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Comment by Flere-Imsaho | Hacker News Reader

eSIMs feel like a solution waiting for a problem. Consumers are happy with physical SIMs, you obtain one, you put it in your phone then you forget about it until you swap your phone.

I'm sure eSIMs are a good idea if your aim is to gain even more control over our personal devices.

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I've been using an eSim on my iPhone and it's been wonderful because:

1. migrating between iPhones also transfers the eSim

2. if I get a tourist sim card at an airport, I don't have to worry about taking out or losing my main sim

3. the ability to have multiple sims is also ideal: I currently have phone plans in AU and SG, in addition to any tourist sim cards I pick up

It sounds like you’re talking about the benefits of having both? The new iPhones have only eSIM which is currently a hurdle, especially for the ”tourist SIMs”. OTOH, I’m sure Telcos will shape up their support and iron out the major bugs rather quickly precisely because of this.

> It sounds like you’re talking about the benefits of having both?

physical sims make no contribution to any of their points.

> 2. if I get a tourist sim card at an airport

That sounds like it would be a physical sim, or am I incorrect?

They probably do mean getting a tourist eSIM at the airport.

iPhones are eSim only for a few years now.

>if I get a tourist sim card at an airport, I don't have to worry about taking out or losing my main sim

bold of you to assume we'll still have a sim card slots

Fwiw, I can't remember the last time I bought a physical sim at an airport. Airalo lets me buy an eSim at the departing airport, which means I've got cell data from the instant I arrive. They're not the only company offering this, and I'm sure I could min max and find a more cost optimized service, but it's done me well enough. Depending on the amount of international travel you do, and to where, however, US travellers may have a better time with a carrier like T-Mobile which include international data to a number of countries.

It's important to point out that few MVNO operators on T-Moble extend this international access.

eSIMs are nice in that you can install an app and it can activity service immediately. You don't have to go to a store or wait for a physical SIM to be mailed to you.

Also nice for people who frequent different countries, easier to switch by tapping a button in the phone than having to replace the physical SIM card each time. And no more forgetting the right SIM or not having a tiny thing to get the SIM card out in the first place (or having to borrow someone's earring).

> Consumers are happy with physical SIMs, you obtain one, you put it in your phone then you forget about it until you swap your phone.

As a consumer I was much happier with esims: I swapped provider, got the esim in the mail essentially instantly, put it in my phone, and forgot about it util I swapped phone... at which point esim transfer was part of the migration so I essentially didn't have to think about it either.

For me, eSIM was the only solution to a very real problem: being able to use virtual carriers without mailing a physical SIM. I can pay anonymously for a regional SIM from my MVNO at an affordable price, without giving a local carrier a copy of my passport to retain indefinitely. Unfortunately, they still only resell incumbent bandwidth--but that's the reality of spectrum licensing.

No, they're a huge improvement

eSIMs are fantastic for anyone who travels internationally.

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