A shocking thing happened when I upgraded to an iPhone 15 Pro: my sim card figuratively dissolved into a tiny pile of ash, or rather, was transformed into a wholly digital e-sim. I blame myself, but I blame Apple even more: while transferring my data from my old iPhone, I was asked whether I would also like to move my phone number. I frowned – of course I would – and tapped yes. A minute later, my new iPhone had a mobile signal, my old phone did not, and my sim card was utterly redundant.
I can’t feign total ignorance. I’d heard tales of woe from friends forced to move to e-sims when they bought a US version of the iPhone 14, which lacked a sim slot. New iPhones sold outside the US still take sim cards however – and I’d been planning to keep my old one, if only for convenience.
