They have them at the Apple store where I live. I have never had good luck with AT&T. That is why I have T-mobile.

How does T mobile compare with the Google Fi rates for international data?

I have found the Fi service to be excellent on Android.

Some basic questions... how does a esim card work? there is no physical card, correct?

after payment is your phone activated via an email? I assume only newer phone can work with esim, correct?

Thanks

The SIM circuitry is built into the phone and can be re-programmed with new SIM details.

Some providers have an app that programs the SIM (T-mobile for example). Others email you a QR code with the SIM information encoded and you program the SIM through a system menu.

ESIM solely online
 

I have AT&T iPhone11 (unlocked) and go to Europe several times a year. My thought was to keep the physical AT&T SIM Card in the phone but get an esim card depending on where I'm travelling. Does this make sense? But I can't figure out how to get one online before I go -- maybe it's not possible? I want esim data with some limited voice. EE supposedly has that for UK (according to Apple support esim support page) but I can't figure out how to get it on their website. Also tried Orange and Vodaphone but similarly confusing. My plan seems simple (1) go to carrier website; (2) sign up for esim (3) pay (4) download QR code and set up esim. Am I missing something obvious?

Probably have to visit an EE store. https://ee.co.uk/help/help-new/getti...rticle-title-3

Or if you just want data check out Ubigi and sign up online. https://cellulardata.ubigi.com/

I do the opposite. I keep Verizon as my eSIM and buy a physical SIM abroad. Troubleshooting is easier as all carriers (and their employees) are familiar with physical SIMs whereas eSIMs are still very new.

Hope this helps.

Anyone an early adopter with o2 UK yet? They say it's coming this month

It took about 5 hours and 5 SIMs - but I have both AT&T and Verizon simultaneously on my iPhone 11 Pro Max and Apple Watch 5. I had to move AT&T to the eSIM. Verizon had to activate a new nano SIM on an iPhone 8 to get it working.

I will be keeping an eye on how bad the battery life hit is.

I just wanted my AT&T number on the eSIM and have the physical SIM slot empty to be used later. More than 5 hours and many SIMs later my account got flagged so now I have no service. The AT&T rep at the store said to try again in 48 hours. I had to cajole the rep to call AT&T Activation as he couldn't figure out the error message I was getting on 11 Pro. I had to recite the numbers to the phone agent. Meanwhile he was discouraging me from even trying to move the number to the eSIM saying the success rate is less than 50%. I didn't do the eSIM last year because I recall all the problems with the Apple Watch, but I figured after 1 year of dual SIM phones Apple & AT&T would have things coordinated and sorted out. Is the tech that complicated or it's just difficult for 2 companies to work together?? Or maybe the reps aren't really trained. The store rep said he's been with AT&T for 2 years and that he's the most knowledgeable and experienced of the stores reps that day.

That sounds really frustrating Magna ! My AT&T in store reps looks a few tries to get it done, but ultimately were able to move my SIM to an eSIM. I wish I knew more about how they did it!

Once they did I had to remove and re-add the cellular plan for my Apple Watch via the Watch app on the phone. Until then the cellular on the watch didn't work.

This is what the Apple rep told me to do as well. He was able to have 2 lines on his phone this way, one a personal line, another for business.

late reply. T mo without any upfare gets 2g reliably, which is good enough for email and maps. If you want or need faster service Google Fi will provide that. However with some international travel last week, T mo connects to the towers much faster than Google Fi, even when they use the same towers. So if a minute or 2 is important T mo may be slightly better.

Is it worth it to try to switch the AT&T plan over to the eSIM, given that AT&T sells locked iPhones that cannot be used on other networks until you pay off the phone and go through the unlock process?

I finally got an AT&T rep willing to sort things out and knew what to do, which is basically checking if long strings of numbers match up. Some reps are willing to help, but are not trained to troubleshoot. But too many reps in "Advance Tech Support" know what has to be done, but aren't willing to go through the hassle. Literally, 3 Advance Tech Support reps were supposed to get back to me and none of them did. One said he would call me back in 5 minutes that he just had to move to another computer! We confirmed the phone number he was going to call me back on, even though I know he knows the number I'm calling from, but he never called back. I finally said I'm willing to wait and finally got a rep to set it up. The wait was an hour and it took another hour to finally get set up. Previously, during other attempts it was at least an hour, so I probably put in a total of 10 hours. Either they're unstaffed or many people having issues. It should only take 15 minutes, but the rep screwed it up the first time and it took me 10 hours to get it fixed.

Not sure why they insist we pick up an eSIM card with a QR code. On the iPhone you can manually enter in numbers to activate, but AT&T insist we scan a QR code. And in an AT&T store SIMs costs $5! But in an Apple Store it's free. But many Apple reps don't know they have them?!? And one Apple rep insist they didn't carry them. In the end, it's worth the hours to set up the eSIM and not have to have 2 phones for 2 numbers. . . I think.