Just curious.
I used eSim for a while when I first got a phone that supported eSim, because I wanted to make it harder for a thief to disable the phone tracking, but now my main phone is broken and I’m a bit annoyed at having to chat with customer support for half and hour to activate eSim on another device.
Speaking as an Apple user here with a phone that does dual SIM (one physical and one eSIM), but I currently prefer the physical SIM for my primary number and eSIM as I need it for data.
For the last 18 months I’ve had it the other way around (eSIM primary) and I needed a data SIM with a different provider for a weekend cause I was somewhere with bad coverage on my main provider.
Getting a prepaid eSIM was very easy, but it decoupled my main number from iMessage since the eSIM slot was now linked to a different number.
So now I’m working off the theory that since I can generally get an eSIM for any country I might visit reasonably easily (the App Store has a couple of different eSIM providers), it’s better to leave the eSIM empty until I need it and rely on a physical SIM for my primary.
It’s not the cheapest way to go about it, but definitely the most convenient, and doesn’t rely on you having to try and obtain a SIM locally (which can be very easy to very challenging depending on what country you’re visiting).
Apple user here. When I went from the X to the 14, I went full eSIM.
Primary is eSIM. Works fine. When I travel, I add a second eSIM to my phone from a cheap, local provider. When I’m done, I deactivate and delete the traveling eSIM.
Not once do I have to use a paperclip. It’s wonderful.
If we had the dual eSIM model in Australia this would be my setup as well, but since we still have one physical and one eSIM, having the home SIM being physical basically provides the same benefits you’ve described.
Yeah, that would make sense in that situation. And primary carrier is a rare change, so it’s not really an inconvenience.