Your SIM card is one of the most important aspects of your iPhone – it’s the only way to connect to your carrier's network. And while physical SIM cards remain a viable option for many people with older phones, the iPhone 16 only supports eSIM. (In fact, all new iPhones, starting with the iPhone 14, won’t have a physical SIM card.) Luckily, eSIMs offer a lot of flexibility, letting you handle all of your SIM needs directly on your phone. This alleviates the hassle of adding and removing a physical card, and it makes many tasks, like getting international plans, much easier and more efficient.

If you're looking to activate an eSIM on your iPhone 16, you have a few different options, which range from scanning a simple QR code to downloading a carrier's app and following the instructions within. After converting to an eSIM, how you go about activating it will depend largely on your carrier. While most carriers – especially popular ones like AT&T and Verizon – make this a nearly headache-free process, some smaller or lesser-known carriers may be slightly more complicated.

Below, we'll run through the primary ways you can activate your iPhone 16's eSIM.

There are multiple ways to set up an eSIM on your iPhone 16, and how you go about doing so will depend on your carrier and situation. Regardless of which way you activate an eSIM, it should be a painless process. If you run into any major errors, you should immediately contact your carrier for assistance.