iPhone 13 Pro Max Problems with new eSIM

[pedzsan]

My son is in Taiwan. Before he was in Vietnam. He took out his AT&T SIM and put in another local carrier. That worked fine. Messages and everything was happy.

When he went to Taiwan, he changed to an eSIM and now Messages won’t work for him on his iPhone at all. It works on his Mac. He is pretty computer savvy but can’t figure out how to get Messages to work on his phone. I’m in the US so I don’t know all the symptoms but thought I would ask here for any suggestions or ideas of what might be wrong.

 

[skardvin]

My son is in Taiwan. Before he was in Vietnam. He took out his AT&T SIM and put in another local carrier. That worked fine. Messages and everything was happy.

When he went to Taiwan, he changed to an eSIM and now Messages won’t work for him on his iPhone at all. It works on his Mac. He is pretty computer savvy but can’t figure out how to get Messages to work on his phone. I’m in the US so I don’t know all the symptoms but thought I would ask here for any suggestions or ideas of what might be wrong.

Did your son activate iMessage for his eSIM for his local carrier? Also, is your son trying to send Messages on his AT&T number or his local carrier? Either way ensure that the number is activated on iMessage. However, please ensure that if your son is turning on Messaging for his AT&T number that your cellular plan covers international texting as if it doesn't you (he) could incur some hefty bills if he sends a lot of messages with videos/photos etc.

1. Open Settings
2. Scroll down to Message
3. Tap on "Send & Receive"
4. Ensure that the local carrier phone number or AT&T number is turned on along with the Apple ID email address that your son uses.

If that is not the issue LMK and I can give some more steps that can be taken to possibly fix this issue.

 

[pedzsan]

Did your son activate iMessage for his eSIM for his local carrier? Also, is your son trying to send Messages on his AT&T number or his local carrier? Either way ensure that the number is activated on iMessage. However, please ensure that if your son is turning on Messaging for his AT&T number that your cellular plan covers international texting as if it doesn't you (he) could incur some hefty bills if he sends a lot of messages with videos/photos etc.

1. Open Settings
2. Scroll down to Message
3. Tap on "Send & Receive"
4. Ensure that the local carrier phone number or AT&T number is turned on along with the Apple ID email address that your son uses.
5. View attachment 2370229

If that is not the issue LMK and I can give some more steps that can be taken to possibly fix this issue.

I assume he has but I’ll check. There is 12 hours time difference so this might go really slow.

Note his AT&T SIM has been removed and is now disabled.

Thank you for your help

 

[pedzsan]

Did your son activate iMessage for his eSIM for his local carrier? Also, is your son trying to send Messages on his AT&T number or his local carrier? Either way ensure that the number is activated on iMessage. However, please ensure that if your son is turning on Messaging for his AT&T number that your cellular plan covers international texting as if it doesn't you (he) could incur some hefty bills if he sends a lot of messages with videos/photos etc.

1. Open Settings
2. Scroll down to Message
3. Tap on "Send & Receive"
4. Ensure that the local carrier phone number or AT&T number is turned on along with the Apple ID email address that your son uses.
5. View attachment 2370229

If that is not the issue LMK and I can give some more steps that can be taken to possibly fix this issue.

The “Primary” is the eSIM. The phone number above is the previous SIM. The one email address checked is his Apple ID.

He says that when he picks Primary, it just spins and never becomes happy. I asked if he turned off WiFi, does everything else still work like Maps, etc and it does.

It is a data only eSIM. The previous SIMs were also data only.

Thank you again for your kindness.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

The “Primary” is the eSIM. The phone number above is the previous SIM. The one email address checked is his Apple ID.

He says that when he picks Primary, it just spins and never becomes happy. I asked if he turned off WiFi, does everything else still work like Maps, etc and it does.

It is a data only eSIM. The previous SIMs were also data only.

Thank you again for your kindness.

If he has a a data-only eSIM and no voice plan, messaging issues are likely. I’d switch to a messaging app that doesn’t rely on having voice service - WhatsApp, GroupMe, etc

 

[skardvin]

The “Primary” is the eSIM. The phone number above is the previous SIM. The one email address checked is his Apple ID.

He says that when he picks Primary, it just spins and never becomes happy. I asked if he turned off WiFi, does everything else still work like Maps, etc and it does.

It is a data only eSIM. The previous SIMs were also data only.

Thank you again for your kindness.

It appears that your son turned off messaging for his AT&T phone number. Do you happen to know if his AT&T plan covers international texting? Also, for the Primary it might be an issue because it is data-only—the carrier might not allow iMessage. Although messaging should still work through his Apple ID email as Messaging only requires Wi-Fi to work.

 

[pedzsan]

It appears that your son turned off messaging for his AT&T phone number. Do you happen to know if his AT&T plan covers international texting? Also, for the Primary it might be an issue because it is data-only—the carrier might not allow iMessage. Although messaging should still work through his Apple ID email as Messaging only requires Wi-Fi to work.

Yes. The AT&T plan was costing an extra $100 per month ($10 per day for 10 days max) so that is why he is switching to different SIMs.

 

[skardvin]

Yes. The AT&T plan was costing an extra $100 per month ($10 per day for 10 days max) so that is why he is switching to different SIMs.

Yikes! That is expensive! So quick question. Do you know if his phone is unlocked? Also, do you know which carrier is your son using in Taiwan?

Also, something else to check.

1. Go to Settings
2. Tap on your Apple ID at the very top
3. Tap on Sign-In & Security
4. Is your son's Apple ID email address listed?

If so messaging should work through his Apple ID. There is no need to turn on the primary number as he can message using his Apple ID email.

 

[pedzsan]

Yes. We had to go through some stuff to get that done. The eSIM is working, just not texting. The previous SIM worked. And he told me that he found something where if he paid extra, text would work — which seems odd if Apple is using the data channel for iMessages — how could the eSIM know?

 

[skardvin]

The data only eSim is probably not able to text because SMS is turned off? However, if you turn this on it will cost money to send texts unless his plan has this included. Again, messaging should work just fine with his Apple ID enabled.

However, now that I am thinking about this sending text messages (SMS/MMS) wouldn't work as they require a phone number which his data only eSIM has no number (correct)?