Despite the fact that eSIM technology has been used in Russia for several years, the release of the iPhone 14 has changed things a bit. Whether due to the fact that Apple did not pre-configure the new product for the infrastructure of Russian operators, or for some other reason, however, already in the early days new iPhone sales users from Russia complained that they had unable to activate eSIM. Those who bought US version of iPhone 14, which has no slots for physical SIM cards at all. Will they be left without the Internet and cellular communications?
To understand the origins of the problem, we had to seriously dive into the problem and find those dissatisfied who really eSIM not working in iPhone 14. Presumably, it was necessary to search among the subscribers of MTS, Beeline and Megafon, because Tele2, as we found out, had no problems from the very beginning.
eSIM on iPhone 14 – not working
However, the search was not successful. The participants of our chat in Telegram, who complained about the problems, did not answer in the end, and we decided to look, and how many of those who faced the impossibility eSIM activation on iPhone 14 in Russia. It turned out that a little. Well, there are almost none of them. There are only a few negative reviews.
But probably, eSIM does not work in Russia only the iPhone without a physical slot for a SIM card, which was brought from the USA. These are just sold in M.Video, and even 5 thousand rubles cheaper than the “full” version. But wait a minute, if a smartphone has communication problems, then what’s the point of selling it?
Unfortunately, we were unable to find anyone who would use iPhone 14 with eSIM only no physical slot. However, the doubts that there will be no problems with them were dispelled by the operators themselves, to whom we turned for clarification.
As explained in Megafon, regardless of the firmware of the eSIM module, which is used in Apple smartphones and the country in which a particular device was originally sold, there are no and will not be restrictions in Russian networks. This is a very important clarification, because many people now refuse iPhone 14 purchases only with eSIM, fearing that they will be left without a connection.
iPhone 14 with eSIM
I believe that smartphones without physical SIM slots should not be feared. For myself, I would buy one. This is not only convenient, because you can not bother with needles and trays, but also practical, because the iPhone 14 allows add up to 3 eSIMsusing 3 tariffs at once on different numbers. In this sense, such a device does not carry any restrictions for users. So don’t be afraid. Especially, iPhone 14 with eSIM only also allows you to save money.
Does this mean there were no problems? Well, actually no. But there are at least two explanations for their presence.
Firstly, problems could be observed due to incompatible profiles, which in the Russian Federation differ, for example, from US ones. However, the main Russian operators have GSMA certificate to independently generate such profiles. Therefore, even if the first devices imported into the Russian Federation did not activate in Russian eSIM networks, after the operators made changes to their infrastructure, the problems disappeared.
Secondly, problems with eSIM activation in iPhone 14 are found not only in Russia, but even in those countries where new items are officially delivered. And there are many more of them than here. Therefore, Western colleagues have prepared some tips that should probably help bring the built-in SIM card back to life:
- Restart smartphone;
- Install the latest update;
- Disable and enable eSIM in Settings again;
- Check the balance of minutes and gigabytes according to the eSIM tariff – the connection may not work because of this;
- Reset network settings;
- Reinstall your eSIM profile;
- Ask your carrier for help.
How to reset network settings on iPhone
Reset network settings on iPhone not so difficult. Moreover, the benefits of this recovery method are really difficult to overestimate:
- Go to “Settings” of your iPhone;
- Open the General tab and scroll down;
- Here, select “Transfer or reset iPhone”;
- Select “Reset” – “Reset network settings” and confirm the action.
By the way, my mom’s iPhone recently had a similar incident, and she doesn’t have an iPhone 14. The smartphone lost all connection with LTE, 3G and even 2G. Whatever I did with him, but in the end, the banal reset of the network settings, which we described above, helped. As a result, I didn’t even have to interrupt the data for the Internet connection, as required by the operators. Just reset the Wi-Fi passwords, that’s all.
