We switched our wireless service from Verizon to AT&T about 6 months ago. (We have plenty of experience with both and yes, they both suck, but the coverage we need is better with AT&T for the moment.)

Mrs.BurtonRW upgraded her iPhone with the switch and it was relatively painless.

I kept my old (current) iPhone and the process was a disaster. Nothing about porting the number to AT&T went smoothly and at one point, I actually had to get AT&T and Verizon on a conference call together before they stopped blaming each other and sorted it out. It took a couple of weeks and many, many hours to finally get my service switched.

As a result of whatever they did, Verizon’s eSIM is still on my phone. It’s turned off, but taking up the “primary” slot. I cannot delete it (there’s no option to do so). My AT&T eSIM is labeled “personal” and is set up as the default eSIM, but I don’t like that arrangement.

Calling Verizon to fix it has been an exercise in futility, but I’m about to upgrade my phone and wondered if their eSIM will just fall off when the AT&T eSIM is assigned to the new phone’s IMEI. Otherwise, I’d rather get this sorted BEFORE I upgrade.

Any idea?

-Rob

Was your phone properly jailbroken away from Verizon? That is supposed to make it usable for any carrier but I admit to never owning an e-sim phone; they’ve all been SIM card based.

I went through this with an iPhone 14P and had to install the new eSIM, and then delete the old one. It actually showed two cell service indicators at the top of the phone while they were both active. Once the new one was on and my number was moved over, I was able to delete the old eSIM. YMMV

I think mine was a switch from Mint to Visible, and both were eSIM.

Good luck. What a colossal pain in the ass it is to do that stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Was your phone properly jailbroken away from Verizon? That is supposed to make it usable for any carrier but I admit to never owning an e-sim phone; they’ve all been SIM card based.

It’s obvious that the number was ported over to AT&T since I’ve been using their network and their eSIM. As to whether anything was done properly, that’s another question entirely, and I would say clearly not.

Changing carriers doesn’t require a jailbreak (unless you’re doing it without permission), and I wouldn’t go that route with an iPhone for a number of reasons. Verizon had to unlock it for the number to be ported to AT&T and their eSIM to work.

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by Veeper:
Once the new one was on and my number was moved over, I was able to delete the old eSIM.

Well, that’s the issue. There’s no “Delete this eSIM” for the Verizon eSIM and AT&T tells me Verizon has to remove it from their system, on their end.

-Rob

Verizon, and I’m sure others, are total a-holes about letting you leave. I’ve gone through the same situation switching from Spectrum mobile to Verizon. They’re all jerks. Sorry I don’t have a solution, just empathizing with you. If I recall correctly I dug around online until I found a corporate number for Verizon. Left a message and behold, I got a call.

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:
Well, that’s the issue. There’s no “Delete this eSIM” for the Verizon eSIM and AT&T tells me Verizon has to remove it from their system, on their end.

I did a quick search and you're supposed to be able to delete eSIMs irrespective of your carrier, and even whether or not you still have an active plan with a carrier.

There are other complaints of users not being able to delete eSIMs. The ones I read were Verizon eSIMs. Coincidence? Maybe.

One guy solved it by factory-resetting his phone. Of course: Then you'd lose your new AT&T eSIM, too, and you'd have to ask them for a new one.

Will the unwanted eSIM follow you to your new iPhone? I honestly don't know. If what you plan to do is backup your current phone and restore everything from it to your new phone: It might.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Will the unwanted eSIM follow you to your new iPhone? I honestly don't know. If what you plan to do is backup your current phone and restore everything from it to your new phone: It might.

That’s the question. I would most likely be using the iPhone’s native NFC data transfer/setup tool, but don’t know whether the inactive eSIM will carry over to the new IMEI. AT&T’s eSIM will because it will be assigned to the new IMEI as soon as they ship the new hardware to me.

Guess I’ll try to call Verizon and give them a shot at making it right. They’re still trying to screw me over on a month of service after AT&T ported my number, so I’m not holding my breath.

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:
Calling Verizon to fix it has been an exercise in futility, but I’m about to upgrade my phone and wondered if their eSIM will just fall off when the AT&T eSIM is assigned to the new phone’s IMEI. Otherwise, I’d rather get this sorted BEFORE I upgrade.

Any idea?

Just out of curiosity, it is possible that there is a Verizon physical SIM card in the SIM card tray?

Sounds like you’re looking for trouble where none exists . The new phone will have its own eSIM and the dinosaur you have now have no bearing on that.

Even if it is a problem, I’d worry about that then not now. But it shouldn’t be.

quote:

Originally posted by Broadside:
Just out of curiosity, it is possible that there is a Verizon physical SIM card in the SIM card tray?

Son of a bitch.

Broadside, next time you’re up my way, I owe you a beer.

I guess it wouldn’t have occurred to me that in an iPhone 12 Pro (not a dinosaur ), capable of supporting at least 8 eSIMs, Verizon would have put a physical SIM card in the slot. Go figure. It’s just as ridiculous that their tech folks couldn’t figure that out, IMHO.

I love this place - even when it makes me feel stupid.

-Rob

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BurtonRW,

quote:

not a dinosaur

My mistake - when you said old I misinterpreted to ancient, not just prior. Apologies for that.

quote:

I guess it wouldn’t have occurred to me that in an iPhone 12 Pro (not a dinosaur ),

@BurtonRW
FWIW, I just upgraded my iPhone 13 Pro Max to a 15 Pro Max and lo and behold it had a sim card in it from USCellular. I was surprised to find that little bugger in there also. The 15 does not even have a slot for the card.

I can't offer any help, but ironically, I just switched from ATT to Verizon last July because of poor ATT coverage and an increasing bill that they wouldn't lower. Now I have better coverage for less and a new iPhone 13 for switching. But it wasn't easy. Took a couple of trips to a Verizon store to get everything to work properly.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Was your phone properly jailbroken away from Verizon?

I don't think you understand the terminology you are using.

Just in case y’all missed it a few posts up, Broadside nailed it. Verizon had a physical SIM card in there. Popped it out and voilà, no more extra SIM.

-Rob