks and you are travelling you could easily grab another phone from a shop and move the SIM yourself, no questions asked. [curse] With an eSim the migration process will depend on your network and their security processes. And since your phone is broken you will need another phone.

[curse] Finally if your phone is stolen they can easily take your SIM away and use it on another phone. This has been used in recent fraud cases where thiefs managed to activate the stolen's phone mobile banking on a new phone and transfer fund off it. This can be stopped of you setup a SIM pin but most people don't do it. [blessing] However if you have an eSim this hack is impossible since the eSim can't be "removed" from an existing device without the network's approval.

So there you go, 3 vs 3 is the final score. Make your own mind up...
 
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eSIM is a great idea with terrible implementation by pretty much all networks.

using an iPhone as an example as I’ve no experience with Android….

only EE allows you to move an eSIM from one phone to another. O2 you have to have a physical letter posted with a new QR code to add the sim to a new device. You then need to do a “sim swap” process to transfer your number from the old to new eSIM. Therefore new phone day means real downtime.

Lyca Mobile - you can’t even move to a new SIM. You need to order a new “free sim” and then do a SIM swap. one Benefit over O2 is the new eSIM can come via email.

Sky. Not sure on sky but when I tried to use their physical sim in an iPad, they insisted on sending one time codes via text which iPads can’t get. It was a right pain.
 
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eSIM is a great idea with terrible implementation by pretty much all networks.

using an iPhone as an example as I’ve no experience with Android….

only EE allows you to move an eSIM from one phone to another. O2 you have to have a physical letter posted with a new QR code to add the sim to a new device. You then need to do a “sim swap” process to transfer your number from the old to new eSIM. Therefore new phone day means real downtime.

Lyca Mobile - you can’t even move to a new SIM. You need to order a new “free sim” and then do a SIM swap. one Benefit over O2 is the new eSIM can come via email.

Sky. Not sure on sky but when I tried to use their physical sim in an iPad, they insisted on sending one time codes via text which iPads can’t get. It was a right pain.
Totally agree hence my caveats on following the network's process. Having said that the networks will have to clean their acts sooner or later as more people use eSIMs and their call centers become overloaded with customer calls trying to move/re-issue an eSIM.
 
eSIM is a great idea with terrible implementation by pretty much all networks.

using an iPhone as an example as I’ve no experience with Android….

only EE allows you to move an eSIM from one phone to another. O2 you have to have a physical letter posted with a new QR code to add the sim to a new device. You then need to do a “sim swap” process to transfer your number from the old to new eSIM. Therefore new phone day means real downtime.

Lyca Mobile - you can’t even move to a new SIM. You need to order a new “free sim” and then do a SIM swap. one Benefit over O2 is the new eSIM can come via email.

Sky. Not sure on sky but when I tried to use their physical sim in an iPad, they insisted on sending one time codes via text which iPads can’t get. It was a right pain.

You can buy a Lyca SIM in a shop and then go online and transfer an eSim to the unactivated SIM.

Some eSims can be transferred to another phone by deleting it from the first phone while remaining connected via wifi and then rescanning the QR code on the second phone while remaining connected via wifi.
 
eSIM is a great idea with terrible implementation by pretty much all networks.

using an iPhone as an example as I’ve no experience with Android….

only EE allows you to move an eSIM from one phone to another. O2 you have to have a physical letter posted with a new QR code to add the sim to a new device. You then need to do a “sim swap” process to transfer your number from the old to new eSIM. Therefore new phone day means real downtime.

Lyca Mobile - you can’t even move to a new SIM. You need to order a new “free sim” and then do a SIM swap. one Benefit over O2 is the new eSIM can come via email.

Sky. Not sure on sky but when I tried to use their physical sim in an iPad, they insisted on sending one time codes via text which iPads can’t get. It was a right pain.

Only on non-360 accounts
 
thanks everyone, for the replies.

Only on non-360 accounts
what is this ? I have an O2 SIM and I had nothing but trouble with their eSIMs and as far as I know it was a regular account (don't know what a 360 one is though). And I had to go to a shop because the only other option was to post it.

Unrelated: I've decided I hate iPhones again. 15 pro max and my Oneplus is faster/better.
 
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I have dual sim in my iphone 14
once converted to esim, physical sim is dead.
currently have O2 esim & Three £6 business SIM card running .
works well 👍
 
Unrelated: I've decided I hate iPhones again. 15 pro max and my Oneplus is faster/better
My 4a 5G feels nicer feature wise than the iphone. :(
 
what is this ? I have an O2 SIM and I had nothing but trouble with their eSIMs and as far as I know it was a regular account (don't know what a 360 one is though). And I had to go to a shop because the only other option was to post it.
360 is the new billing system O2 is migrating to.

Considering you had to get your eSIM posted out, you are currently on the legacy system.

O2 is moving people over to 360 gradually, some members here have it, others like me (who have been with O2 for less than a year) don't.
 
My understanding is with the iPhone 1 SIM is physical, can add a second or dual SIM by adding an eSIM.

iPhone 14 onwards in US they removed the physcial SIM. Elsewhere, still had 1 physical SIM, and up to 2 eSIMs. Good for travelling.
Samsung has a weird system for this

Putting a new iD mobile into SIM1 and an irish sim into SIM2, then adding EE as an eSIM because we have a month or two left with them, the phone refused to let me enable eSIM 1 and SIM2 and the same time. I had to swap the SIMs around which means the phone now sees the Irish sim as its primary one, and automatically picks it for all texts on the messaging app and expected it to be the number the bank was verifying during Google Pay setup. That system is pretty dumb if you ask me
 
Samsung has a weird system for this

Putting a new iD mobile into SIM1 and an irish sim into SIM2, then adding EE as an eSIM because we have a month or two left with them, the phone refused to let me enable eSIM 1 and SIM2 and the same time. I had to swap the SIMs around which means the phone now sees the Irish sim as its primary one, and automatically picks it for all texts on the messaging app and expected it to be the number the bank was verifying during Google Pay setup. That system is pretty dumb if you ask me
thats bad yeah. My oneplus has great flexibility over dual sim / esim. You get two physical slots and you can use eSIM but if you turn on an esim then physical slot 2 is unavailable. But it asks you which one is data, which voice, which is primary etc. Or you can choose the "ask every time" option. My new iPhone has way less flexibility but I can at least specify separate voice and data sims.
 
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The Pixel is fairly straight forward for dual sim (via eSIM).
One physical sim and as many eSIMs as you like (but you can only enable one eSIM at once - you can enable two eSIMs at once if you have an iPhone 13 or later, or a pixel 7 or later).
I usually have physical Vodafone sim and 3 eSIM enabled. If I want spusu I have to disable the 3 sim but that doesn’t really bother me.
It’s nice having the flexibility of 2 eSIMs at once on my iPhone but it’s an impractical device to test with.
 
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