eSIM card chip sign. Embedded SIM concept. New mobile communication technology and processor background circuit board vector illustration
The big news in the United States with the launch of the iPhone 14 was the removal of the SIM tray and switch entirely to eSIMs. That isn’t the case in Australia, but you can bet your bottom dollar it will come. Vodafone in Australia is putting its best foot forward as we move to eSIM, adopting the on-device “convert to eSIM” capability of iPhone.
Optus and Telstra do not have the feature which quite simply converts your physical SIM card into an eSIM to either free up the SIM tray or make switching phones a simpler task that no longer requires you to scrounge around for that little SIM popper tool:)
Vodafone implement the “Convert to eSIM” feature many months ago, but with the talk of eSIM getting louder it’s a great thing to do now – especially if you are preparing to switch to a newer phone as the eSIM will switch easily in the setup process.
Firstly, you simply go into Settings and then Mobile on your iPhone – you will see the option to “Convert to eSIM”:
From here, the process is pretty darn simple.
Of course, there’s plenty of “are you sure” moments too:
There’s a bit of waiting (seconds, not minutes)
You’ll then be required to enter your Vodafone four-digit account PIN. Then, a text message will be sent to you to validate the transfer
And then you’re done!
For a short while, in my case 5 minutes, your Mobile page will show the transfer happening – and then your Physical SIM line will be turned off, and the eSIM active.
I made a call pretty quickly to test it, and my wife reported heading every second word – related or not, I switched to airplane mode and then back on, and tested it again – all working AOK.
And now, when switching to a new iPhone, the process is simple.
On the new phone, simply choose “new mobile plan” under Mobile settings, and you can setup a new phone by simply bringing the old phone near the new one – a great process.
I’m yet to test the process of converting across to an Android phone, but will test that soon.
Trev is a Technology Commentator, Dad, Speaker and Rev Head.
He produces and hosts several popular podcasts, EFTM, Two Blokes Talking Tech, Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars, The Best Movies You’ve Never Seen, and the Private Feed. He is the resident tech expert for Triple M on radio across Australia, and is the resident Tech Expert on Channel 9’s Today Show and appears regularly on 9 News, A Current Affair and Sky News Early Edition.
Father of three, he is often found in his Man Cave.
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