iPhone eSIM erased after iOS 18 Update

my esim was damaged March 15, 2025 with the 18.1.1 update. After receiving a new esim from mint mobile it still would not work. Apple said there were no issues detected and performed all factory resets. Three software updates and 30 days of fighting with mint mobile about their eSIM and Apple tells me today that my "esim module" is broken, that I am no longer under warranty and that I need a new phone.

After reading this thread and the myriad of others on reddit regarding esim failures, and seeing that you all have newer iphones than I do I am not convinced that a new phone will fix the issue. Further, Mint Mobile does not have a retail store for troubleshooting.

I am at a loss of what to do but wanted to document another experience. I hope Apple will repair this on the next update. I am 33 days without cellular service.

i did do call in/ callback ticket with corporate escalation. in T2 hands. cellular all over map. never had issues at all like this before. i tried all trouble shooting on our 16s and reprovision of sims did not work. April 11th i did not lose mine totally when i called in . at sign & security under account it said esim was deactivated and i had 30 minutes and when i called phone tech support she said it wasnt then phone number disappeared after that i couldnt get into imessage and factime. she also said she had been getting alot of calls bout that and no idea what was going on. so had toncall apple tech to help get face time and imessage up

on April 18th for some bugs we were told to restore phones i factory reset one phone it came up flashing bright colors like a STROBE light. shut it off. turned back on it was at hello screen. when devices came home from restore, that one said do you want this phone set up like other and after getting in, it had swapped imei numbers by itself. had phone support put back to other one and things were good till 24th and cellular data crashed. calls kept dropping icloud would go out ip relay would shut off , go to safari to any webiste and said not safe connection, even with all the 5g modes on. called corp. phone tech support they escalated it on 24th esims were reactivated was told to leave it sit 24 hours. she called back next day said network provider and and engineers said not network. so working with apple techs now. somewhat better but very unstable cellular. the phone that esim swapped on call failed this past wednesday and went sos for a couple of minutes. im afraid do anything on phones boths 16s. However i have two 29 dollar flip phones without mobile data on sitting on volte on one bar and no issues on those . same phone network. So no clue whats going on. Just started ticket on second line tier 2. the cellular data is all over the place on bar of nothing to one bar lte or 5g to full bars with 5 g to two bars of lte just crazy doesnt matter where i am and i'm in 5g covered area with both networks. there is a problem somewhere. corp escalation said her friends 16 cant make any text messages at all. dont know what network friend is on but also told by someone else her husband having issue on 16. i just took video with all 5g on and icloud out wouldnt load icloud just spun and wouldnt load safari just said not safe connection. taking phones out for ride again this morning. batteries are taking a killing.

I am currently having the same issue. iPhone 15 Pro Max, iOS 18.3.2 , eSIM not functioning. Asked my server, gave me an new line, still not working. I went to this genius bar appointment, Apple service store says that my device is alright. Apple service was not at all helpful. Have booked an appointment again. Don’t know what to do now

I have gone directly to AT& T. Four times. Literally spending about 13 hrs total. So frustrating. Their solution is for me to upgrade my phone which I don’t not want to extend my contract with them another 36 months because of this.

Apple and AT&T were useless with this issue. I went in to both for a total of 11 visits over 4 months with nothing from either. Apple offered me a 400 repair and AT&T told me to just upgrade (phone was 13 mos when it started). That would have locked me in there another three years. No thanks based on principle. I had to go to another carrier and get a new line of service for my daughter. So I am currently paying for two lines for her. Once the contract is up with AT&T I’ll be moving the other 4 lines to the new carrier as well. Not sure how a eSIM breaks after an update. Apple told me the tray that holds the eSIM is broken. Hmm is this a digital tray? 400 for a fix.

Hi, I suggest don’t update to iOS 18.5. You will completely lose the eSIM module hardware and you may have to pay for phone repairs if not under warranty.

Next thing, if you are using multiple eSIMs, suggest to use only one as this seems to be overloading the module.

Note: I have been in your situation and finally updated to 18.5 only to lose eSIM hardware module. Now I am having to pay for repairs (if I decide to).

Thanks

I faced similar issue in iPhone 14 Pro Max.

“add eSIM” option not available under “Cellular”

When you contacted Apple Support were these online contacts? Were they documented and you have a case number?

How close are you to an Apple Retail Store?

I had the same problem with my 14 pro. Out of extended warranty and I had to get a new phone. I always kept the phone in an Otterbox Defender case, and I don’t recall any significant drops. But, I suppose that any unlucky small drop could cause a micro fracture, that with time and heat can expand. Phones can get warm during an upgrade, so maybe the heating during the upgrade expanded the micro fracture enough to kill the phone shortly thereafter. Or maybe the update is just bad news.

Hi all, were you able to fix it? I have the same problem, it just started in February 2025. The eSIM is gone, and I tried resetting the network settings without success. I cannot update to iOS 18.5 because it shows an error stating that the version cannot be verified.

Hey! I have been having the same issue with my esim. I usually keep only one esim on but i needed some otp so I turned both on and the problem started from there. My apple warranty is expired. Any suggestion from your end? I am really afraid of this.

don’t work anymore

Under the settings > Cellular option itself greyed out and after update to 18.0.1

Same for me

i can not add an esim as the option add esim disappeared after ios 18 update

Yes, I have the same problem. Have you resolved it?