John Anderson L.

Is Ubigi a good plan?

Will the iPhone 14 permit me to install a physical sim card when I am in Europe??

draver

The US version will not, as it has no sim card slot. From what I have read so far, a European or Asian iPhone version has a sim slot and those should be able to function normally and allow the use of your sim card.

draver

I picked up my i14 Pro Max yesterday and did the transfer with one small issue. The only esims that moved to the new phone were 2 from T-Mobile. I have 3 other esims that did not port to the new phone and it reported that "Transfer Not Supported". They are visible as a greyed out line in the "Add eSIM" of the new phone. One is from Flexiroam and they were contacted. They are going to work with me, probably sending a new QR code to allow me to transfer my data service. One is from Xfinity Mobile, which I converted to esim in anticipation of the new simless iPhone, and one from Bne, a data roaming carrier. I expect Xfinity to have a solution ready since they will lose customers if they cannot transfer from sim to esim users. Bne is not being too cooperative so far but it is probably due to a language difference. During the transfer setup I requested my esims be ported to my new phone I believe.

The only one of these that really matters is my Xfinity line, since it is a Verizon MVNO for $15 a month ($19 inc. taxes, total for both lines) with two lines as emergency service numbers. It only includes 1 Gb of shared data, but each line has a dedicated number, and works well. I got a $400 gift card on promo when I signed up about 6 months ago, so no loss if I need to just drop the service.

TGarza

Not if you have the US version since no sim slot exists

Taikucing

Check this one, nope, exchange only available for same country where purchase it's made. I guess I will have to contribute to Canada sales tax unless anyone here have any tips to but this one duty free or sales tax refund process.

GUWonder

I was thinking of an exchange when having AppleCare+ for US-purchased iPhones. In previous years when I’ve gone into Apple stores in Europe for device swap/repairs for iPhones purchased outside of Europe, the Apple stores have swapped them for the local equivalent rather than for the US or other non-local equivalent.

BigFlyer

I doubt that any European carrier will allow you to switch to eSIM on a prepaid plan.

TheMadBrewer

One of them is Vodafone NL and it looks like they allow that on their website, But the mechanics of it seem tricky and it isn't clear if you can do while roaming (I'd guess not). So I guess I could try it next time I am in the Netherlands or have a long connection at AMS And my iPhone 12 only allows one eSim active at time.

The other is from Fonic (discount O2 in Germany) that I've had a *long* time and I'd rather not lose the number (lots of German friends have the number).

It's moot anyway as I won't be getting a iPhone 14 anytime soon...

TheMadBrewer

I used Ubigi in the before times and it worked fine. I signed up for an annual plan, 2gb a month in EU in Dec 2019. It didn't roll over month-to-month but I had a enough trips planned in 2020 it was worth paying for the months I'd miss. Ooops.

I emailed them asking for consideration and was basically told nope (there were also language issues), So I switched my T-Mobile to ESIM and use a physical SIM while in Europe. Of course the iPhone 14 messes that up (as no physical SIM slot). Progress

fbcooper

Can multiple people activate the same esim. Like we have a google fi sim that we just pass around when someomes traveling abroad or have people visiting us in the states. We'd swap sims between our phone if someones phone was dying.

draver

According to Apple you can, but I don't have a non Apple phone with esim to test this with. I have transferred esims between iPhones with no issues for the past few years reliably however. This can be done prior to travel, however you would be at the mercy of the support service of the carrier if there is a problem and it doesn't work as planned.

josephstern

Not that I need a reason, but I’ll def keep my 13 Pro for a while longer.

der_saeufer

Just like a physical SIM, an eSIM can only be "installed" in one phone at a time. In iOS 16, you can transfer eSIMs between iPhones but only if the carrier involved supports it. For Android, iOS 15 and earlier, or carriers without that support, you have to have the carrier send you a new QR code to switch phones. Depending on the carrier that can be as easy as accessing your account online or sending an SMS, or it can require sitting on hold waiting for a customer service rep.

I'm sure that sooner or later there will be a standard(ish) procedure to transfer eSIMs but until then I wouldn't use eSIM for a line I was going to pass around between phones. Having to deal with the carrier to switch phones reminds me of the bad old days of analog and CDMA phones, or of crappy carriers like MetroPCS that look for new ways to charge pointless fees.

abraxis

I was going to move to the 14 Pro Max from my 11 Pro until the news came out about no SIM card. I then found out that Apple Stores pulled the 13 PM after the 14 PM was announced. So off I went to T-Mobile to pick up a 13 PM with SIM slot.

There aren't a lot of prepaid providers that use eSIM where I go in Asia. Singapore has one carrier that has eSIM prepaid (M1) and not sure about Japan so gotta have that slot.

DYKWIA

I got a iPhone 14 Pro Max yesterday (UK, so it still has a SIM slot). During the migration process, it offered to convert the physical SIM on my old phone to an eSim. I hesitated, but went for it in the end. It took a couple of minutes, but I now have an eSim as my main provider (EE in the UK)

Not wanting to start an iOS / Android debate, but Apple have got the migration process nailed on. Other than having to re-register with a few financial institutions, the whole process is just seamless.