Support for eSIM in the iPhone Xs?

[jayguevara]

Hi, 

Anyone know if vodafone will support the eSIM in the new iPhone Xs? I know that vodafone has joined EE in supporting eSIMs in the Apple Watch 4, however there doesn't seem to be any information on whether that is the case with the new iPhone Xs. 

I travel a lot and would make my life so much easier if Vodafone did support the eSIM in the new iPhone Xs! 

[searley]

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@fsociety wrote:

OK. Yes I have just tested this. Kind of.

I put my phone into Airplane mode. On the Watch I was able to make a call. Recieve a call. I cannot recieve SMS from an Android device though. It didn't come through until I turned off AirPlane mode off.

So are you saying that if the phone is just left at home and turned on, but out of range from the Watch (say I'm on a bike ride and leave the phone at home), will the SMS be relayed to the Watch then?

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Yes if you phone is on the sms is relayed to you watch as are the replys

[Rob2018]

Yes if you phone is on the sms is relayed to you watch as are the replys

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Switched on and with a cellular or Wi-fi connection. Obvious I know but I have read of folks leaving their phone in say a gym locker where it loses the signal and then wondering why the SMS messages weren’t relayed to the Watch... 😃

[fsociety]

OK. So is this a limitation at the carrier level then? Or the WatchOS/iOS level? I'm guessing WatchOS/iOS. As when the phone is off I can still make and receive phone calls on the Watch. I don't understand why this couldn't be implemented. But anyhow, OK, it works while the phone is on and has signal so fine I guess.

But whats the situation with Voicemail then? So when I did that test before, I had a friend ring me while my phone was in Airplane mode. What would have happened if I hadn't answered? Would it have gone to Voicemail at all? There is a button to call Voicemail on the Watch so that's very confusing as well.

[searley]

Yes it will goto voice mail and you can dial voicemail and retrieve it

[Rob2018]

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@fsociety wrote:

OK. So is this a limitation at the carrier level then? Or the WatchOS/iOS level? I'm guessing WatchOS/iOS. As when the phone is off I can still make and receive phone calls on the Watch. I don't understand why this couldn't be implemented. But anyhow, OK, it works while the phone is on and has signal so fine I guess.

But whats the situation with Voicemail then? So when I did that test before, I had a friend ring me while my phone was in Airplane mode. What would have happened if I hadn't answered? Would it have gone to Voicemail at all? There is a button to call Voicemail on the Watch so that's very confusing as well.

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Yes it’s how the Watch works so nothing to do with carrier - see Apple website: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT205547

[baz1536]

I received this back from Vodafone today on Facebook when asking about esim

We're working closely with Apple to introduce this feature Barry, please keep an eye on our social feed for further details 👀Ryan

[baz1536]

Ok it’s starting to make more sense how this all works. And also explains why just because Apple Watch is available the iPhone isn’t. 

The option to move to esim on My Vodafone asks for an EID of the Apple Watch.  With the phone you don’t provide an EID at all. 

By the looks of it the QR Code provided by the network also has an eSIM code. This is the code you swap your sim to from ohysical. You then pair that with your esim on the device by scanning the code.  In the case of EE they are doing both. They are pairing in store so before you leave the sim has already swapped to the QR code whether you have scanned it or not and your physical sim is dead. Or they just give you the QR card and you register it on your device. This registers without a phone number. You then go to the simswap site and enter the esim number from the barcode and it swaps over. 

[huanjiayang]

No no no, if you have iphone XS, XS Max or XR, and have updated system to 12.1, you DO have EID on your phone.

When I went into vodafone store they also tried to use this as excuse and I just showed them the EID on my phone, and they were like "eh.......".

This is not an excuse for Vodafone to not support esim in iphone. They just messed up......

[searley]

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@huanjiayang wrote:

No no no, if you have iphone XS, XS Max or XR, and have updated system to 12.1, you DO have EID on your phone.

When I went into vodafone store they also tried to use this as excuse and I just showed them the EID on my phone, and they were like "eh.......".

This is not an excuse for Vodafone to not support esim in iphone. They just messed up......

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Why have they messed up they never announced it would be available neither did apple

[catean]

Guys,

It seems eSIM is available in stores for new subscription. What we can do, is move the number to PAYG, take a new eSIM subscription and move the old number on that. Confirmed by Live Chat.