An eSIM in an iPhone is supposed to be an easy way to activate your Apple device, but a recently discovered bug is causing headaches for iPhone users. According to numerous reports eSIM iPhone triggers FaceTime and iMessage deactivation with no known fix other than switching SIMs.
The issue first came to light when prominent Apple insider Mark Gurman tweeted about it. As he describes, FaceTime and iMessage were deactivated on his T-Mobile iPhone and attempts to reactivate them were unsuccessful. After speaking with a T-Mobile representative, the only solution was to replace the eSIM with a physical nano SIM.
Several people with similar accounts responded to his message, including users from other US carriers and various countries. One user said he had “the exact same problem” with Vodaphone in the UK. Another user reported the same issue with Airtel in India.
The common denominators of the problem are the iPhone 13 and iOS 15.4. In most cases, the problem was solved by replacing the eSIM with a physical SIM card. Apple Support doesn’t seem to be able to resolve the issue on their end, so if you encounter it, your best bet is to contact your carrier for help.
Apple is reportedly aware of the issue and is working on a fix. iOS 15.5 doesn’t seem to fix the issue, and it’s unclear if the iOS 15.6 beta released this week contains a fix.