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Although Google Fi claims to support eSIM, the front-line support was unable to help me connect an iPhone 13 Pro, and the back-line support never responded. The solution was to buy a physical SIM card.

Perhaps Google is uniquely incompetent, but I would be very wary about assuming that an eSIM-only phone will work with a given provider.

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I remembered a while ago you meed to first get an physical SIM to activate the line then switch to eSIM. Now sure about now. I’m currently with Google Fi on an eSIM in my 12 mini.

I just set up my iPhone with a Fi eSIM without having to get a physical SIM first. There are oblique references on how to do it at checkout that involve backing out of the default flow and then choosing your iPhone model from a compatibility list. It was quite the maze.

If I remember my experience correctly, you can only set up an iPhone with esim first if you are a new Fi member.

Existing members, even those using esim on Android phones, have to get a physical sim first.

This is correct.

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.

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