5GSA iPhone 16 Pro Max

[gbotley]

I’ve got a 16 Pro Max, on a plan purchased in September 2024 (after the 5GSA was cited as supported) and can’t enable it on my device. The iPhone says the sim is not supported and to contact EE. EE wants to shift me to a eSIM, but I’m not too confident in them after issues with work devices. Is this the only way to get it? I’m in Bristol, which is in the coverage area. 

[bristolian]

There is no published requirement for an eSIM rather than physical SIM to access 5GSA, I think you're absolutely right to be sceptical and I would recommend questioning that further.

[Chris_B]

@gbotley  What tariff do you have ?  you need to have a All Rounder or  Full Works tariff to have this. 
And you also need to be in one of these locations to have use of this 

** The launch cities announced today are: Bath, Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Sheffield.

[shaunjenks215]

SA definitely does work on the iPhone 16 PM as I have that phone and it works for me. It must be either your sim or plan. You’ll need to be on either an all rounder or full works plan started after August 29th. Also if you’re using a physical sim how old is the sim? It could be that the sim needs replacing as older sims don’t support Standalone. 

[bristolian]

What's your technical basis for claiming that "older SIMs don't support standalone"? Do you have anything to substantiate this?

The purpose of the SIM is to provide authentication onto the network via central databases. Physical SIMs are quite capable of enabling access to 5G- NR layers, SA & VoNR are then device-dependent.

[shaunjenks215]

You’ll need an r15 sim to access standalone services. EE have been issuing these for a few years now, however if someone has just upgraded plans and kept the same sim then they may still have an older sim and will therefore need to swap to an r15. It’s quite well known, just do a google search for the r15 sim. O2 are very bullish at mentioning this for standalone. 

[bristolian]

The technical requirements are well documented, both at a device & network-level, for 5G-SA & VoNR.

Have you found any EE help pages which specify a potential SIM swap required? The scenario is easily tested using a 2way SIM-swap if any user has specific issues.

[gbotley]

How would I know which sim type I have? The call advisor was rather pushy with an eSim, (and also trying to sell me broadband, which I don’t care for when I call for support) but I’d prefer a physical sim for various reasons. 

EE’s app and website help sections offer little in the way of help for 5GSA. Many haven’t been updated for the 16 series being out yet either. 

Is it easy enough to get a replacement newer sim?

[shaunjenks215]

Unfortunately it’s not easy with EE to see if it’s your sim. O2 have sims that specifically say r15 on them and have SA ready written on the packaging. If you have iOS 18 installed, and are confident you are on a compatible plan then I’d certainly try a sim replacement next. You can replace your physical sim in any EE store or order one through my EE or app for delivery. They do charge £1.50 for replacement physical sims though. I would check all the other things first. For instance if your plan supports SA then it will say that you have SA and network boost in the add on section of your account. 

[gbotley]

Yeah it shows it in the add on as enabled. It’s a new plan taken out in the last week.