At yesterday’s Keynote, Apple unveiled a trio of new iPhones with many enhancements and added features over previous models. But one thing in particular caught my eye.
The new iPhone XR, XS, and SX Max devices will feature dual SIM card technology, allowing for two phone lines. The days of switching SIM cards when landing in a new country may be over. So-called digital SIM cards could quickly create local numbers in a country and allow for cheaper access to cellular and data coverage.
This excites me greatly as I weigh a change in cell phone providers. I have been a loyal T-Mobile customer going back to to the very beginning. But lately T-Mobile has just been annoying me. Dropped calls in Los Angeles are picking up in frequency and the data just isn’t working abroad. I was in Germany and Holland earlier this week and could not even load email. Edge speeds are annoying, but workable for email. On this last trip, I got nothing and the agents could not activate the $5/day international roaming plan, blaming technical errors. I also got hit with a $55 bill for a 12-minute call in Italy.
So I’m looking at a switch to Verizon and its $10/day international plan. That adds up, though, for a multi-week trip. The idea of a virtual, local SIM card holds great appeal. Dual SIM cards are already ubiquitous in places like India, so it is not like this is brand-new technology.
Imagine if Apple controls this process. Imagine if these new international data plans becomes like an additional network managed through iCloud. You can bet we’ll pay a premium for any Apple-related product, but I’m willing to pay a big premium for reliable data and cellular coverage wherever I am in the world without giving up my iPhone. Project Fi is attractive, but this could be even better.
CONCLUSION
The people at Apple at geniuses. Incremental upgrades translate to irrationally loyal users, like me, who upgrade their phones every year. This time, though, I am going with Apple’s leasing program. Just like cars, I prefer to lease rather than own depreciating assets. Anyone want to buy my “old” iPhone X? Who else is looking forward to the new SIM card technology?
So you just buy a second SIM card at the airport when you land or wherever, insert the SIM into your new iPhone, and you’re ready to go? Sounds amazing. That would certainly help my travels. Thanks!
No. That option would only be available if you had the Chinese market phone that has two physical SIM slots.
The rest of world models will support a single physical SIM and a second “eSIM”, which is virtual. Although it relies on carrier participation, many carriers are already onboard for launch and this eSIM could be activated before you’ve even boarded the plane.
At this point, confirmed eSIM carriers are:
Austria – T-Mobile
Canada – Bell
Croatia – Hrvatski Telekom
Czech Republic – T-Mobile
Germany – Telekom, Vodafone
Hungary – Magyar Telekom
India – Airtel, Reliance Jio
Spain – Vodafone Spain
United Kingdom – EE
United States -AT&T, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless
something doesn’t add up. Cingular was bought by AT&T, not T-Mobile. T-Mobile doesn’t have a $5.99 day pass, it is $5
I meant that I have used T-Mobile since it first began in the USA (had used Cingular prior).
However, you can set up the US phone line with the eSIM and use the physical SIM slot for travel. As long as the second line is a GSM band carrier it will work that way.
This was just a keynote, i dont think this was WWDC which already happened and happens every june. Just imo fyi 🙂
Thanks, have updated that in post. You are right!
As an expat living in Germany who travels back to the U.S. a lot, this would mean I could just leave both my U.S. and German SIM cards in my phone.
I am an expat living in Greece, US and Mexico who needs to keep a US phone line. Now with my single SIM smartphone when I want to receive an access code from my bank in the US I have to remove my Vodafone SIM, insert my US SIM, then wait for the phone to boot up, then repeat. Also, I have lost my US SIM on the eve of a trip to the US.
I just bought the iPhone XS to be delivered to the US to be activated on the eSIM with a US carrier, then the phone will be mailed to me where I now in Greece (where Vodafone does not support eSIM, so I will activate in Greece with a micro SIM.
Huge hassle for the iPhone up front cost of $1,400 ($500 cheaper in the US than Greece BTW) and the risk of loss in the mail (if I Fedex it, I will get dinged with a 28% Greek VAT), but I hope well worth it in the long run.
Thanks for your write up – that is exactly wha I plan to do – get eSim number in the US and get Cosmote sim with Greek number over there.
Let me know how this set up works in Greece for you with Vodafone i.e. Incoming/outgoing calls, txt messages and WhatsApp. Happy New Year.
WWDC happens in June every year. Yesterday’s event is not WWDC. Just an apple event to release new product.
Thanks, have updated that in post.
I’m intrigued by this capability, too! One reason I’ve gone with AT&T’s $10/day offering (I think they beat Verizon Wireless to that one) instead of getting a foreign SIM was that I want to be reachable at my own number. If I could be reachable at my number and still use a cheap foreign data plan, that would be the best of both worlds.
But, FYI, this was not the Worldwide Developer Conference. WWDC was back in June. This was a separate media event JUST for these iPhone and Watch announcements.
Thanks, have updated that in post.
Mark +1. I have used the $10/day AT&T International Day Pass in Germany, HK, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan and it has been great. Unlimited talk & text and no hassling with a SIM upon arrival. But I agree with Matthew that the dual SIM card feature in the new line of iPhones is going to be awesome and hopefully cheaper than the Int’l Day Pass. Local numbers are helpful for business travelers.
I missed this feature when watching the launch yesterday. Glad they were able to add it, and you are completely correct about the incremental upgrades that create irrational loyal users (I’m guilty!).
I’m interested in purchasing your iPhone X. Please let me know what you are asking for it.
I thought this was only for the phones sold in China. the others will use the e-sim by scanning a QR or something
Also, I read the terms on the Apple Upgrade Plan/Whatever and if you return your phone for a new one after 12 months you have to have it unlocked by your carrier, ie it’s going to be locked. Then I would think the e-sim can’t be used unless you’ve paid off the phone, as usual. I hope I’m wrong though.
I recently bought a Google Pixel 2 just so I could use Google’s project FI plan. For people who travel it’s absolutely brilliant. And I was surprised how great the Pixel 2 is as a phone.
Additionally, it’s incredibly easy to use an iPhone on Project Fi, though bloggers tend to forget that. It requires a tiny bit of work and some reading to get your unlocked iPhone to work, but I’ve probably saved upwards of $5,000 over the course of the three years I’ve used Project Fi both at home and abroad.
Unlocked or jailbroken?
I have been using Google Fi on an unlocked iPhone 6S for nearly two years. All it takes is activating the Fi SIM on a Google product (borrow a friend’s Pixel), then popping in the SIM into the iPhone and changing the APN settings. I’m getting LTE speeds in Thailand, Taiwan, China, France, UK, everywhere I go. Totally seamless travel with high speed data, and as a bonus in China no VPN is required as Fi creates an automatic VPN to the US. The ONLY thing that does not work on IPhone is multiple-party SMS.
Ironically, in the US, Google Fi on Iphone means being stuck on only one carrier (I think it’s Sprint), so the coverage is spotty. But overseas, Fi partners with the strongest local carriers, so I find my Fi phone works better overseas than in the US! And Google doens’t care if you spend all your data overseas unlike other carriers that limit your overseas data to a certain percentage of your domestic bucket.
The one issue I see with this is you’re forced to use a subpar, overpriced iPhone.
Have Verizon..
Recently tried the $10/ day deal. Worked flawlessly in 3 countries, transitioning between countries without issue, no overcharging on monthly bill either. Speeds were decent. Expensive for a lengthy trip but it is a convenient option to have available in your travel arsenal for a short stay or if in a bind.
If you get the Above Unlimited plan from Verizon, you get five free travel passes a month. If you were going out of the country for a week, then the savings by switching to that plan are pretty good. Especially if you’re out of the county for a week at a time each month and want to forgo the iPhone XS upgrade. I know I will and I’ve been upgrading yearly since the 6.
That Apple Watch Series 4 though… That’s convincing me to upgrade my Series 1
LOVE this.
You’ll really like the upgrade program. It makes perfect sense as an interest-free loan and not being married to any one phone.
I will buy your X if you’re actually selling.
Dual SIM ‘phones have been around for ages: at least 6-7 years. Samsung has one that is superior in every respect compared with Apple.
Why people continue to pay a premium for Apple is amazing, especially when you factor in the planned obsolescence, aka just another way to ripoff consumers.
I used to have the full suite of Apple products, in multiples; now very glad to escape from their sleazy, predatory grasp and only buy elsewhere.
@EndlosLuft mentioned the Pixel 2 and Google Fi, but it’s also worth pointing out that the combination already uses eSIM. That is, the primary Google Fi service uses eSIM, so the SIM slot on the Pixel 2 is normally free, and it’s just a matter of inserting a local SIM card into the slot when you arrive. (Or if you regularly travel to a particular country, you could just leave it in.) A simple dropdown lets you toggle between the eSIM and the physical SIM card.
The Google Fi service is so seamless and inexpensive, though, that it’s probably only worth doing this for lengthy stays abroad.
Or if for some reason you are in need of a local phone number. I’ve used Fi in Japan, China, HK, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan. The only downside is it sometimes takes 10-15 minutes upon arrival to connect to a network. Otherwise, at $10 per GB, almost worldwide SMS included and nominal roaming long-distance charges of $0.20 a minute, it’s fabulous.
Well at least you are aware that your Apple loyalty is irrational. Apple did not invent eSIM. Apple was not the first to incorporate it in their devices. By all means, get excited about technology that will improve your life, but stop attributing things to Apple just because that’s where you heard about it. The conclusion of this post should be about the potential of eSIM (the thing the post is actually about), not just “apple are geniuses and I buy all of their products.”
This bizarre and unabashedly cult like following is why people think that folls at Apple are ‘geniuses’ and the ‘true innovators’ of tech.
Credit where it’s due: apple popularized the touch screen phone (with technology they purchased, not created). They are just as good (and no better) at product innovation as any other major tech company.
Has anyone been able to use esim yet? Heading to Italy and was wondering if TIM has esim.