Why do I have 3 SIM entries in my iPhone Settings when I only have two SIMs installed?

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Why do I have 3 SIM entries in my iPhone Settings when I only have two SIMs installed?

I recently tried out the dual SIM option for my iPhone 11 and for some reason appear to have 3 SIMs instead of 2. I originally had a single physical AT&T SIM. We converted that to an e-SIM, and then bought and inserted a UK-based SIM at the airport.

Under Settings > Cellular > SIMs, I now see 3 entries (see screenshot):

The UK number shows up labeled as "Used as 'Ramon UK' ". Currently shows as "Off" as we are in the US and turned this off.
The US number shows up labeled as "Primary" with a little icon showing "P". Currently shows as "On" as we are in the US and have this on.
A third entry shows up as "No Number" and is labeled as "Used as 'Personal'". Currently shows "No SIM"

Any idea what this third entry is? I'm not sure what the difference between "Primary" and "Personal" is.

Posted on Jan 26, 2024 12:24 PM

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Answer 1

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felciano Author

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Feb 29, 2024 5:28 PM in response to felciano

I finally resolved this. I suspect the issue happened when I switched from a physical AT&T SIM to an e-SIM, which somehow got labeled as "Primary" instead of "Personal". That last entry "Used as Personal" is interactive, despite no UI indicators to suggest this. When I tapped it, I got the message below:

So it looks like this has to do with what default line are specified for a given contact (probably as described at Using Dual SIM with an eSIM). When I clicked "Update Contacts", the bottom SIM entry disappeared and everything looks to be normal.

Hope this helps if someone else comes across this

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Answer 2

Jan 26, 2024 1:32 PM in response to felciano

You can have up to 8 entries, but only 2 of them can be active at the same time.

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Why do I have 3 SIM entries in my iPhone Settings when I only have two SIMs installed?

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