If your dual SIM iPhone is carrier locked, you might wonder whether you can still use a different carrier’s eSIM as your secondary connection.
In this article, we’ll discuss whether that is the case.
Can You Use A Different Carrier’s eSIM In Your Carrier-Locked iPhone?
You can’t use a different carrier’s eSIM in your carrier-locked iPhone; all your physical SIMs and eSIMs should be from your current carrier (the carrier from whom you purchased the phone).
For example, if your carrier-locked dual SIM iPhone supports a physical SIM and an eSIM, both the physical SIM and eSIM should be from your current carrier.
Carrier lock applies to your iPhone as a whole, not to each SIM slot or eSIM individually. So both of your dual SIM iPhone’s IMEI numbers are locked to your carrier, and you can only use physical SIMs and eSIMs from that same carrier.
Can You Use An International eSIM In Your Carrier-Locked iPhone?
You can’t use an international eSIM from a different carrier in your carrier-locked iPhone; you can only use physical SIMs and eSIMs from your current carrier.
As we’ve explained, both primary and secondary SIM slots/eSIMs of your carrier-locked dual SIM iPhone are locked to your current carrier. So you can’t use an international eSIM from a different carrier as your primary or secondary connection.
What Will Happen If You Add A Different Carrier’s eSIM To Your Carrier-Locked iPhone?
If you add a different carrier’s eSIM to your carrier-locked iPhone, the unsupported eSIM can get stuck in your iPhone, making the iPhone unusable.
If you insert a physical SIM card from a different carrier into your carrier-locked iPhone, you can easily remove it. On the other hand, you can’t physically remove the eSIM and must delete the unsupported eSIM via iPhone’s settings.
However, some iPhone models and iOS versions may not allow you to access the settings and delete the unsupported eSIM, making your iPhone unusable.
So you should never add a different carrier’s eSIM to your carrier-locked iPhone.
What SIMs And eSIMs Can You Add To Your Carrier-Locked iPhone?
You can only use physical SIMs and eSIMs from your current carrier (the carrier from whom you purchased the phone) in your carrier-locked iPhone; you can’t use SIMs/eSIMs from a different carrier.
For example, if your carrier-locked iPhone has a physical SIM slot and an eSIM, you can add a single physical SIM and multiple eSIM plans from your current carrier.
As a result, in a carrier-locked dual SIM iPhone, both primary and secondary cellular connections (mobile numbers) should be from the same carrier.
How To Determine Whether Your iPhone Is Carrier-Locked
You can find out if your iPhone is carrier-locked as follows.
Go to Settings > General > About. If your iPhone is not carrier locked, you will see “No SIM restrictions” next to Carrier Lock. On the other hand, if your iPhone is carrier locked, it will show “SIM locked”.
If you want to unlock your iPhone, you need to contact your carrier, as explained here.
Do You Need To Unlock Your Carrier-Locked iPhone’s Physical SIM And eSIM Separately?
You don’t have to unlock your dual SIM iPhone’s physical SIM and eSIM separately; you only need to unlock one SIM, and the other will unlock automatically.
The carrier lock applies to your iPhone as a whole—not separately for individual SIM slots or eSIMs. So when you unlock your iPhone, all the IMEIs associated with the phone will get unlocked.
Can Your Carrier-Locked iPhone’s Physical SIM Slot Become Unlocked While Its eSIM Is Locked?
It is impossible for your carrier-locked iPhone’s physical SIM slot to become unlocked while its eSIM is locked.
When you unlock your carrier-locked iPhone, all its SIM slots/eSIMs get unlocked, so it is impossible to unlock one SIM slot/eSIM without unlocking the other.
Conclusion
You can’t use a different carrier’s eSIM in your carrier-locked iPhone; both your primary and secondary SIMs/eSIMs should be from your current carrier.
The carrier lock applies to your iPhone as a whole, not to each SIM slot or eSIM individually. So if you want to use a physical SIM or eSIM from a different carrier, you should first unlock your iPhone.
An eSIM from a different carrier can get stuck in your carrier-locked iPhone, making the iPhone unusable. Therefore, if your iPhone is carrier locked, you should not add an eSIM from a different carrier.
