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All four support eSIM. What changes is the SIM tray: US models from the iPhone 14 onward do not have one.
There is no compatibility question across these generations. The iPhone 12, 13, 14 and 15 all carry an eSIM chip, all hold two active lines at once, and all store eight or more profiles. The real difference is physical: US models from the iPhone 14 onward have no SIM tray at all, and that changes what happens if you were planning to buy a local SIM card on arrival.
Both generations, in every market, carry an eSIM alongside a nano-SIM tray. That means one physical line and one eSIM line active together, which is the most flexible arrangement Apple has shipped. Your home SIM stays in the tray and a travel plan installs as the eSIM, or the other way round if you prefer.
You are not limited to one eSIM plus one card. Both generations can hold two eSIM profiles active at once, with the tray empty or occupied. Useful if you have already moved your home line to an eSIM.
Apple lists the iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max bought in the United States as eSIM only, with no SIM card tray, and the same for the iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max bought there. The identical models bought anywhere else keep the tray. The handset keeps whatever it shipped with, so a US iPhone 15 used in Europe still has no tray.
On a US handset, buying a local plastic SIM at the airport is not an option. Every line has to be an eSIM. That makes installing a travel plan before departure less of a convenience and more of a necessity.
An eSIM only iPhone does everything a tray model does abroad: two lines active, home number reachable, travel plan carrying data. The difference only shows if you specifically wanted a physical card.
Look at the edge of the handset. On an iPhone with a tray there is a small oval outline with a pinhole beside it, on the left side for these generations. On an eSIM only model that whole area is blank. If you would rather not squint at the edge, Settings, General, About shows an EID for the eSIM and the presence or absence of a physical SIM row tells you the rest.
All four generations run two lines together, and the arrangement that suits travel is the same across them. Keep your home line active so calls and messages to your usual number arrive. Set the travel plan as the line for cellular data. Switch data roaming on for the travel line and off for the home line, so the home line does not quietly carry data at roaming rates.
Settings, Cellular. The line list is at the top; tapping a line opens its own settings, including its data roaming switch. Cellular Data, further down the same screen, is where you choose which line carries data.
Settings, Cellular, Add eSIM. Scan the QR code from your plan, or choose to enter the details by hand and type the activation code. Do it on wifi at home rather than on arrival, because the install pulls the profile from a server and a dropped connection leaves the process incomplete. Once installed, the line sits switched off until you want it.
Installing early does not start the plan on most travel eSIMs; the clock usually begins when the line first connects abroad. Check your plan's terms, but installing at home and activating on landing is the normal pattern.
Compatibility is not the cause, because all four generations have the hardware. Two things are. A carrier lock lets the profile install and then fails at activation, which is the most common cause on a resold handset. And an interrupted install leaves nothing behind, which looks like a rejection but is a connection problem.
Settings, General, About, and read Carrier Lock. Anything other than No SIM restrictions means the network that sold the handset still restricts it, and a travel eSIM will not activate until that is released.
| Model | eSIM | SIM tray |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max | Yes | Yes, all markets |
| iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max | Yes | Yes, all markets |
| iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max | Yes | No on US models, yes elsewhere |
| iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max | Yes | No on US models, yes elsewhere |
| All four generations | Two active at once | Eight or more stored |
Every iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max supports eSIM, in every market, and every one of them also keeps a nano-SIM tray. There is no regional variant of the 13 without eSIM.
Open Settings, go to Cellular and choose Add eSIM. You can point the camera at your plan's QR code, or pick the option to type the activation code in by hand. Wifi at home is the right moment for it, not airport wifi.
It is compatible. If a plan will not install, the usual causes are a carrier lock on the handset or an install interrupted by a weak connection, not the model. Check Carrier Lock under Settings, General, About first.
Models bought in the United States do not; every line on them is an eSIM. The same iPhone 14 bought outside the United States keeps its nano-SIM tray. The handset keeps whichever it shipped with, wherever you later use it.
No, because there is no tray to put one in. A local eSIM works, and so does a travel eSIM installed before you leave, which is the simpler of the two.
Two active at the same time and eight or more stored on the handset. You switch which stored profiles are active from Settings, Cellular.
Settings, Cellular, Add eSIM, then scan or enter your plan's code. On a US handset with no tray this is how every line gets added, including a local plan bought at your destination.
That is a request to the network that issued the line rather than something the phone does alone. For a travel plan you do not convert anything: install it as a second line and leave your existing SIM where it is.
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