Vodafone has become the second telco in Australia to officially offer eSIM support for smartphones, following on from Optus’s launch back in April.
Need a quick refresher on what an eSIM is? Basically, it’s an alternative to the plastic SIM, and in the case of the iPhone XS, Xs Max and Xr, means you can use both an eSIM and plastic SIM at the same time and get your dual SIM on.
eSIM in the iPhone allows you to use two phone numbers on the same phone at the same time; one using the physical SIM slot and one using the eSIM. This means you can make and receive calls from two different mobile numbers without the need to switch between SIMs / phones.
Unlike Optus, who are issuing physical pieces of cardboard (!) with a QR code on it, Vodafone are generating and issuing the QR codes digitally. You can either request an eSIM when you sign up for a new postpaid service over the phone, or head into a store if you need to swap an existing plastic SIM to an eSIM.
Vodafone also support prepaid customers, unlike Optus, so you’re able to use an existing prepaid Vodafone service together with a plastic SIM from a different carrier if you wish.
Currently the iPhone XR, XS and XS Max are supported, as well as recent iPad models that support eSIM.
This makes Telstra the last telco to offer eSIM love, which will hopefully be not too far away!
Head to the Vodafone website for information on how to swap over to an eSIM.