does iphone se 2020 come with sim card

Hello 9797re,

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities. It sounds like you want to know if the iPhone will come with a SIM card. I'll explain.

The SIM card would be provided by the carrier you plan to use. The iPhone SE will have an eSIM that may be used with supported carriers. You can learn more here: iPhone SE - Technical Specifications - Apple

Thanks.

As far as I'm aware you will have to get a physical SIM card from a carrier

iPhone SE 2020 does have E-Sim built in so there's no need for a physical sim if your carrier supports is you will need a QR Code from a carrier to activate it

no

I don’t know if this helps anyone. I gave up with Boost customer service. I called the Boost store I got my son a phone at last Christmas, the guy told me throw away the card they sent you, bring it here, $10 for the card $35 for activation fee, I dropped the phone off and 20 minutes later he called my son’s phone and my IPhone SE 2020 purchased on apple.com was activated. Call your store and good luck!

If you have the SE 2020 edition, this is what I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SWDX7BF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You need a Sprint SIM 516TQ (it's SIM ID "D"). I cannot vouch for that link above as I just ordered it, but it says it includes this model number of SIM card which is what was identified by the Boost associate at the store I stopped at today (they were sold out).

I got my SE yesterday and am on my third reinstallation and still cannot get it to activate on Verizon. The Sim card that came installed is the same serial number as in the existing, functional iphone. Attempting to get help from Apple or Verizon CS has been a day-long frustration. I've rebooted; pulled the cards; reinstalled them; swapped them; put them back; wiped and reinstalled the new iphone. Most frustrating - I got to some online verizon service that asked me to type in my Sim serial number and it told me the card was not compatible - even though it came installed and is literally the same card as in my old phone (a 2008 SE).

peng294 wrote:

I purchased a new iphone SE 2020 from bestbuy. I found there is already a SIM card on the slot. is this normal?

Since Best Buy does not sell unlocked iPhones, yes.

I had similar problem with switching from original SE to 2020 SE and the new phone from Apple did not come with a card. I’d been using Virgin Mobile which uses Sprint, but was switched to Boost, which also used Sprint as it was a legacy Nextel co., and it took me 3 weeks to find a Boost SIM card, but IPhone still does not function properly and each company blames the other, and everyone here just chastised me for thinking my new phone would come with a SIM card, when the only other smartphone I had ever purchased (the original SE) came with a card, but now I recall it was purchased through Virgin, so how was I to know. Bottom line, unless you do better than me expect several weeks of customer service **** (Apple customer care scheduled a recent call-back for tonight and last night but no one called. I still have a list of issues that all of Boost’s re-set codes would not fix, so Apple suddenly thinks it IS their issue. I had to unpack original phone I wiped clean, reset and use for several weeks until I found correct card 45 miles away and missed timeline for recycling old phone for credit from Apple, and now they sent a new recycle kit after last Apple support guy said to just keep it or throw out! I think they finally realize there are some unresolved bugs with new SE, but unfortunately no Apple lovers on this site will even CONSIDER that! At any rate, expect several more weeks of customer service **** on hold and one company blaming the other. At least I got my phone to stop blocking unknown callers but check Settings/General/phone each morning because some settings would change back at random. Very frustrating but new phone basically works and I mailed old phone back to Apple today! I got the same reply as last one.

If you are transferring service from a previous phone with the same carrier just take the SIM out of the old phone and put it in the new phone. This will transfer the account to the new phone, and is part of the setup process.

When I purchased the new iPhone SE last week, there were two options in terms of activation. 1) Have apple activate it for you (need some info from your phone carrier), or 2) activate it yourself upon arrival.

I chose the latter option, and now am worried because I'm not sure the exact steps I need to do in order to get my new phone up and running. I'm assuming I need to remove the SIM card from my old iPhone 6S and insert it into my new iPhone SE before I can get up and running? Are there any detailed instruction on how to do this??

Once you put a carriers SIM in your phone if it does not work with your unlocked iPhone (and you have given no indication it was locked) and can't get it to work with that SIM with your carrier that is beyond Apple's control. You said you had the same problem as Laura and she had to go through several SIMs before she finally got one that worked. Apple doesn't provide the SIM the carrier does. I had a friend who was with Sprint and he constantly went through SIM issues.

Again, unless your iPhone was locked and you got a message that it was locked to a carrier this is all on Boost.

Sounds like the SIM that works with the old SE is not compatible with the new iPhone SE. Verizon supplies the SIM to Apple, you will need to get them to provide you with a newer one that works with your iPhone.

I just helped someone replace their broken iPhone 7 with an iPhone SE 2020, it was an unlocked model. We took her AT&T SIM from the old iPhone and put it in the new one and it worked immediately. If there was a problem with the SE as you state that would not have been possible. This is purely a Boost/Verizon/Sprint issue, they need to fix their SIMs.

It can’t possibly be identical. Every SIM card is unique, has a unique serial number and may have other differences. However, you should be able to put the card from the old phone in the new phone.

I received my new SE today and installed the SIM card that was in my old (2018) SE. I'm having trouble activating as both my carrier (Boost Mobile) and another Sprint-compatible carrier (Tello) say my phone/SIM card account can't be activated. I wish Apple would provide some guidance on this issue.