iPhone Duo or 18 Pro: moving your SIM to eSIM

The iPhone Duo goes on sale on 23 October 2026 with no SIM tray in any country, mainland China included. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are eSIM-only in twelve markets, among them Japan, Canada, Mexico and the US. If your current number lives on a plastic SIM, it has to become an eSIM before the new phone can use it.

For most people that takes five minutes. For some it means a store visit, an ID check or a fee, and a few carriers make it close to impossible once you have left the country. This guide covers the routes Apple offers, what more than 30 carriers in 13 countries actually ask of you, checked on their own help pages on 7 October 2026, and the order of steps that avoids a phone with no number.

Which new iPhones have no SIM tray at all

The Duo is the clear case. Apple's launch release says it has an "eSIM-only design worldwide", so there is no regional version with a tray to buy instead. Pre-orders open on 16 October.

The Pro models depend on where you buy them. Apple sells eSIM-only iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max in Bahrain, Canada, Guam, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the US and the US Virgin Islands. Everywhere else, including the UK, the EU, Thailand, Türkiye, Korea and Brazil, they keep a nano-SIM tray. Our iPhone 18 guide has the full lineup.

Convert to eSIM or Quick Transfer: the two routes

Apple gives you two ways to move a number, and which one you use depends on where the SIM is now. Both happen in the Settings app, with no QR code, as long as your carrier supports them.

• Convert to eSIM turns the plastic SIM in your current iPhone into an eSIM on the same phone. Go to Settings > Cellular (Mobile Service in the UK and Europe) > Set Up Cellular or Add eSIM, pick the number and tap Convert to eSIM. If your carrier is not on Apple's Quick Transfer list, do this on your old iPhone before the new one arrives.
• eSIM Quick Transfer moves a number, plastic SIM or eSIM, from your old iPhone to the new one. On the new iPhone, go to Settings > Cellular > Set Up Cellular, choose Transfer From Nearby iPhone, then confirm on the old phone. Both need iOS 18.4 or later, the same Apple Account and Bluetooth on, with the old iPhone unlocked.
• Coming from Android, Quick Transfer will not help, because it only moves numbers between iPhones. If your number is already an eSIM on an Android 16 phone, some carriers, including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, EE, Orange France, Telekom, KPN and au, support Transfer From Android in the iPhone's Settings on iOS 26 or later. Otherwise, use your carrier's app, website or store.

Both routes retire the plastic card for good. Apple is direct about what happens to it.

Apple keeps a list of carriers that support each method, country by country. It is worth thirty seconds before you start, because it decides whether the Settings button will do anything at all.

Türkiye, Poland and South Korea: where the Settings button won't help

On Apple's list on 7 October 2026, no carrier in Türkiye, Poland or South Korea was named for eSIM Quick Transfer. Neither was WindTre in Italy. In those places the switch goes through the carrier, and the rules vary more than you would expect.

• Türkiye: Turkcell moves you over in its app or in its stores. Vodafone Türkiye sends existing lines to a Vodafone dealer to convert, for its standard SIM replacement fee. Türk Telekom's eSIM page could not be reached when we checked.
• Poland: all four big networks do it free in their apps. Play and Plus need a PESEL number on your account, and Play wants Wi-Fi switched off, because it verifies you over mobile data. With Play, your old SIM keeps working for three hours, then stops.
• South Korea: SK Telecom's online self-service swap is free once per line, but excludes foreigners, prepaid customers and minors, and runs Monday to Saturday, 8am to 8pm. KT's first change is free online.
• Italy: WindTre charges €15 for a replacement eSIM. TIM's online route asks for SPID or video identification, and Vodafone Italy asks for photos of your ID, your tessera sanitaria and the SIM's serial number.

What it costs, carrier by carrier

Most carriers charge nothing if you do it yourself online. The fees appear when you go through a shop or call centre, or when your carrier simply charges for any SIM change. These are the carriers whose own help pages stated a price on 7 October 2026.

Some big names are missing because their own pages either gave no price or could not be opened from outside the country, including Telekom and Vodafone in Germany, SFR in France, Vivo in Brazil, True in Thailand and LG U+ in Korea. If yours is one of them, check the price in its app before you start.

Carriers that make it hard to do from abroad

This is the trap for anyone who travels. Several carriers tie the switch to things you may not have on a trip: a national ID number, a local ID check, a local bank account or a text message to the very SIM you are replacing.

• Rakuten Mobile sends the one-time code by SMS to your current SIM, so do not take the card out before you apply. The swap takes about two hours and cannot be cancelled. docomo's online switch also checks you by SMS.
• Orange Spain's QR code for a swap is single use and expires after two days.
• Three UK makes you wait seven days after opening an account or changing your credit limit, and two days after changing your email, unless you go to a store with photo ID.
• T-Mobile in the US needs SIM Protection switched off first, or the swap fails.
• KPN only installs over Wi-Fi, and once the plastic SIM is off it cannot reverse it.

The order that never leaves you without a number

• Check your carrier on Apple's list and on the carrier's own eSIM page. Note any fee, ID requirement or waiting period.
• Back up anything stored on the SIM itself. Orange Poland warns that contacts and texts saved to the card are lost.
• Make the switch at home, on stable Wi-Fi unless your carrier says otherwise. Play and TIM Brasil's swap portal want Wi-Fi off.
• Wait for a call or text to arrive on the new eSIM before you wipe or trade in the old phone. O2 says activation can take up to 24 hours.
• Keep the old plastic SIM for a couple of weeks. AT&T recommends at least 14 days before throwing it away.
• Only then add a travel eSIM for your next trip.

Adding a travel eSIM next to your home number

Once your number is an eSIM, the new iPhones make travel easier, not harder. The Duo and the 18 Pro models each run two eSIMs at once and store eight or more, so your home line and a travel plan sit side by side, and last trip's plan can stay installed for next time.

What changes is the fallback. On a phone with no tray you cannot buy a plastic SIM at the airport, and some places, Cuba's tourist SIM among them, only sell plastic ones. Install your travel eSIM before you fly, then set the lines up so the home number takes calls and codes while the eSIM carries data. Dual SIM done right covers the four settings that matter, and how many eSIMs your phone can hold covers what to delete first.

Moving between two iPhones later? Transferring your eSIM to a new phone covers travel plans as well as your home line.

Get a travel eSIM for 200+ destinations in under a minute.

Keep reading

How to install an eSIM without a QR code (manual activation)

eSIM QR code not scanning? Every fix that works

How to transfer your eSIM to a new phone