I (before COVID…) travel somewhat regularly and have a collection of SIM cards from my most frequently travelled destinations making just arriving and going about my life a nice straightforward process. I haven’t seen anything to indicate eSIMs have anything close to this experience and I feel like losing the option to do so for some perceived modernness is a bit disappointing.
I'm not sure about all your use cases, but I had great success with Airalo when traveling. It was data only, but my normal Verizon number was routed through that data connection. The biggest negative was not really being able to make local calls. There's a few other companies that do the same thing (GigSky and a few others that I can't remember).
It was my first time traveling internationally that I felt like it was a great solution.
The problem with those roaming SIM packages is that they're usually dramatically more expensive than just buying a local SIM. It's fine if you only travel sporadically, but if you travel often it really adds up.
Example: I have a SIM from Free (French carrier) that gives me 150GB data in France and 25GB of roaming data throughout the EU and a few other countries for €20/month. It would cost more than double that to match the allotment with the travel carriers you find on e.g. Airalo.
I think the problem is less eSim vs Sim, and more market forces. I think the hope would be that if eSims are the only option for iPhones, it'll force more and more carriers to support eSim.
I’m still traveling and find swappable sims to be a fantastic advantage. I have yet to find a country that offers eSims for prepaid. European phones commonly have dual sim slots..
I don't think it's a niche hobby (though I could be wrong as I have no data on it, just some thoughts). Any person that travels frequently has at least entertained the thought of buying a local SIM. Many people have actually done so.
For example, I went to Sweden for a month, and in those days calling in the EU wasn't a thing. I bought a Swedish SIM for if I'd meet people there (and I did). 10 years later, I traveled in Thailand for a month and I wanted internet. I bought a Thai SIM got internet for like, 10 euro's? And that was that. The fact that Apple disallows me this freedom means I will have to switch once the Covid issues start to become less of a thing.
Also (I don't know anything about Thailand, just just some quick searching), it seems at least the largest provider in Thailand has essentially the same service: https://www.ais.th/esim/en/ where you can buy the eSim either online or in a shop.
Thailand travel SIMs, like the DTAC Tourist SIM, are usually purchased in the airport after you get luggage and pass immigration. Now that this same SIM is sold online as an eSIM, you can buy it before you arrive. Skipping that extra step seems to be a plus over physical SIMs.
In order to effectively do business in these countries, being able to make phone calls and have a predictable phone number while in country is incredibly useful, this is what I’m referring to. I guess the result is a collection of sorts, but these things get used regularly, and the ability to swap and go on my own schedule is what I’d like to see from eSIMs before I lose the ability otherwise.
How does this work for you with eSims now? On a recent trip I had eSims from 3 countries where I did just this (data only, because I didn't need a phone number). I just turned them off and on at will.
