The iPhone X has no eSIM — but the XR and XS do

No — and it is worth being certain which phone you have

The iPhone X, from 2017, has no eSIM hardware. Nothing installs, nothing updates, nothing can be enabled by a carrier.

The models that do have it arrived a year later: the iPhone XR, XS and XS Max, in 2018. Those three were Apple's first eSIM iPhones.

Read those two paragraphs again and you can see the problem. Four handsets, all with an X in the name, released a year apart, split down the middle on this exact question. Plenty of people asking whether their iPhone X has eSIM are actually holding an XS. Plenty of others are told "the X supports eSIM" by someone who means the XS.

Three letters, two different answers

The X sits alone on the no side. It shares its answer with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which launched alongside it, rather than with the phones whose name it appears to share.

Ten seconds to settle it

Two checks, either of which is conclusive:

*Dial `#06#`. If an EID** appears alongside the IMEI, the handset has eSIM hardware — meaning it is not an iPhone X. No EID means no eSIM.

Read the model name. Settings, then General, then About. The Model Name field says exactly which handset it is. This is more reliable than judging by appearance, because the X and XS look very similar.

Do the *#06# check in particular if you bought the phone second-hand, or if you are about to buy one. Listings mix these models up constantly, and the eSIM answer is one of the few differences you can verify from across a table.

What to use on an iPhone X abroad

It has a nano-SIM tray, so the options are the ordinary ones:

A local prepaid SIM at your destination. Usually the lowest cost per gigabyte, because you are buying from the network rather than a reseller. Costs you an errand on your first day, and in some countries a passport at the counter. Our country guides cover which carrier to pick and what registration involves.

Roaming on your existing plan. Check the rate before you leave. On short trips within a region where your plan already includes the destination, this can be the sensible answer.

A physical travel SIM posted to you before you go. Rarer than it was, and pricier per gigabyte than a local SIM, but you land connected.

Whichever you choose, confirm the handset is carrier-unlocked first. An iPhone X sold on contract may still be locked, and a locked phone will not take a foreign SIM.

Is this a reason to upgrade?

On its own, no. The eSIM is a convenience — it saves a trip to a shop and lets you keep two numbers on one phone. It does not usually make your data cheaper, and on this site's own numbers the local SIM you can already buy is often the cheaper option.

If you are upgrading anyway, note that the smallest possible step gets you there. The XR, XS and XS Max all have eSIM and all kept a SIM tray, so you would gain a line rather than trade one away. The models to be careful with are the iPhone 14 and later sold in the US, which have no tray at all — a genuine loss of flexibility, and one worth understanding before you buy. Our compatibility checker sets out where every model falls.