[W4RH4WK55]

That I can just take the SIM out and put it in a different phone?

what's the migration process for eSIMs?

[otterley]

The migration process is, you ask your carrier for a new eSIM. They send you one via QR code. That's pretty much it.

[onion2k]

Dealing with the carrier is usually the worst part of owning a phone. Asking for a new esim is likely to send you down a path of navigating a process where they try to sell you an upgrade, or they send you a QR code that doesn't work, or a million other possible problems.

[Hamuko]

And then your carrier bills you 3€ for it, because they can. They can also just disable the iPhone-to-iPhone eSIM transfer functionality. Ask me how I know.

eSIMs are incredibly user-hostile because they switch the ownership of a SIM card from the customer to the provider, so you're completely at their mercy if you need to transfer over your SIM card from one device to another. And Apple facilitates this.

[jl6]

eSIM is a potentially smoother setup process if the alternative is getting a card through the mail, but physical SIM switching is better than having to contact your carrier.

[EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK]

Where I am, the migration process is: you drag your physical body with an ID to the operator's office. There is no "send".

[nabla9]

> you ask your carrier for a new eSIM.

When your phone breaks, that's not a easy task.

[JD557]

Unfortunately, I don't think this is always true for physical SIMs.

I recently bought a temporary SIM in the US during my holidays (StraightTalk) and was surprised that you can only use the physical SIM after you register online with you IMEI. I haven't checked, but I imagine that after that the card would only work with that IMEI.

Fortunately, I don't think this is a practice in Europe.

[EvanAnderson]

To be fair, though, Straight Talk is absolutely hot garbage. I had a fiasco trying to activate two physical SIMs and port numbers to them back in January. Their provisioning system chokes and dies on phones with both eSIM and physical SIM capability (like the factory-unlocked iPhone SE 3rd gen models I was trying to activate). I spent hours on the phone holding and talking to reps, getting disconnected and calling back to start all over again. It was a nightmare.

[geocar]

Better: it’s a menu option.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212780

eSIMs also have the advantage of an activation card can be sent instantly from almost anywhere (it’s a QR code) which is great if your phone (and physical sim) are lost or damaged.

[Xylakant]

> Some carriers support SIM transfers from your previous iPhone to your new iPhone without needing to contact them

“Some” is true afaik. It’s at the providers discretion.

AFAIK it’s also only possible if you’re moving from iPhone to iPhone, not if you’re moving to an Android. I’m not certain moving back and forth between multiple phones is easily supported.

I like e-sims in general, but this is a downside for some use cases.

[supertrope]

In theory eSIM allows for self service without going to a store or waiting for shipping. In practice you might be on hold with your phone company for an hour. Some USA MVNOs don’t support eSIM.

[tinus_hn]

If the phone breaks it’s much easier to just transfer the card to a different phone though, if a code needs to be sent there’s the identification problems.

[tshaddox]

You need the carrier to offer eSIM, of course, but then you can just store a bunch of eSIMs on your iPhone and switch which one is active in the Settings app.

[spockz]

I think the GP question was how to migrate your eSIM to another phone.

You can transfer the sim but it needs to be activated on the other phone. I have even seen reactivation charges of €5.