Steps to Change Phone Number on an iPhone and What to Expect
Dear Apple Community,
For those who have done it successfully, would appreciate your feedback to set me on the right track and confirm what I expect will happen before I change phone number ... for anyone else, your feedback would also be appreciated.
Steps to Change Phone Number
- Remove old SIM
- Load new SIM
- Update phone number in contact card (Contacts)
- Update phone number in Apple ID account to ensure 2FA continues working
- Respond to any messages on iMac or iPad of your account being accessed with a new number
- For those using WhatsApp, follow these steps: https://faq.whatsapp.com/432077284412078/?helpref=faq_content
What Will Happen to iMessages
Your existing conversations will remain unaffected and those you are in active conversations with will not notice anything has changed (i.e. they will not have a new conversation thread started on their iPhone, correct?). For anyone trying to reach you for the first time via iMessage, you will need to notify them of your new number. WhatsApp however will start new conversations at your contact's end; on your end conversations will remain unchanged (same thread).
What Will Happen to SMS Messages
If you reply to an ongoing SMS conversation, it will start a new conversation at the recipient's end. The old conversation will just remain on the recipient's phone ending at the last message you exchanged before changing SIMs.
Thanks for any feedback, much appreciated!
iPhone 13 Pro
