New User Special: Get 5% off on your first eSIM purchase!
iPads, Windows laptops, Android tablets and smartwatches can hold a travel eSIM. Which ones, and how to check.
Phones are not the only devices that take a travel eSIM. Tablets, some laptops and several smartwatches do too. The rule that decides it is the same in every case: the device needs cellular hardware, not just wifi. A wifi only iPad and a wifi only laptop cannot take an eSIM at any price, because there is no modem inside them to use it.
Apple's own list of eSIM capable iPads is made entirely of Wi-Fi plus Cellular variants. It covers the iPad Pro 11 inch from the first generation onward and the 13 inch M4 and M5 models, the iPad Pro 12.9 inch from the third through sixth generation, the iPad Air from the third generation onward including the M2, M3 and M4 models, the standard iPad from the seventh generation onward including the A16, and the iPad mini from the fifth generation onward including the A17 Pro.
A cellular iPad has a SIM tray or, on recent models, a plastic antenna band along the top edge of the back. In software, Settings shows a Cellular Data section. A wifi only iPad has no such section at all.
Settings, Cellular Data, Add eSIM. Scan the code or enter the details by hand, the same as on an iPhone. An iPad can hold several plans and switch between them, which suits a device you only take on some trips.
The same rule applies and the same check works. A tablet needs a cellular version to have a modem, and the eSIM setting sits in the network part of Settings under SIMs or SIM manager. Samsung lists the Galaxy Tab S9, S10 and S11 series and the Tab A11 Plus among its eSIM capable devices. For other brands, look for the EID row under About tablet, which is the definitive answer for the device in your hand.
Watches with eSIM come in two kinds and the difference decides whether a travel plan is any use. Some watches carry their own line with their own number and can work away from the phone. Others mirror the phone's line, sharing its number and its plan. A travel eSIM is installed on the first kind and is not relevant to the second, because there is nothing separate to install to.
The cellular models carry an eSIM. In practice it is set up through the paired iPhone rather than on the watch itself, and most networks provision it as an extension of the iPhone's line. Where a network offers a separate watch plan, it is that network that provides it.
Cellular versions of Galaxy Watch and other Wear OS watches carry an eSIM in the same way, set up through the paired phone's companion app. The wifi and Bluetooth only versions of the same watches do not.
For nearly every traveller the practical answer is to put the travel plan on the phone and let the watch use the phone. Watch plans are usually tied to a home network and rarely extend abroad in a useful way.
Laptop eSIM is real but uncommon, and it is concentrated in business ranges rather than consumer ones. A laptop needs a built in cellular modem, usually described in the specification as WWAN, 4G LTE or 5G. Gaming laptops and mainstream consumer models almost never have one. The check in Windows is quick and does not depend on knowing the model.
Open Settings, then Network and internet. If a Cellular section appears alongside Wi-Fi, the machine has a modem. If there is no Cellular entry, it has none, and no adapter or driver adds one. Where Cellular exists, eSIM profiles are managed inside it.
No MacBook has a built in cellular modem. The usual route is a hotspot from a phone carrying a travel eSIM, which works well and costs nothing extra.
For any laptop without a modem, a phone with a travel eSIM shares its connection over wifi. This is the arrangement most travelling laptop users end up with, and it is worth knowing before shopping for a machine on the strength of its eSIM.
Three things, in this order. Does the device have cellular hardware, which the settings check answers. Is it free of a carrier lock, which matters on tablets bought on contract just as it does on phones. And does the plan you are looking at cover the device type, since some are written for phones specifically. Getting all three right before departure is the whole job.
A phone, a tablet and a laptop cannot share a single eSIM profile: each device needs its own. The simpler arrangement for most trips is one travel plan on the phone with the other devices connecting through its hotspot. A separate plan for the tablet makes sense when you use it independently of the phone, or when you want it working while the phone is off.
A travel plan carrying data on the phone can normally share that data over hotspot, so the laptop and the tablet come along without their own plans. Check the plan's terms, since a few restrict tethering.
| Device | What it needs | Where to check |
|---|---|---|
| iPad | A Wi-Fi plus Cellular model | Settings, Cellular Data |
| Android tablet | A cellular version with an EID | Settings, About tablet, look for EID |
| Apple Watch | A cellular model, set up via the iPhone | Watch app on the paired iPhone |
| Galaxy and Wear OS watch | A cellular version, set up via the phone | The watch companion app |
| Windows laptop | A built in WWAN or 5G modem | Settings, Network and internet, Cellular |
| MacBook | No model has a modem | Use a phone hotspot instead |
| Line | Models on Apple's list |
|---|---|
| iPad Pro 13 inch | M4, M5 |
| iPad Pro 11 inch | M4, M5, and the 1st through 4th generation |
| iPad Pro 12.9 inch | 3rd through 6th generation |
| iPad Air 13 inch | M2, M3, M4 |
| iPad Air 11 inch | M2, M3, M4, and the 3rd through 5th generation |
| iPad | A16, and the 7th through 10th generation |
| iPad mini | A17 Pro, and the 5th and 6th generation |
Phones with an eSIM chip, cellular iPads and Android tablets, cellular smartwatches, and the minority of laptops with a built in WWAN modem. The common requirement is cellular hardware; a wifi only version of any of them cannot take one.
Open Settings, then Network and internet, and look for a Cellular section next to Wi-Fi. If it is there, the machine has a modem and eSIM profiles are managed inside it. If there is no Cellular entry, the laptop has no modem and nothing can add one.
The cellular versions of Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch and most Wear OS watches. The wifi and Bluetooth versions of the same models do not. Setup runs through the paired phone rather than on the watch.
On a cellular model, yes, but usually through your home network as an extension of the phone's line rather than as a separate travel plan. For a trip, the practical arrangement is the travel plan on the phone with the watch using the phone.
That comes from your home network rather than from a travel plan, and it is normally sold as an add on to the iPhone line. Whether it works abroad depends on that network's roaming terms.
If it is a Wi-Fi plus Cellular model, yes. Apple's eSIM list is made up entirely of cellular variants, from the iPad 7th generation, iPad Air 3rd generation, iPad mini 5th generation and iPad Pro 11 inch 1st generation onward. Install it under Settings, Cellular Data, Add eSIM.
Through the Watch app on the paired iPhone rather than on the watch itself, under the cellular section. The network that provides your iPhone line handles the provisioning.
Not usually. One travel plan on the phone, shared over hotspot, covers a laptop and a tablet on most trips. A separate plan makes sense when you want the tablet working independently of the phone.
Device ready? Pick a destination.
Data plans for 200+ countries, installed before you land.
How was your experience?
Review us on Trustpilot