People who travel frequently, does the lack of physical SIM card concern you? I'm not sure how widespread eSIMs across countries.
edit: forgot to add ... if you change countries or have to make an additional unplanned hop, VZ does not work in that scenario either.
> if you change countries or have to make an additional unplanned hop, VZ does not work in that scenario either
Just so I understand you, Verizon has an international plan where you have to touch base back in the States every time you go to some other country, before it will work in the next country? I must have misunderstood what you were saying.
A rep once explained this to me as "innovation". Cool.
I for reasons kept physical sim as US domestic, and used the eSIM internationally for years, popping into any random local phone store and getting dirt cheap local numbers with a QR code.
As a backup, a half dozen apps like GigSky or Nomad that manage eSIMs for countries or regions in case you just can’t find anything (search eSIM in app store). Haven’t paid more than 30USD for unlimited data for a month (or a couple bucks a GB metered) anywhere since they introduced the first eSIMs in EU and Asia.
First, check if any of the big few domestic carriers have a temporary or contract free esim. In Japan, for example, NTT Docomo does.
When you get to Japan you are going to find an operator NTT Docomo physical store, the second most popular. The virtual SIM cards of this company have the following characteristics:
- Data plans of 1 to 7 GB.
- 4G LTE connection.
- No minimum clause or contracts.
- Exclusive virtual SIM cards for 5G devices.
Same approach anywhere, in my experience.
So no, not “literally no one”. Things are changing, eSIM is increasingly common. Apple’s being Apple and just propels that change.
When I crossed the border from Rwanda to Uganda, I bought a sim at a local shop, and a boy from the village cut it down to size by hand with a pair of scissors. They are not going to have ESIM anywhere soon.
ESIM requires carriers around the world to have the technical competency to make the activation and management process work smoothly and that is not something I would count on.
That's a bold statement to make. You realize that merely 15 years we didn't even have smartphones? How many random prophetic it-won't-happens happened in that time?
On the other hand, Smartphones were better positioned to drive adoption that eSIMs are. Smartphones create immediate utility for the user over feature phones. eSIM is arguably better than a physical sim, but at the end of the day you are only saving maybe a tiny inconvenience every time you have to swap out the sim. So there's not going to be a large push to switch from the user side.
A good comparison might be USB-C. People were writing in 2015 that the writing was on the wall for USB-A[1], and even though USB-C is basically better in every way, it's still not fully adopted 7 years later. It's not even the standard for desktop peripherals.
Also Smartphones are a highly competitive market with multiple vendors vying for users. Telecoms are mostly monopolies, and have little incentive to improve in most cases.
The only real driver I see for this is if eSIM-only devices get widespread popularity. I don't see it happening any time soon with low-end Android phones. Maybe wearables, but I feel like the idea of people in the developing world getting a second data plan for a wearable is a long way off.
But I could be wrong.
[1]: https://www.theverge.com/2015/6/2/8704551/usb-type-c-is-the-...
Found this for Uganda.
This is exactly what I'm talking about: if you have this phone you will be paying exorbitant prices for connectivity all over the world.
edit: it looks like the average in Uganda is $1.56/GB and you can get data as low as $0.45/GB USD
https://techjaja.com/the-cost-of-1gb-of-data-in-uganda-vs-th...
Airtel, for example, said it was work in progress, as of March this year.
Seriously, when it comes to application of new technology, the world isn't as behind the US as US might think. Often times, they actually get years ahead. I think you overestimate how long it's gonna take Africa or Asia to get eSIM up and running. They have a clear incentive now, as it's only a matter of time before Android manufacturers start to copy Apple in that regard, too.
It remains to be seen if Android will copy this move, as Apple is even hesitant to roll it out anywhere besides the US. I almost wonder if there is something else motivating it, like pressures to prevent iPhones intended for the US market from being sold overseas.
I'm a dual physical SIM user today but I'm not worried about going eSIM, especially if that was the state of things prior to the iPhone going eSIM only.
T-Mobile definitely will (I mean, you pay for x GB and minutes and it lasts a month, just like most prepaid setups). Just requires a download of their app -- I use it when I'm traveling to the states (my carrier in NZ uses a physical SIM).
They are supporting dual eSIMs. https://www.apple.com/iphone-14-pro/specs/
Grabbing a local sim card is a must for me since I rely on the data plan for work. It also tends to be much cheaper to get 20 or 30 gigs of 5g data. eSim is making this much more convenient to pick up a secondary plan, but sometimes your best option is a SIM card.
Not my experience. AT&T international day pass works in many countries I’ve been to, and I stayed online all day, phone or internet. Never once got booted. Not sure what you mean by pinging home either. It works just as well as local SIM card. It better does, as it costs $10 a day
Also, not like I couldn’t pay it, but $300 a month is pretty steep when my current in-country plan is $10 a month for 40 gigs of 5g and I know I am getting first priority and have the lowest ping.
I was in Switzerland for a single day recently, which is a situation where I can see a $10 a day roaming plan make sense, but then I just switched to my secondary sim’s data which included Switzerland in the coverage area.
Spent multiple years on roaming data permanently & was fine (UK vodafone)
Perhaps Google is uniquely incompetent, but I would be very wary about assuming that an eSIM-only phone will work with a given provider.
Existing members, even those using esim on Android phones, have to get a physical sim first.
Obviously this will have to change at some point since physical sim is going away but I am unsure how long it will take Google to make the change.
Technically, iOS support on Fi is still in beta even though it works quite well.
I can access my full dataplan for £2 a day if I am travelling in Europe, or £6 a day if travelling outside Europe. This usually means that it's not worth getting a sim now if I go abroad (which maybe is a bit cheaper, but a lot more hassle and I can't keep my number).
Plus if you are travelling through a few countries, you don't have to buy several sims, and if travelling for work then a few days roaming is cheaper than buying the sim anyway.
If you lose the sim tray, you are at a disadvantage in places where local sims are the best option, which are many.
I use Google Fi when I roam abroad now for the most part, especially in South America where getting and activating local SIM cards is often especially difficult.
International travel usually involves stopping by a kiosk or store at the airport to pick up a SIM. They’re absolutely universal.
that said, all of the US carriers have extensive international roaming agreements and international data/voice is much cheaper these days.
also, if you're like me and get in at 0200, no stalls for you
Sure you can often get esims “sorted out”, but… why? What’s the upside? Having the physical one “just works”, and you can swap them or put them to different phone or whatever. No need to “download app” or do some registration dance.
Seems like just another vendor lock-in?